Robert Carrier

[Budget Implementation Act, 2009, March 4th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with my colleague from Chambly—Borduas. Ordinarily, members say it is a pleasure to speak to a bill, but in this case, it is more my duty to the people in my riding and everyone in Quebec. Like my Bloc Québécois colleagues, I will vote against this bill.

Quebec is the big loser in the government's recovery plan. We know that the plan includes roughly $4 billion to help Ontario. We understand that this is important to the automotive industry and all that, but Quebec is getting nothing but crumbs. The forest and manufacturing industries are very important, but the recovery plan provides only $170 million for research and development for the entire country.

Last week, Guy Chevrette, president and CEO of the Quebec Forest Industry Council, appeared before the Standing Committee on Finance and again impressed on us that the forest industry in Quebec is in deep trouble. Companies could close in the near future and need loan guarantees like the ones the automotive industry got in the recent recovery plan. Loan guarantees would also enable forest companies to take part in research and development programs and at least survive the current financial crisis.

Mr. Chevrette mentioned that the forest industry currently accounts for 825,000 direct jobs in Canada, compared to 500,000 jobs in auto manufacturing. He talked about the forest industry's strategic and economic importance to Canada. But the budget contains no support for the forest industry in Quebec, which is why it is turning to the Government of Quebec for loan guarantees that the industry was hoping the federal government would provide but that have not been forthcoming. As members are aware, the Government of Quebec is not in a very easy economic situation at present.

I would like to talk about the immediate action on the economy that we were expecting from this recovery plan, such as the guaranteed income supplement and employment insurance. With regard to these sorts of measures, if you increase the amounts people are receiving, that money will be invested directly into the economy. People will not be able to take a trip or buy stock in a company with the extra money. This is therefore the best stimulant, especially since the government took so long to introduce a real recovery plan. That would have had a direct, immediate impact on the economy.

The budget has not yet been officially passed. It may be tonight when the bill is passed at third reading and after it goes to the Senate. If only the industry could benefit from certain measures without delay, the stimulus plan would be more effective.

The guaranteed income supplement is one of those measures. Last year, I had the opportunity to introduce a bill to improve the guaranteed income supplement. I should point out that people receiving the supplement because they do not have enough income are now below the low-income threshold, which was once called the poverty line. It is therefore unacceptable for a government not to take advantage of the fact that it has to invest in the economy to give them at least enough income to reach the low-income threshold, particularly since these are people who already need help from the government.

We also asked for automatic enrolment in the guaranteed income supplement program. Once again, the government is playing hide and seek with seniors, who, in many cases, do not know which forms to fill out. In Quebec alone, an estimated 40,000 people who are eligible for the guaranteed income supplement are not receiving it because they did not apply.

Throughout Canada, 135,000 people are entitled to it. Last year, the Conservative government said that the program would cost too much. All told, we estimate the cost of implementing the program to be $2 billion, but the government thought that that was too much money.

The government should make the most of this year's stimulus plan. Since it wants to invest, it could invest that money directly and, by the same token, give these people a reasonable income so that they can live with dignity.

The same goes for employment insurance. The government adopted a measure to extend the benefit period by five weeks. The maximum benefit period will increase from 45 to 50 weeks. However, as we have pointed out numerous times, only some 10% of people receiving employment insurance benefits will collect the extra five weeks' worth of benefits. Most of them are resourceful and find new jobs. Also, fewer than half of the people who contribute to employment insurance actually collect benefits. For various reasons, many do not work enough hours. So fewer than 50% collect benefits, and of those, barely 10% reach the end of the benefit period. These are the people the government wants to help with its stimulus plan.

We in the Bloc Québécois had called for the elimination of the waiting period. Under the current employment insurance system, people who lose their jobs have to cover the first two weeks. Doing away with the waiting period would have meant a direct, immediate investment. It would have meant that, as soon as they lost their jobs, people could have counted on a reduced income, but at least some income during what is a critical time for them. Here again, the government is not looking after these people. Despite the need to stimulate the economy, these people are being ignored. The government is not going to suddenly think of these people when times get better.

I wanted to talk about social housing. Quebec alone is estimated to need 52,000 social housing units. I live in Laval, and my riding is in the eastern part of Laval. More than 1,000 people in Laval alone are waiting for social housing, because there is not enough. The current government's position seems to be that families and people in need who cannot find decent housing at market prices should be left to fend for themselves.

Yet the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation has a surplus of about $8 billion. We have no idea what this surplus is used for. The Auditor General has said that a $2 billion surplus would be more than enough to respond to an emergency.

