Dissenting Opinion for Bloc Québécois

Respecting Quebec’s jurisdictions

The Government of Quebec has a strategic regional development policy in which the focus is on communities taking charge. Thus, because it is very aware of the local aspect of the voluntary sector, Quebec recognized and relied on the experience and expertise of local people to ensure that this well-established “network” could take the reins and guide its own development. Therefore, if the federal government wanted to invest in the volunteer and community sector, it should have done it in cooperation with the government of Quebec by signing the Accord between the Government of Canada and the Voluntary Sector (December 2001) with Quebec and transferring to the province the funds needed to fully integrate these initiatives into a coherent Quebec policy.

Moreover, need we remind anyone that the agreement signed by ministers Pierre Pettigrew and Louise Harel, on December 1, 1997, established that the government of Quebec had full responsibility for designing and executing active employment assistance measures, as described in Part II of the Employment Insurance Act? However, despite this agreement, which recognizes that Quebec has responsibility for developing employability services, the government of Canada continues to manage programs intended for these specific clienteles. This causes duplication and overlap in the field of employment.

The voluntary sector needs stable, long-term funding

It should go without saying that voluntary organizations need stable, long-term funding, but the injustices committed against them because of the gaps in the call for proposals process, as reported by numerous witnesses heard by this committee, compel us to repeat it. It seems in fact that the desire for visibility won out over the responsibility to provide responsible funding, which entails respecting the jurisdictions of Quebec and the other provinces.

The federal government creates programs and subsidizes organizations directly even though it has no jurisdiction to do so. However, these programs are never permanent and are never the subject of a specific agreement with the government of Quebec, which means that when the program expires and is not renewed, the federal government can wash its hands of it. Quebec and the other provinces then find themselves unable to meet the needs of these organizations, because the funds were not transferred to them; they were simply cut.

The recommendations

In light of the two problems described above, the Bloc Québécois cannot approve the adoption of the report as presented, since recommendations 1, 2, 8, 13, 15, 18, 26, 27, 28 and 29 are contrary to Quebec’s interests (or contain irritants), as they impinge on jurisdictions which the Constitution recognizes as being provincial.

Thus, the Bloc Québécois further asks:

1.     That the jurisdictions of Quebec and the other provinces under the Constitution and the various agreements signed with the federal government, particularly with respect to labour force training and employability programs, be respected.

2.     Pursuant to the request by Mr. Tony Martin for an investigation of the serious problems raised by many witnesses (fear of reprisals from HRSDC officials), we support that request and ask that an independent investigation be conducted in order to shed light on these allegations and that justice be done so that this situation does not recur and the organizations affected are compensated.