Senator Dagenais: I have a supplementary question. Forest fires are burning in the Maritimes, British Columbia, Alberta and Quebec. France is half the size of Ontario. Canada is 1,700 times bigger than France, but France, I would remind you, has 197,000 volunteer firefighters. I think it is going to take more than a carbon tax to save the environment. Your Prime Minister urgently needs to have a national vision when it comes to disasters.

Senator Dagenais: I have a supplementary question. Forest fires are burning in the Maritimes, British Columbia, Alberta and Quebec. France is half the size of Ontario. Canada is 1,700 times bigger than France, but France, I would remind you, has 197,000 volunteer firefighters. I think it is going to take more than a carbon tax to save the environment. Your Prime Minister urgently needs to have a national vision when it comes to disasters.

Do you honestly believe that Canada has the equipment it needs to fight the forest fires that are plaguing the country?

Hon. Jean-Guy Dagenais: Every year, during the July 14 festivities in France, I am always impressed to see the thousands of firefighters in uniform marching in the Champs-Élysées parade. France has more than 252,000 firefighters, including 197,000 volunteer firefighters, who the country can call upon in the case of wildfires or other natural disasters. Many of these volunteers are retired members of the military.

Yesterday, I was shocked to see that the Prime Minister seemed unable to tell us what was going to be done to get the wildfires under control. We are talking about 2,200 wildfires so far this year, and it is not even summer yet. Unfortunately, wildfires, flooding and tornadoes all seem to be on the agenda for the coming years.

Will Canada stand idly by or will it do like France and set up a mobile volunteer fire brigade to intervene when major disasters strike? Believe me, we are going to need it.

Hon. Jean-Guy Dagenais: Your Honour and honourable senators, I rise today in support of the bill now before us, Bill C-241, An Act to amend the Income Tax Act (deduction of travel expenses for tradespersons).

I’d like all of us to pay particular attention to this bill, which aims to give tradespeople, whose skills are so badly needed, the opportunity of deducting expenses when they work more than 120 kilometres from their home.

This isn’t a new topic in the political arena. It has been the subject of various pieces of legislation since 2006 that have never been passed by Parliament.

Bill C-241 fits on a single page. The few lines that make it up didn’t generate much discussion when it was studied in committee in the other place. It took just 17 minutes for it to be sent back to the House of Commons for passage.

What is surprising is that all members from each of the opposition parties voted in favour of this pro-tradespeople bill, but all the Liberal members voted against it. Fortunately for tradespeople, this is a minority government.

I’m now hoping that everyone in this chamber, which some describe as non-partisan, will pass it quickly.

We can’t lose sight of the fact that electricians, plumbers, welders, tinsmiths and many other construction workers are working in trades that are essential in our society.

While this class of workers has been ignored or even devalued for too long, it now includes people who earn very respectable wages, taxpayers who pay their fair share of taxes.

We’re currently facing a labour shortage, and it’s not uncommon these days for tradespeople to take jobs on construction sites that aren’t necessarily in their home community. As a result, they have to temporarily incur travel and living expenses in order to earn their wages.

Bill C-241 that is before us today seeks to enhance the mobility of construction workers and make it easier for business owners to hire workers.

What’s more, I believe that a bill like Bill C-241 will likely help different trades to convince young and not-so-young people to work in construction.

Construction workers are badly needed.

Our economy has always been based on construction. However, work sites aren’t always located in communities that have the workers needed to do the job. What’s more, the working conditions offered by business owners don’t always cover tradespersons’ travel costs.

Bill C-241 seeks to set guidelines that will encourage construction workers to travel in order to make it easier to complete certain projects.

This is also a good way to address the current labour shortage.

I now want to talk a bit more about why I think the Liberal MPs are refusing to vote in favour of this bill that is good for middle-class workers.

They must have had to tow a party line because the current government believes it has done its part by bringing in a $4,000 tax deduction for the mobility of tradespeople. In contrast to this deduction, Bill C-241 doesn’t set a ceiling and will allow tradespeople to choose the tax regime that is most favourable to them and their family.

I want to emphasize the family aspect here.

Even though we already have compensation programs for workers who have to move to be within 40 kilometres of their work site, it’s important to remember that a family today is often made up of two people who earn a salary and children who are rooted in their community.

Moving can sometimes mean a job loss for the spouse, in addition to having to work to recreate a family and school setting for the children. These tough choices aren’t just limited to construction workers.

As a police officer with the Sûreté du Québec, I personally refused to enter competitions for a promotion because I knew that this could lead to a move and that my wife would lose her job.

Bill C-241 seeks to allow tradespeople who agree to temporarily move to earn a living to deduct employment expenses when those aren’t paid by the employer.

The current mobility tax deduction of $4,000 is insufficient and, in my view, too restrictive.

However, the Liberal members in the other place haven’t understood this. Instead, they’ve decided, in a partisan manner, to turn their backs on construction tradespeople.

The right to claim travel expenses as tax deductions mustn’t be reserved for the elite.

I will close by reminding you that the members of this chamber and those in the other place have travel allowances and per diems because they’re called upon to travel temporarily outside their place of residence.

This situation is indisputable.

Furthermore, our tax system allows any businessperson or professional in Canada to travel by plane, train or automobile, to stay at hotels and to claim meal expenses when these expenses are work-related.

They can do so as often as they like during a fiscal year and that is indisputable.

If it is acceptable in the two situations I just talked about, ask yourselves why construction workers, who must travel in their own vehicle and with their own tools, wouldn’t have the right to claim such expenses when they have to travel more than 120  kilometres from their home to earn a living.

When people travel to earn a living, it makes no difference to me if they’re travelling with a toolbox or a computer.

I therefore hope that you will feel as I do about tradespeople and vote in favour of Bill C-241 to grant them the right to tax deductions in cases that require extensive travel.

I believe that the mobility of this workforce is essential for construction, which is a major economic sector. Thank you.

(On motion of Senator Clement, debate adjourned.)

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