My riding has a federal penitentiary, the Saint-Vincent-de-Paul penitentiary. An old part of this institution, the Old Pen, has been unoccupied since 1989. The building has been abandoned since then. It has been shown that the building needs about $1 million in repairs to remain in good condition. I have not yet had a satisfactory answer from the minister about whether the government is going ahead with this project. A conversion project is under consideration, and that project could include social housing. But the government is turning a deaf ear. Here again, even though there is a cost involved, this would have been a perfect opportunity to build social housing.

I would have liked to talk about pay equity, which was mentioned earlier. That has been a real scandal. The dynamic men and women in my riding are very concerned about this issue. To them, pay equity is a right, not something they have to negotiate. It is truly unfortunate that the government is proceeding in this way and forgetting all about the current pay equity provisions of legislation. Not only is the government not meeting Quebec's needs, but it is also penalizing Quebec by changing the equalization formula, which will cost Quebec $1 billion.

[Business of Supply, February 24th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for this other question.

Obviously, not only would we lose our voice on the international scene, but the only reason for having a national commission is that everything would be centralized in Toronto. We will no longer have the opportunity to express our own opinion, and it is important that we not lose that.

[Business of Supply, February 24th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, that is yet another example of the government trying to silence Quebec. If we have a Canada-wide commission, Quebeckers will be subsumed under the Canadian delegation and will have no voice. It will be just like it is at UNESCO, even though the government claims to have given Quebec a voice. As it turns out, we have a voice, but only if we agree with Canada. Once again, Quebec is being denied the opportunity to express itself internationally. Our ability to express ourselves will be thwarted by the Canada-wide commission.

[Business of Supply, February 24th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for his question.

I do not share that opinion. As I said, Quebeckers have a distinct culture, and this government has recognized them as a nation. Quebec's distinct nature must be preserved in a securities commission so that it can make its own rules about investment and business, so that the people of Quebec can express themselves through their own businesses. Compared to any other province that thinks of itself as Canadian, this is very different. We Quebeckers want to hang on to our priorities because they work for us. This proves that we would have no trouble maintaining our existing system.

[Business of Supply, February 24th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with my colleague from Jeanne-Le Ber.

I will start by reading out the motion put forward this morning by the hon. member for Saint-Maurice—Champlain. It states:

That, in the opinion of the House, the government should immediately renounce two measures contained in the recent budget:

(a) establishing a national securities commission, because establishing such a commission would constitute an intolerable intrusion into Quebec’s jurisdiction, and the current passport system functions very well; and

(b) unilaterally amending the equalization formula, since the Prime Minister, in a letter to the Premier of Quebec dated March 19, 2007, promised that transfers to the provinces would be predictable and long term, and should also comply with the government of Quebec’s request to give the revenues generated by Hydro-Québec’s transmission and distribution activities the same treatment, regardless of the equalization calculation, as that given Hydro One’s revenues.

It should be pointed out that Quebec's National Assembly unanimously passed such a motion on the eve of the federal-provincial prebudget meeting. This goes to show that all parties represented at the Quebec National Assembly are calling for the federal government to examine the demands in that motion.

Regarding the securities regulator, I would like to make the following points. Securities regulation comes under the exclusive jurisdiction of Quebec, and the federal government has to respect that. Establishing a national securities commission would create a regulatory monopoly, which is dangerous because of how highly concentrated the regulated industry is, and cause Canada to lose the benefits from the current regulatory competition. There are few indications that such a structure would reduce direct costs. However, a system based on harmonization and mutual recognition such as the passport system has advantages that have in fact prompted the European Union to opt for that type of securities regulation.

The current passport system works very well. It allows for a coordinated approach to the enforcement of the legislation and uniform protection for investors. In addition, the current system has enabled each securities commission to develop its own approach and areas of expertise, which provides for a variety of complementary points of view on how the rules are being complied with. The system would be more effective, however, if Ontario decided to stop trying to go it alone and joined the other provinces.

The differing but complementary points of view may be more onerous, but they actually help us to detect and prevent scandals like the ones in the United States, which has had a central authority for the last few years. These scandals have resulted in social costs that are much more grievous. The current system with its 13 commissions assures investors that the rules take a variety of views into account and representatives from the small markets counterbalance those from the main markets.

These nation-wide initiatives fail to take regional particularities into account. Canada is characterized by a heavy concentration of brokerage firms and certain other key players in the financial markets, and healthy competition among the various securities commissions is therefore actually a plus. The Autorité des marchés financiers is our final line of defence against the disappearance of the Montreal stock exchange after its acquisition by the TSX. The Autorité des marchés financiers still has the regulatory authority to require the continuation of exchange activities in Montreal. The Montreal Exchange is still regulated by the AMF, which has the power to set the rules governing how the Exchange will operate, including the percentage of shareholdings.

