- Member of Parliament
- Member of the Subcommittee on Review of Parliament’s involvement with associations and recognized Interparliamentary groups
Deputy whip of the Bloc Québécois
Member of the Joint Interparliamentary Council
- Bloc Québécois
- Manicouagan
- Quebec
- Voting Attendance: 64%
- Expenses Last Quarter: $175,049.14
- Government Page
- Nov/2/23 2:03:55 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is with great appreciation that I rise today to mark the 20th anniversary of Action‑Chômage Côte‑Nord. I want to thank Line Sirois, the board of directors and all those who supported this organization over the past two decades. Their work is essential, not only because they help people in need on the north shore, but also because, through their actions and representations, they keep bursting the Ottawa bubble and reminding us why we were elected, and that is to speak on behalf of our constituents.
Tourism, fisheries and forestry workers support families, businesses and communities and help to occupy more of this vast land where we want to live. These workers are entitled to respect and dignity. Action‑Chômage Côte‑Nord gives them that. They have the right to be able to put food on the table all year round. They have the right to comprehensive EI reform. Together, we will give them that, and not 20 years from now. I wish Action‑Chômage Côte‑Nord a happy anniversary.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his speech. He is always smart and sensible.
I would like to come back to the issue of employment insurance. The government is extending a pilot project that is not working at all and does not cover everyone.
How much does my colleague think it would cost the government to provide this help to people working in the seasonal industry so that there is no longer a spring gap? I am having a hard time understanding this lack of political will.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague from Thérèse-De Blainville for her speech. Members will see that the spirit of my speech is somewhat similar to hers. Perhaps it is because we wear the same colours in the House.
As a human being, as a woman and in good conscience, I cannot help but bring up the three points raised by my colleague. These are the Bloc Québécois's demands. In short, the government has come up with an update that leaves us wanting more. We always expect more from the government, but in this case we were expecting at least a little something. These measures were already announced but not implemented last spring or, as has been said several times, are simply minor legislative adjustments. Basically, this is an update, but it is not something that required vision. It is not something that requires that attention be paid to what is going on around us right now.
We go to our ridings and we know what is happening. People stop us to talk about bread, butter and health. This bill is not really something that will go down in history. It is very unremarkable. The Bloc Québécois will be voting for the bill not because we are particularly enthusiastic about it, but simply because we cannot oppose a bill that does so little. The legislative adjustments needed to be done. That is the first thing I wanted to raise.
I talked about the Bloc Québécois's three priorities, which we mentioned several times recently, just before the update. I am here to represent the Bloc Québécois, but I would also like to talk about my riding. I sometimes feel like the government does not realize that, for residents in my region, the north shore, the issues of health transfers, EI reform and old age security for seniors aged 65 to 75 are intrinsically linked. First, there is the issue of money, and then the issue of health. I represent an ageing population of 100,000 people who live in an area where jobs are precarious, even for seniors. Sometimes, there are very good jobs in the mining industry. However, work in forestry, fishing or tourism is really seasonal. The workers are not seasonal, the industry is. Also, the region is vast. My riding spans two time zones. That says it all.
Residents are struggling with these issues, but the government does not seem to notice. It does not even mention them in its economic statement, even though the opposition keeps raising the issue of inflation and the amount of groceries people can afford keeps shrinking from week to week. In short, these issues went totally unmentioned, yet they are crucial for my constituents. For them, it is a matter of being able to keep a roof over their heads and put food on the table. I believe I have said this in the past. In Maslow's hierarchy of needs, these are basic needs. People need to be healthy, they need to eat, and they need shelter. That is what we are talking about.
I would also like to come back to the issue of old age security. I talked about conscience at the beginning of my speech. I honestly cannot imagine what the government was thinking when it decided to divide retirees who have the same needs into two groups, seemingly arbitrarily. I think they all need three meals a day, whether they are 62 or 73. The government divided them in two and is doing nothing to change that. It is not doing the right thing. It is not saying that it was in fact a huge mistake, that it did not realize this would be a problem, but it could do that now, which would do it credit.
