Parliamentary Speeches
772 speeches by Alexandre Boulerice — Page 3 of 16
Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, as we know, the NDP had called for the GST to be removed from all essential and basic goods. The Liberals came up with a list that may at times seem far-fetched or over-the-top. What we are seeing, however, is that the Bloc Québécois and the Conservatives are joining forces to keep the GST on in-store prepared foods like sandwiches or roast chicken, as well as on diapers, child car se…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, what is wrong with this picture? Danielle is retired for medical reasons. Her disability pension is $45,000. Danielle has a partner who earns $125,000. Guess who is getting a $250 cheque this spring? Well, according to the Liberals, Danielle's partner will get one, but she will not. She is being punished for being too sick to work. It makes no sense, damn it. My question to the Prime …
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his speech, and especially for the answer he just gave. I just realized that he was actually being sarcastic. The satire, the sarcasm, was his own speech, coming from a party that was found in contempt of Parliament and that used closure motions and omnibus bills over and over and over again. They are lecturing us about respect for the institution, which is …
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I am listening to my colleague from the Conservative Party and wondering if he is truly addressing the subject of the privilege motion that his party moved. He is talking about the cost of car insurance. That is not really a question of parliamentary privilege.
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, speaking of the use of public funds, we recently learned that the leader of the Conservative Party wants to do away with a housing construction fund. We know that 17 Conservative members applied to that program for funding for their communities. The Conservative leader decided to muzzle those members and prevent them from doing their job by requesting funding that is there to help a…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, Quebeckers and Canadians know they can count on us for help when they are struggling to pay their rent and their bills. I really liked it when my colleague said she was getting a little tired of repeating the same speech in the House all the time. I have a suggestion for her. She can simply stop repeating the same speech over and over in the House. That might help. I urge them to vo…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, for weeks, the NDP has been calling on the government to give a break to those struggling to pay their bills. We proposed a plan to cut the GST on essentials. The Liberals bowed to pressure, but, as usual, they are only working in half measures. We won on groceries and children's clothing, but for only two months. Those needs will not go away in February. Do the Liberals understand th…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the cost of living is going up, rents are going up and the price of groceries is going up. The Liberals have let everyone down. The Conservatives are going to make cuts everywhere, and that is going to make life even more expensive. Quebeckers deserve better. They need a break. The NDP is proposing that we get rid of the tax on groceries, children's clothing, heating bills, the Intern…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, people are struggling while CEOs are lining their pockets. Rents have doubled, and grocery prices are really out of control. It is clear that the Liberals have let Canadians down. The Conservatives want to cut everything, including the Canada child benefit and dental care. Who is going to pay the price? Quebeckers will. We in the NDP will take the tax off basic necessities, like food,…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for his heartfelt interventions on this issue. The whole question of procurement and public contracts is a very sensitive one. We are talking about thousands of contracts and billions of dollars. These are often the places where a lot of corruption and cronyism happens, strangely enough, be it among the Liberals or the Conservatives. As for awardin…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, women who report domestic violence committed against themselves or their child are often accused of parental alienation. These accusations are based on a scientifically invalid theory that is used to undermine the credibility of mothers who report domestic violence. These accusations result in court rulings that endanger the safety of children, including rulings that force children …
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, my Conservative colleague raises an important point about confidence. Confidence also means the confidence that people have in institutions. In light of the legitimate fears of potential foreign political interference, how is it that every federal party leader here in the House has received their security clearance to find out what is going on with their party and their caucus and t…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, according to the Salvation Army's annual report, one in four parents is cutting back on their own food consumption to ensure their children have enough to eat. Where are we, exactly? Are we in a Dickens novel or Les Misérables? It is unacceptable in our society that parents are having to skip meals to feed their children. What are the Liberals doing about it? They are meeting with w…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, it is funny, but at the end of his speech, my colleague started talking about the concerns of ordinary folks, workers and their families: the housing crisis, the cost of living, the cost of groceries. His party is paralyzing the work of the House, when we should be able to talk about those concerns and work together on finding solutions. I find that a bit odd. I understand that the …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the government's environmental performance is pathetic. We are in a climate crisis, and the Liberals are not getting the job done. First of all, the minister announced regulations on the emissions cap for the oil and gas sector, supposedly to meet our 2030 targets, but they will not even apply until 2030. Today, the environment commissioner confirmed that the Liberal plan is not worki…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, the Chalk River project is meeting with a lot of public resistance. Communities are extremely concerned and want nothing to do with this project. The Algonquin first nations share that opinion, with 10 of the 11 groups opposing the project. What does my colleague have to say about the fact that there is no social licence for the project? Does he want to force people to accept a proj…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, one thing is certain: The solution to meeting our Paris commitments and combatting climate change is not to produce more oil, drive more cars and consume more fossil fuels. The Conservative Party and I have fundamentally different positions on that point. Second, of course we need to have a mix of energy to produce the energy that communities need. However, the current technology of…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I do not wish to speak for my colleague, the member for Victoria, our environment critic. I am not familiar enough with this issue to provide an informed answer. However, I would like to keep speaking to the responsibility of the current and former Liberal governments as it relates to concerns over the commission's independence and potential conflicts of interest. During the testimo…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I have the same concern. I remember back in the day, when Catherine McKenna was the environment minister, and she passed the new environmental assessment bill, Bill C‑69. I asked her directly whether there would be assessments for these small reactors. The answer she gave me at the time was clearly no.