In a recent study of economic outlooks, the OECD rated Canada second for its securities regulation. In addition, in a report on world financial systems, the World Bank described Canada as a leader in the securities business. As things currently stand, the securities commissions of Quebec and the provinces can all appear before the International Organization of Securities Commissions.

The Constitution states that securities are a provincial matter and every jurisdiction has the right, therefore, to appear without intermediaries. Quebec and the provinces must keep the voices they are entitled to on the international stage.

I want to speak now about the equalization formula, which is part of today’s motion. The budget implementation bill includes a change to the formula for calculating equalization. Under the new formula, Quebec’s increase in equalization payments will be cut by nearly $1 billion. The change will shave $991 million from the equalization payments Quebec will receive in 2009-10.

Once again, the federal government is dumping its problems onto the provinces. This is a patent illustration that fiscal imbalance has not been fixed. When the purse strings are tightened in Ottawa, the provinces pay the price. What is more, it is maintaining the increased transfer payments to wealthy Alberta in their entirety, while reducing payments to the less well off provinces, which is totally illogical.

The only defence there can be against Ottawa's changing moods is replacement of the transfer payments to the provinces by the equivalent tax room. The Bloc Québécois intends to continue to fight for the fiscal imbalance to be dealt with once and for all, and for the equalization ceiling to be done away with.

Right in the midst of the holiday season, the government published its changes to the way Hydro One revenues would be used in calculating equalization payments to Ontario in the Canada Gazette. This was done over the holidays so that it would get by unnoticed. The federal government will in future consider the revenues generated by Hydro One as corporate revenue rather than natural resource revenue.

Two thirds of Hydro-Québec's revenues come from its transmission and distribution activities, and the remainder from the generation of electricity. By refusing to give the revenues generated by Hydro-Québec's transmission and distribution activities the same treatment as Hydro One, the Conservative government is depriving Quebec of an additional $250 million annually. The Bloc Québécois intends, as follow up to the letter sent by the Government of Quebec to the government, to call for Hydro-Québec revenues to be treated fairly.

I would like to state in closing that Quebec is not the spoiled child of Canada. The myth that Quebec gets everything and gives nothing is particularly prevalent in the west. That is, however, far from the reality.

First, if it is true that Quebec receives the lion's share of the equalization pie, this is merely because Quebec has a large population. In 2008-09, Quebec will receive the lowest transfer payment per capita.

Given that the budget unfortunately has nothing but crumbs to offer to the economy of Quebec and given that the government has recognized that Quebeckers form a nation, I urge all hon. members present to support this motion to remove these two measures that are reductive for Quebec.

[BUDGET IMPLEMENTATION ACT, 2009, February 10th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, the budget passed last week by the Conservative government and its Liberal allies is totally unacceptable to Quebec and the people of Quebec who are entitled, in times of economic crisis, to expect appropriate action on the part of the federal government.

Just two years ago, the Conservatives had the House agree to recognize the nation of Quebec in a spirit, they said, of openness. The bill we are discussing today shows that this openness has suddenly disappeared.

Last January 15, the National Assembly of Quebec voted unanimously in favour of a motion demanding that Ottawa provide assistance to Quebec to help it get through the economic crisis. It is obvious that Quebec will lose a lot of money as a result of the tabling of this budget, especially in regard to equalization. The changes to equalization will cost it a billion dollars in 2009-2010. In addition, the bill sets the stage for the establishment of a Canada-wide securities commission and reiterates the government’s intention to trample over Quebec’s jurisdictions in this regard.

The Prime Minister is choosing once again to ignore his past promises to respect Quebec’s jurisdictions. It would have been good if the Quebec Liberals had been allowed to vote against this budget in order to oppose the loss of a billion dollars to Quebec, just as the Newfoundland and Labrador Liberals were allowed to do. Right now, among the Quebec contingent, only the Bloc Québécois and the NDP member are opposing this loss of a billion dollars.

When I meet people in my riding, I am ashamed of our government because it does nothing to help them. People see it helping big corporations, like automobile companies, oil companies and banks, but they themselves are left by the wayside in an exercise based more on ideology than compassion for the people who are hurt most by the current situation.

The affluent people in our society will manage to get along fine despite the shaky economy. The tax cuts benefit people earning at least $81,000 a year, which is well beyond the middle class. Older people, retirees, the unemployed and middle class families will not benefit from this budget as the rich people will.

As for seniors, the Bloc Québécois has often raised the issue of the guaranteed income supplement and the fact that seniors have not been getting their fair share. According to FADOQ, the Quebec federation of seniors, the 2009 budget is most certainly not the route toward improving the lot of low income seniors. Despite numerous urgings to do something, the federal government has neglected to provide any additional support to the least well off of seniors, the guaranteed income supplement recipients.

