Forestry Industry  Mr. Speaker, last Saturday I was in Trois-Rivières. I met with forestry workers who have lost their jobs or fear they may lose them in the near future. They are very angry that this government refuses to do anything to help their industry and to save their jobs. Is it because th

Softwood Lumber  Mr. Speaker, by agreeing that Canada exports too much wood, the Conservatives and the Bloc condemned thousands of loggers and dozens of sawmills, saying that they too were “excess“. The Bloc is crying crocodile tears, claiming that the Conservatives are not helping the forestry

Softwood Lumber  Mr. Speaker, the Canadian softwood lumber industry is still losing out because of the Conservatives and the Bloc. The decision of the London Court of International Arbitration to impose a $68 million penalty on the industry for exporting too much lumber to the United States was u

Health  Mr. Speaker, there are many lessons to be learned from the government's lack of reaction to the first wave of H1N1, particularly how it affects our aboriginal communities. Will the minister take federal responsibility and will she go to the communities affected and personally ap

Health  Mr. Speaker, serious concerns remain about the lack of federal leadership on H1N1. Provinces are taking different approaches on when to administer seasonal flu shots and whether protective masks are necessary or not. These and consistent messages from the provinces and territorie

Forestry Industry  Mr. Speaker, there is more bad news at AbitibiBowater and the Conservatives continue to do nothing. Almost 500 jobs in Beaupré and Clermont were eliminated yesterday. That is in addition to the thousands of other jobs that have disappeared in the sector since the beginning of th

Forestry Industry  Mr. Speaker, we can only surmise that the Conservatives seem bent on destroying the forestry industry. Backed by the Bloc, they signed the softwood sellout agreement with the United States. The Conservatives and the Bloc handed over a $1 billion gift to the American lobby. What i

Taxation  Mr. Speaker, unfortunately, there was never really an opportunity for discussion because the government ran away. We never got any answers to our questions. The government became adept at avoiding them. The problem is that household expenditures, which is how workers spend their

Taxation  Mr. Speaker, even though economic recovery is far from a sure thing, the Conservatives are planning to increase the tax burden on workers. The Conservatives are going to increase employment insurance contribution rates. That means more tax deducted from every paycheque. Conserva

The Prime Minister  Mr. Speaker, in public, the Prime Minister says that he does not want an election. However, behind closed doors, he dreams of a Conservative majority. We have all seen the video in which he says he hopes there will be an election very soon in order to teach Canadians a lesson.

Questions on the Order Paper  Concerning the establishment of future permanent full service passport offices throughout Canada: (a) does Passport Canada have a long term plan to increase the number of permanent full service passport offices, (i) if yes, what is the break down and timeline for the establishmen

Employment Insurance  Mr. Speaker, on the subject of employment insurance, the Conservatives seem to be on the brink of a death bed conversion. Under the previous Liberal government, the employment insurance premium rate was reduced 12 times consecutively. Just last July, the Prime Minister was callin

Employment Insurance  Mr. Speaker, this government heard none of our proposals. Employment insurance is a total mess. The Minister of Finance tells us that EI premiums will increase. The Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development, however, would have us believe that the changes she says she wa

Manufacturing and Forestry Industries  Mr. Speaker, a Conference Board study showed that medium-sized cities are bearing the brunt of the current recession. In Quebec, cities like Saguenay, Trois-Rivières and Sherbrooke are dealing with it every day, and we are all worried about their weakening economies. Since 2006,

Manufacturing and Forestry Industries  Mr. Speaker, we do not have to look far to find specific examples. In Saguenay and Trois-Rivières, the forestry crisis has decimated sawmills and paper mills. In Sherbrooke, the Conservatives stood by while the manufacturing industry took a nosedive. In every one of those cities,