Mr. Speaker, my colleague paid absolutely no attention to what you told him. I would appreciate it if you could ensure that he addresses the motion we are supposed to be discussing today or else sits down.
House of Commons photoLost her last election, in 2011, with 23% of the vote.
Business of Supply April 28th, 2009
Mr. Speaker, my colleague paid absolutely no attention to what you told him. I would appreciate it if you could ensure that he addresses the motion we are supposed to be discussing today or else sits down.
Mr. Speaker, my colleague's statements are nothing more than science fiction. If the government had been that interested in listening to employees, women's groups, and the people affected by the pay equity problem, we would clearly see that these people have not been heard. Unfortunately, once again, they are conducting bogus consultations. They pretend they were acting in people's best interests, but it was in the interests of the government. They do not care about people's best interests.
The people involved are all against this pay equity legislation and were very sorry to see it hidden within the budget. That prevented us from debating it properly and publicly, and from having an informed debate. Now, any debate on it was drowned out by the budget debate and we were not able to discuss it, and the government was in a hurry to see it passed by the Liberals, who had no choice but to accept it, in order to avoid an election. That is the reality.
Mr. Speaker, I rise here in the House today because, on March 5, 2009, I asked the President of the Treasury Board a question, but I did not receive a satisfactory answer.
I therefore rise again here this evening, hoping that I will get a somewhat more satisfactory answer concerning pay equity. Some 30 years ago, the federal government passed a law that made it illegal to discriminate against women in the workplace. Yet we are far from achieving pay equity for women. Furthermore, recent studies have shown that the wage gap between men and women is actually increasing. Women should always be able to count on government intervention to ensure that their fundamental right to pay equity is finally respected.
Now more than ever, the federal government must pass proactive pay equity legislation. I was largely inspired by a Public Service Alliance of Canada document, that is, a document from our employees who know very well what this is all about, since they, themselves, do not have pay equity at this time.
A task force published a report and the adoption of proactive federal pay equity legislation was a priority demand of the 2000 World March of Women in Canada. As a result of this mobilization, the federal justice minister appointed the Pay Equity Task Force in 2001 to examine the shortcomings of the system and propose solutions.
The task force spent three years doing extensive research on the issue and consulting with unions, women's groups, and human rights groups throughout the country. The group organized round tables with unions and employers to understand the problems and explore proposed solutions, particularly in Ontario and Quebec.
In May 2004, the task force published its report, Pay Equity: A New Approach to a Fundamental Right, which contained several recommendations. The main recommendation was that the government put in place proactive pay equity legislation. We hoped that the government would move forward with this proactive legislation. We waited but realized that the Prime Minister did not support pay equity.
In 1998, when he was the head of the National Citizens Coalition, he declared, “For taxpayers, pay equity is a rip-off. And it has nothing to do with gender. Both men and women taxpayers will pay additional money to both men and women in the civil service. That is why the federal government should scrap its ridiculous pay equity law.”
Thus, it is not surprising that the Conservative Party is doing an about-face on pay equity and today wants us to pass so-called legislation requiring these people to attempt to obtain a small degree of pay equity through collective bargaining. That is not how you achieve pay equity. Pay equity is a right that should be guaranteed.
Armenian Community April 23rd, 2009
[Member spoke in Armenian.]
Mr. Speaker, five years ago, on April 21, 2004, the House of Commons passed Motion No. 380, presented by Ms. Madeleine Dalphond-Guiral, the then Bloc Québécois member for Laval. That motion finally recognized the historical reality of the Armenian genocide of 1915.
Tomorrow, a number of members of the Armenian community will gather on Parliament Hill to mark the 94th anniversary of that genocide, the first of the 20th century.
We continue to support the Armenian community in its desire to see this reality acknowledged by the entire international community, and we hope that the Turkish government will shortly accept responsibility for this event, so that the victims' descendants can begin the process of healing.
In the meantime, the Bloc Québécois members remember with them and, as always, extend their total support.
Points of Order April 3rd, 2009
Mr. Speaker, I am sorry, but if the minister is showing symptoms of Alzheimer's disease, he should go to a doctor because everyone on this side of the House saw it. He really did make a rude, ill-mannered gesture.
Points of Order April 3rd, 2009
Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order.
As many people saw, during question period, the Minister of Public Works and Government Services made an inappropriate and rude gesture concerning me. He clearly suggested that I must have some kind of deficiency because I did not agree with the answer he gave to my colleague from Rivière-des-Mille-Îles. To me, that was yet another demonstration of some government members' contempt for women, and I would like the minister to apologize for his gesture.
Invisible Work Day April 3rd, 2009
Mr. Speaker, on April 7, as they have every year since 2001, the AFEAS and its members will take the opportunity to make government authorities and the public aware of the problem of unpaid, “invisible” work.
According to the AFEAS, lack of recognition for invisible work is one of the factors in the persistent inequalities between women and men. It is also a factor in the poverty of women who choose to take care of their children or their incapacitated, ill or disabled relatives. These mothers and caregivers continue to live in poverty when they retire.
During a recession, invisible work by families and especially women will increase. That is why, this year, the AFEAS and other women's groups in Quebec and Canada are reiterating that it is important that Canada measure and take into account the unpaid work in every family, as it promised to do at the World Conference on Women, held in Beijing.
Afghanistan April 2nd, 2009
Mr. Speaker, the Karzai government has passed a retrograde piece of legislation that oppresses 50% of the population, specifically, women. Although this bill directly attacks only Shiite women, as we all know, in a country that accuses rape victims of adultery, the rights of all Afghan women are in peril. The Minister of International Trade has said that passing this law will have serious repercussions.
Can he tell us what those repercussions will be?