Thanks to the mismanagement of the federal government, seniors who receive only the old age pension and the guaranteed income supplement will not even have the opportunity to get up over the poverty line, because their income is so limited. The government is therefore keeping them poor.

Yet, during the recent prebudget consultations, FADOQ called for improvements to the guaranteed income supplement, specifically through automatic enrolment—not the case now—along with improved benefits and full retroactivity, as called for in a bill introduced by me in the last Parliament. We are not talking riches here, just a minimum income that should be guaranteed to everyone in a society that claims to respect its seniors.

Incidentally, that adjustment to the guaranteed income supplement would dovetail with the recovery plan. If seniors had a little more money, that money would be spent in the immediate community, thereby creating an economic revival with the activity that would be generated. That money would not be going out of the country.

As far as employment insurance is concerned, this past January the Quebec National Assembly called upon the government in Ottawa to improve the employment insurance program by loosening the eligibility criteria and enabling workers in training to continue to draw benefits. Turning a deaf ear to the requests from the National Assembly, the government responded by increasing the duration of EI benefits by five weeks for the next two years.

According to the statistics, only 10% of workers eligible for employment insurance use up all the period of benefits they are covered for. Since we know that less than half of people are eligible for EI, of that group only 10% use up all their benefits and would therefore benefit from what is in this budget. If the government had instead abolished the two week waiting period for workers who lose their jobs, all workers who lost their jobs would at least have been able to benefit from one provision in the budget, by immediately drawing EI benefits.

With regard to social housing, there are measures that affect people, and people want their government to come up with solutions. The current budget includes $2 billion for social housing, but only $400 million will be used to build new housing units.

It is estimated that Quebec needs 52,000 social housing units. In Laval alone, 1,062 needy people are waiting for social housing from the municipal housing bureau. This program is administered by the cities, and demand is high. In fact, demand is so high that people come to my constituency office to ask us to support their application for social housing.

It is difficult to step in at the federal level. We have to refer people or try to convince the municipal government to provide them with housing as soon as possible. But the government lacks the will to build new units.

In my riding, there is a federal penitentiary that was decommissioned 20 years ago. For 20 years, the penitentiary has not been used for anything. It was built by the federal government in 1978, and people moved into the surrounding area. Most of these people worked at the penitentiary, which explains the construction all around it. Now that the penitentiary is no longer used for its intended purpose, the government is dragging its feet on converting the building so that people can use it.

I have represented this riding for four and a half years. I have had access to studies the government has conducted into how the penitentiary could be converted or repurposed. I have always stressed that plans should include affordable social housing for the local community. People currently have to leave the neighbourhood because there is no space available.

The recovery plan was a perfect opportunity to act on this proposal, which previous governments had considered. I have been calling for this for four and a half years. Of course, it would have taken political and financial will. This government's recovery plan, which includes investment to stimulate employment, was a golden opportunity to use federal facilities to benefit people and to provide the social housing they need so badly.

[Taxation, February 6th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, the parliamentary secretary said that the government made this decision based on recommendations from its fake advisory group.

But, can the parliamentary secretary deny that most of the stakeholders who were consulted by this fake group are the same ones who benefit from this double deduction, notably banks and oil companies?

[Taxation, February 6th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance maintains that the Income Tax Act, which allows double deductions, is a good deal for Canadian businesses because it allows them to remain competitive internationally. The United States, France and the United Kingdom prohibit double deductions for a single loan.

How can the parliamentary secretary justify this?

[Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act, February 6th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I wish to congratulate my colleague from Shefford for his presentation, which has given us a solid understanding of the bill's intent. A Liberal colleague mentioned earlier that the bill was tabled about ten years ago but never adopted. My colleague raised the fact that the bill in question applies to organizations with a national, patriotic, religious or other purpose. They may be of all sorts. However, the bill does not require these organizations to reveal their reason for being.

It is somewhat illogical for a bill to define the objects of these organizations but then to not require the organization to state the reason for incorporation. We come across inconsistencies and duplication in Quebec's and Canada's jurisdictions all the time. In our ridings, not-for-profits are mostly local organizations. Thus, it is quite rare to find organizations working in several provinces or throughout Canada.

I wonder if my colleague examined this issue. Does he see that it is very important to clarify this bill?

[The Budget, January 30th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague from Beauharnois—Salaberry for her wonderful speech. I would like to remind her of one point that has been forgotten in the government's economic action plan, in the budget, and that is the issue of seniors who receive the guaranteed income supplement because they do not have enough income. Legislation provides for a guaranteed income supplement; however, the supplement given by the government is below the poverty line set for Canada. These seniors are living below the poverty line. I think that the government could have at least planned to increase the guaranteed income supplement in its budget.

What does my colleague think about this in terms of the constituents in her riding that she knows?