Instead, the government is leaving things that way out of pride. My constituents cannot live on pride, unfortunately.
I also wanted to come back to EI reform. My colleague mentioned the winter gap, which makes winters a time of great hardship for seasonal workers. I am referring to the seasonal gap, the period when workers in seasonal industries are left in limbo. This is happening at a time when people, including many of my constituents, are no longer employed in the seasonal industry and live in an area where there are not 28 other jobs available. It is not necessarily consistent over time.
It is not a labour shortage, it is simply that there are no jobs. These people have no income. However, industries and communities need workers, and the workers themselves need to work, of course. These people are not even getting any help.
As an aside, I read an interview recently with the Minister of National Revenue and member for Gaspésie—Les Îles-de-la-Madeleine concerning EI. I must say that I was stunned, and my colleague from Thérèse-De Blainville was probably stunned as well, to read that she wanted EI reform. However, it was not to honour the Liberal government's promise from 2015, but to address the labour shortage.
Right now, six in 10 people are not eligible for EI, and precarious workers and seasonal workers, which include women, students and youth, are struggling to make ends meet at the end of the year. In addition, our villages are experiencing an exodus. Now the Minister of National Revenue and member for Gaspésie—Les Îles-de-la-Madeleine, who is sort of my neighbour on the other side of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, comes along saying that EI will fix the labour shortage.
We have been hearing it for 20 years. There has even been talk of it since 1996 and the Axworthy reform. There are reforms going on. What we are being told is that it will be more generous and fix the holes in the safety net. However, the Minister of National Revenue and member for Gaspésie—Les Îles-de-la-Madeleine says that the criteria will simply be made even more restrictive, that people will be forced to travel 200 kilometres or 300 kilometres from home, rent an apartment and leave their family in order to work. At least, it seems it will be that way in my riding.
I would love to see the minister visit the fishing villages on the Lower North Shore. Fishers from Newfoundland came to settle in Quebec, and they now live there in communities of 200 or 300 people, where the economy is based on the processing industry in the village, on fishing. I would love to watch her to tell them that they will end up having to go work in Sept-Îles and Baie Comeau, 700 kilometres away, because hotels need workers in the winter.
That is not going to work, and it is frankly ridiculous. More than that, to me, it is an insult to my constituents, to the workers in my riding who contribute to the Quebec economy and the Canadian economy just as much as other workers. I have a lot to say about this topic, because I am deeply concerned about it. I am not even hearing good news. Not only is the government not talking about it, but worse still, we are getting bad news. That is really what the member for Gaspésie—Les Îles-de-la-Madeleine is saying. She is a bearer of bad news.
Finally, I would like to talk about health transfers. I mentioned how big my riding is. Imagine having to travel four, five or six hours from home for dialysis. Dialysis is not a yearly treatment. It is administered several times a week. That means choices have to be made, choices that are heartbreaking, because services are not available. They are not necessarily available in the cities, either. We have seen what is happening in the hospitals, which are overflowing right now. As we have seen, the Red Cross was called in to help out at CHEO. What is happening right now is very serious.
The provinces want health transfers. This is essential. We have talked about health care, and it is once again beyond me why the government is so determined not to meet people's needs. This is what the premiers of Quebec and the provinces are asking for.
As I have said before, this is about lack of vision and will. I believe I have talked about this in other legislative assemblies, but this trend is worsening. It is becoming increasingly apparent; there is no denying it. The government has no desire to undertake anything and would rather do the bare minimum. It avoids making waves. It takes shortcuts. Then it takes measures nobody is keen on and tries to ram them through.
The Bloc Québécois will reluctantly vote in favour of Bill C‑32 even though we think it completely lacks substance.
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- Sep/23/22 11:39:19 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the federal government obviously does not understand. By raising the number of hours required to qualify for benefits from 420 to 700, it is putting entire families at risk.
The government does not understand the sacrifices that come with the spring gap. Depriving seasonal workers of benefits at a time of year when they do not have work is just going to push them to leave the industry or even their region. The government is plunging families into poverty. It is jeopardizing our seasonal industries, which are already experiencing a labour shortage, and it is contributing to the decline of the regions.