Women in Afghanistan April 1st, 2009
Mr. Speaker, a controversial new law in Afghanistan would allow men to rape their wives. This law, which was passed to please the Shia minority, would also prevent women from leaving the house without their husband's permission and would do away with their right to have custody of their children in the event of a separation or divorce. This practice has been condemned since 1993 by the UN High Commission for Human Rights, and this new legislation has been criticized by Afghan women parliamentarians and a UN agency for women.
The Conservative government likes to boast that Canada is in Afghanistan to defend women's right to equality and education. It is inconceivable that the government should do nothing to condemn and correct this injustice. This is a serious setback for women in Afghanistan.
The Conservative government should have the courage to stand up in this House and condemn this aberration and send a strong message to the Afghan government that this law violates its obligations regarding women's rights.
Artists March 27th, 2009
Madam Speaker, I am pleased that, finally, the members of the Liberal Party and the NDP, like the Bloc members, see the light. I am pleased that we are and still remain the only ones to defend Quebec culture in all its forms.
Today, I am 59. When I was born in 1950, very little was known about Quebec culture. It was invisible and seldom seen. When we listened to French-language radio stations, we heard French singers like Maurice Chevalier, Yves Montand and Édith Piaf. When we listened to English-language radio stations, we heard big bands like Guy Lombardo's.
In the early 1950s, when television first appeared—it is funny, I was just talking this morning with two security guards about this—the first TV program I can remember watching is Pépinot et Capucine. It was certainly not a cultural program, but as my colleague from Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles would say, it was amusing.
In the early 1960s, when Quebec was coming into its own and being recognized, there was an explosion of Quebec culture in all its forms, from dance to singing, rock to theatre.
Someone that our colleague from Beauport—Limoilou knows quite well, Denise Boucher, wrote Les fées ont soif, a play that has been acclaimed but at the time was dismissed as offensive. Yet that play is still performed today by many theatre companies because it is still current.
Our culture has developed so much and so well because we have taken risks and have had the means to do so. We made sure we had the means. In contrast to my colleague from Beauport—Limoilou, I will say that money and grants are not good or bad, old-fashioned or outdated, but means we give our artists so that they can explore and work on their art to the best of their ability.
Unfortunately, we have seen that culture does not have the same importance for the Conservatives. It is almost as if, just as they tried to muzzle women, the Conservatives are trying to muzzle Quebec culture, because more artists in Quebec than anywhere else are likely to suffer from the Conservative government's brutal cuts.
Unfortunately, the artists who keep at it, work and perfect their art day after day are not all like Guy Laliberté, the chief executive officer of Cirque du Soleil. He started out with very little money but was fortunate to have people who believed in him, unlike this government who believes in no one but itself. He was fortunate to have people who believed that he could export his art. Now, he is on stage throughout the world, from Las Vegas to Beijing. Throughout the world, Cirque du Soleil has fans because this man is a visionary, unlike the Conservative government which makes cuts to culture rather than giving it more money.
Putting money into culture does not mean spending it on the Olympic torch relay route. That is not what I would call putting money into culture. That is not putting money into structures. Putting money into culture means putting money into people, investing in them. It means investing not spending money.
Until the Conservative government understands this we will need people like my colleague from Verchères—Les Patriotes to introduce such motions. We need to force the government to do something and to reconsider its decisions, which are poorly thought out, ill-conceived, ill-advised and unacceptable to all citizens, both in Quebec and in Canada.
Earlier my colleague mentioned La La La Human Steps. It is true, there are many companies, groups and individuals who work hard every day to promote their art, and those people have had the rug pulled out from under them.
I very much doubt that the people who have had the opportunity and the privilege to travel abroad to present their art, performances and concerts think that that money was poorly invested. I also doubt that the various programs that were assessed were given the recognition they deserve. If they had been, we would have seen the results of those assessments. Perhaps we are not being shown those assessments because the results were not what the government was hoping for. Otherwise, we would have seen them. We know this government—perhaps a little better today than we did yesterday, and perhaps a little less than we will tomorrow, but we will always be a little surprised.
I hope that all members of the House will vote in favour of my colleague's motion because the only way we can grow is through culture, the only way we can define who we are is through culture, and the only way we can cherish the hope of one day becoming our own country is through culture. Culture is how we define ourselves as men and women, strengthen our roots and develop a sense of pride. Our artists make us proud everywhere they go.
We have artists like Céline Dion and artists working in film. Allow me to indulge my mother hen side for a moment and say that I have a son who makes films and wins prizes. I sure do. From time to time, he needs money too. He sure does. Filmmakers are not wealthy; they have a wealth of talent, hope and desire, but they have a hard time doing three things at once.
People who work five days a week and want to do creative work as well have a very hard time. People who want to be fathers, have children and lead a normal life, while making a living from their art, often find it difficult.
True, not all artists need that kind of support, but all artists, whether they are well-known or not, have the right to pursue their dreams. Childhood dreams, anyone's dreams, it does not matter what the dream is so long as there is an opportunity to achieve it. This is not a lot of money at all. The $45 million they cut is a drop in the bucket. A tiny drop.
We know that this year's deficit will be unprecedented in recent memory. We have not had deficits like this in 30 or 40 years. Yet, for $45 million, the government will be preventing people from doing their best, preventing hundreds and thousands of people from doing their work as composers and artists. The government will be denying people the opportunity to showcase what Quebeckers and Canadians can do in venues around the world. That is pretty shoddy treatment and smacks of disrespect for our artists, it really does.
I would just comment that the person who said it does not make sense was the only person pointing fingers this morning. Point a finger at someone else, and four more are pointing back at you. I would urge that person to take a good look in the mirror before saying anything at all about others.