Question Period

Mr. Yvon Godin (Acadie—Bathurst, NDP):
Mr. Speaker, when the hon. member for Calgary Southwest was the leader of the opposition, he condemned the Liberal's partisan appointments. He said, “Patronage must stop and when we form the government it will stop”.

This morning, the Chronicle Herald illustrated that, once in power, the Conservatives are no different than the Liberals.

They forced Enterprise Cape Breton Corporation to hire former employees of Conservative ministers.

Mr. Yvon Godin (Acadie—Bathurst, NDP):
Mr. Speaker, New Brunswick's labour minister recently asked the Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development to help workers in the crab fishery. Her answer came yesterday. She is refusing to change the employment insurance eligibility criteria to help the 2,500 workers. She is refusing to set up special programs for workers 55 and older and, for over a year now, she has been refusing to meet with New Brunswick's minister.

Mr. Yvon Godin (Acadie—Bathurst, NDP):
Mr. Speaker, on April 16, the task force put together by the New Brunswick government to look at the decision of Canadian Blood Services to relocate its centre in Saint John, New Brunswick, to Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, released its report, which recommends that the centre be kept in Saint John.

Canadian Blood Services confirmed that Health Canada approved its decision to close the facility.

Mr. Yvon Godin (Acadie—Bathurst, NDP):
Mr. Speaker, last week, the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans announced that crab quotas in area 12, in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, have been cut by 63% this year. The crab fishing industry was not expecting such a dramatic reduction. These quotas mean that plant workers and deckhands will have just three weeks or so of work, and some will lose their jobs.

Mr. Yvon Godin (Acadie—Bathurst, NDP):
Mr. Speaker, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business recently conducted a study that indicated that 82% of Canada's entrepreneurs would like the federal government to defer future increases in employment insurance premiums until the $57 billion surplus has been fully repaid.

If the Minister of Finance truly opposes the Liberals' plundering of the EI fund, why is he using yesterday's Conservative budget bill to finish the job started by the Liberals?

Hon. Jim Flaherty (Minister of Finance, CPC):

Mr. Yvon Godin (Acadie—Bathurst, NDP):
Mr. Speaker, while the shipyard in Lévis, Quebec, is dying and more than 1,500 employees were laid off in February, the Conservatives' shipbuilding strategy is going nowhere.

Atlantic Canada expects to lease ferries; the Arctic is still waiting for patrol ships to protect our sovereignty, not to mention the replacement of HMCS Protecteur, which has been put on ice.

Why is shipbuilding not a priority when the need is so great?

Mr. Mike Lake (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Industry, CPC):

Mr. Yvon Godin (Acadie—Bathurst, NDP):
Mr. Speaker, in 2008, two full-time Nova Scotia Supreme Court justice positions, which had been occupied by bilingual justices, were filled with unilingual anglophone justices. There is now only a single bilingual justice in the court.

Two other positions will need to be filled soon in Yarmouth and Sydney, which have a significant proportion of francophones.

Mr. Yvon Godin (Acadie—Bathurst, NDP):
Mr. Speaker, I believe that the Minister of Finance needs a short course in mathematics. The $8.3 billion could support 101,000 families with children, 192,000 single parent families, or 293,000 seniors living alone. 293,000 seniors could live on the bonuses of the CEOs of the six largest banks.

What is the Minister of Finance waiting for to follow the lead of Great Britain and legislate against these excessive bonuses.

Hon. Jim Flaherty (Minister of Finance, CPC):

Mr. Yvon Godin (Acadie—Bathurst, NDP):
Mr. Speaker, for the past two years, the International Longshoremen's Association has been trying to stop Irving Oil from taking over part of the port of Saint John.

No one in New Brunswick has the courage to ask Irving Oil to respect the law. That is why I sent a letter to the Minister of Transport asking him to deal with this situation. His answer was that the transaction has to be approved by his department. However, Irving has taken over the Long Wharf Terminal and is now building on it without proper authorization.

Mr. Yvon Godin (Acadie—Bathurst, NDP):
Mr. Speaker, this morning, Statistics Canada informed us that the number of people receiving employment insurance benefits fell in August. But the situation is much more complicated. The number of recipients increased in New Brunswick and in Quebec. In Ontario and Saskatchewan, the decrease was caused by the fact that many workers reached the end of their benefit period.

In Ontario, Manitoba and Alberta, 40% of people are not eligible, and that number keeps increasing. What does the government plan on doing?