When will the government understand that?
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- Sep/23/22 11:38:09 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, there are less than 48 hours left. On Sunday, the temporary employment insurance measures come to an end. On Sunday, unless the federal government does something, it is back to the spring gap, back to the nightmare for seasonal workers everywhere, especially in eastern Quebec.
In less than 48 hours, we will be back to an employment insurance system that 60% of workers do not have access to, despite having contributed to it their entire life. An overhaul is needed, but there is less than 48 hours left to do something about it.
Will the government extend the temporary measures?
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- Mar/4/22 11:38:01 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, even now, new moms who were let go from their jobs while on parental leave cannot collect employment insurance.
When these women, who have just started their families, lose their income, Ottawa abandons them. The federal government has been refusing to fix this injustice for years. Six women took the government to court and won. Instead of fixing the problem, Ottawa appealed the decision. These are young mothers who have lost their jobs, and the government is dragging them to court.
Why not help them instead?
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- Feb/3/22 5:46:10 p.m.
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- Re: Bill C-8
Mr. Speaker, of course I will talk about employment insurance, after all, it is mentioned in the economic update. In fact I hope to see a reform. I thank my colleague because I love talking about this issue.
Back home, employment insurance is not just assistance, it is practically a development tool. That is a serious thing to say, but it is what it is. Some people in my riding have not had access to EI since November.
I am thinking about one fishing industry in the Lower North Shore, about some tiny villages of just 100 or 150 people, about the Newfoundlanders who came to fish. What happened? Every single employee of the plant was denied EI because of alleged fraud. It is funny. In my region, 30 or 40 people is an entire town. The entire plant apparently committed fraud and the workers got nothing.
We are asking that these people get their money now, because they need to eat and put a roof over their heads. The government can then conduct its investigation, and if some individuals committed fraud then they can pay the money back. The way things are done now is causing people to leave the regions, as is happening in my colleague's region, and that is not what we want in terms of land use, as we have mentioned.
This would be easy to do. The government did it with CERB, so it can do it with EI.
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- Jan/31/22 11:32:50 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to let you know that I will be splitting my time with my colleague from Laurentides—Labelle.
I have not yet thanked my constituents for the last election, so I would like to do that now. I thank them with all my heart. This is the third time they have given me their support and renewed their trust in me. I am honoured. It is always a privilege to work for the people of the North Shore and the people of Manicouagan. I really do put all my energy into working tirelessly for them 24–7. From the bottom of my heart, I am immensely grateful to them.
We do not work alone. We have a team and a party, but there are also the people who work very closely with us. My North Shore team members are Jeff, John-James, Antoni, Marjorie, Jessie and Rita, as well as Josh, who sometimes joins the team as a North Shore man. I thank them from the bottom of my heart because I would be nowhere without them. It is important to be humble.
Obviously, an MP's job is to represent their constituents, all of their constituents. We each have a unique riding, but, as I like to point out, my riding is roughly 350,000 square kilometres in area, with 1,300 kilometres of coastline. It is truly a coastal region bordering the sea, the river, the estuary, and the gulf. My riding even has two different time zones. I am here to represent all the files and priorities that are important to my constituents. I would like to name a few of the priorities to show how diverse they are.
I teach at the post‑secondary level, and I have to say that my own students would not dare hand in any papers with such wide margins and large font to hide their lack of ideas. To me, that is what we find in the Speech from the Throne. I would like to talk about things that could have been addressed. Even though some issues are very specific, there are still broader guidelines and ideas that can inspire the government. In my opinion, this document is short in length and short on substance.
Rural and remote areas have needs, but often we are not heard and in fact we are forgotten. There should be some practical instruction about how things work in the regions, how people live and what needs they have.
I mentioned that my riding covers approximately 350,000 square kilometres, but we have a 400‑kilometre area that does not even have any roads. In the summer, people get around by boat. In the winter, it is a little more complicated. People travel by snowmobile on what is known as the White Trail. However, this is no longer viable as a result of climate change. It is almost as if these people were living on islands. They need medications and Canada Post services. We are talking about food security and physical safety and security. They need certain goods every day. Canada Post has a monopoly, but it does not provide door-to-door delivery for parcels. I want to point out that people back home are currently very worried about the medications issue.
Wanda Beaudoin, a proud Coaster and mayor from the Lower North Shore, in my riding, passed away last year. She was not getting her cancer medications, which were coming in late. We made all kinds of suggestions to Canada Post. Anything is possible. I always say that if we can land on the moon then we can get medications delivered to the Lower North Shore. This is one of the major issues for the entire North Shore. We rely on these postal services, which are gradually eroding.
I have so much to say about my riding that I could talk for days, but I do want to say that the remoteness of the North Shore—that is not quite true: the big cities are far from the North Shore but we are not far from the big cities—causes a lot of concerns with respect to maintaining seasonal access. I drive at least 2,000 kilometres every week, and sometimes more when I travel throughout my riding, because air transportation, in particular, can be difficult.
It is very difficult for us to travel to visit family or attend doctor's appointments. We just cannot do it.
Some of my colleagues from the Maritimes are here today. It is much cheaper, almost half the cost, to travel from Moncton to Montreal than to travel from my home to Montreal. People simply cannot manage it, but everyone has the right to choose where they want to live and use the land.
I am talking about air transportation, but the same goes for roads, bridges and tunnels. In fact, there should be a tunnel connecting Quebec and Newfoundland. These issues are very important to me and they must be taken into account. Climate change is of course an issue, but it is just as important to think about those who still do not have road access.
I would also like to talk about other places in my riding, because it is very diverse. Let us talk about Anticosti, that massive island of ours that is bigger than Montreal and Prince Edward Island. People live on the island, and prices are outrageous on the North Shore. Municipalities in the region are remote and do not have year-round access to the mainland, to the continent, as we say back home. They need money, a tax credit so they can buy high-quality, affordable food. Michel Charlebois, a resident I spoke to in my office a while back, said that they are not even entitled to that tax credit.
On the island, no boats can dock for five months of the year. The residents are forced to stock up on food and it is extremely expensive. In fact, if my colleagues come to my riding, they will notice that a can of Maxwell House costs $55 in the north. It is not necessarily what one would call premium coffee. We have huge problems with food, and we need to think about these folks who live in the area and contribute to economic development in our regions. They provide a presence and we must support them. In the Throne Speech, there is nothing for the remote areas. The intent is not even there, so what is going to happen when we get to the actual spending?
I would also like to talk about employment insurance because I think what is happening now is unacceptable. I am not talking about workers in the seasonal industry, but rather about workers suspected of EI fraud. They have not had any money since November. They are being told that they will have to wait for their file to be reviewed, yet there is already a backlog of nearly 93,000 files and not enough staff to process them. Last week, the minister announced a staffing increase, but they are only investigating fraud.
These people have had no money since November. They are being told to go to food banks and to prove that they are not fraudsters. They are being asked to call the Quebec government to apply for social assistance, which is unacceptable. We really need to support them. There is talk of reform, but there is already something that could be done. We do not always need reform before we can take action. The minister could have simply listened to the Bloc Québécois' proposal, which is to first provide benefits to people and then deal with the issue of fraud. These two elements must be separated. We were able to do that with CERB, and we can do it now with EI.
We also need to talk about first nations. The Innu and Naskapi make up 15% of the North Shore's population. That is very important to me as the indigenous affairs critic. We need to take action on the ground. The big issues are economic development and ending violence. The pandemic has hit first nations harder than most. What they need is housing. That is what all the chiefs are asking for. Ghislain Picard, whom I congratulate on his recent re-election as chief of the Assembly of First Nations Quebec-Labrador, has been asking for housing for years. People need housing.
Demographically, things are booming. We are seeing more and more kids and big families. People need homes to keep first nations children and families safe and whole. Then they can look at development opportunities. Actually, we can tackle both at the same time.
I know I do not have much more time. Anyone can see what I am passionate about. I swear to my constituents, from Tadoussac to Blanc-Sablon and Kawawachikamach to Anticosti Island, that I will continue to stand up for what matters to them.
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