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Louis‑Saint‑Laurent for his speech. I too am very proud to represent Quebeckers. I would like to ask him a question about the planned radioactive waste dump in Chalk River. There is a great deal of public concern about it. Several municipalities have spoken against the project, as have several Algonquin first nations. What does my colleague make of the issue …
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I will start by saying that I will be sharing my time with my outstanding colleague from Windsor West, who will share his thoughts on this critical issue with us. I want to talk about the environment, because the Minister of Environment and Climate Change made an important announcement today about the much-vaunted cap on oil and gas emissions that which we have been waiting for for …
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague from Repentigny for her speech and for all the work that she has done on this really important issue. I have also met with groups of citizens who are extremely concerned about nuclear waste management, particularly when it comes to the Chalk River project, which involves surface disposal near a water table and beside a river. People are understandably concerned …
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, we have been discussing this issue here in the House, in various committees and in the Senate for almost 10 years now. Do the Liberals understand that by dragging their feet, they are playing into the hands of the Conservative Party, which wants nothing to do with medical assistance in dying? It is like a new alliance but against the interests of the people and against the interests…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I am having a hard time understanding the rules of the House. Conservative MPs recently attacked the member for Timmins—James Bay, saying he was anti-Semitic. The Conservatives regularly attack ministers by saying that they are incompetent. Why can the member for Montcalm not say that the parliamentary secretary is ignorant?
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, it is pretty mind-boggling to hear the parliamentary secretary to the leader of the Liberal government right now. We are talking about a fundamental issue: dignity of human life and respect for people. Unfortunately, unless the Supreme Court or the Quebec Superior Court asks the government to take action, it does nothing. The special joint committee has been making recommendations f…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, my colleague really emphasized the importance of not acting hastily. I think that was the main thrust of her speech. I have been here quite a while. The debate on MAID began in 2017 or 2018. That is going back a ways. The courts forced the government to act. A joint committee of the House of Commons and the Senate was struck that made recommendations. We have been talking about this…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Montcalm not only for his speech, but also for his extensive and truly exemplary work on this issue. I share his impatience and frustration with the Liberal government's inaction. My question concerns the impact that this has been having on Quebec physicians since yesterday. Quebec physicians are in an impossible situation, caught between Quebec legislation th…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I would like to inform you that I will be sharing my time with the exceptional member for New Westminster—Burnaby, who is sure to shed a great deal of light on this fundamental issue. I would like to take 30 seconds at the beginning of my speech for something more personal. Today is October 31. A year ago, my partner's mother, Debbie Djevahirdjian, passed away. Today is the annivers…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his kind words. The Quebec law is clear. If the Conservatives want to respect the provinces and provincial jurisdictions, they must align themselves with the Quebec government, within the framework of this law. I do not understand why, sometimes, they claim they are the provinces' closest allies and that they respect jurisdictions and, other times, when it d…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, the member for Montcalm is absolutely right. There is a critical moment during the reflection process after a diagnosis. People do not decide out of the blue that they want to make an advance request for MAID. They are already involved with a system of professionals that includes people whose job is to uphold ethical standards. Quebec's health care system has ethics specialists on s…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, thousands of renters are worried that their landlords might be using YieldStar software to collude in fixing and increasing the rents they charge. In the U.S.A., the FBI launched an investigation into this software. YieldStar is known to be used by large landlords in Canada. However, the Liberals and the Conservatives refuse to investigate the matter in order to protect the profits of…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, yes, I did hear about that. I was really stunned. What a blatant contradiction. I think my colleague used the word “hypocrisy”, and that is exactly what it is. What the Conservatives want to do is cut programs that sometimes work. That program is working so well that some Conservative members want their municipalities' projects to be approved. However, the Conservative leader wants to…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, there are tax exemptions and loopholes, particularly with the capital gains tax, that allow these large trusts to get out of paying their share of taxes. This encourages them to buy more units, hundreds of units. That hurts tenants. The NDP believes that if these big funds cannot guarantee that they are going to keep certain units affordable, they should be taxed more or prevented fro…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, indeed, it is not as though the solutions were not known. The problem is that this issue has gone unaddressed for years. There have been federal cuts since 1994 that have never been restored. The affordable rental housing deficit is even more striking when we consider the development of social housing. In six towns in Quebec, the share of social housing built between 2000 and 2023 ran…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I did not have enough time during my speech to adequately describe how expensive housing is for households. Households that spend more than 30% of their income on housing are poor and vulnerable. Do members know how many households are currently in this predicament? The answer is 1.6 million Canadian households, including 373,000 Quebec households. Yesterday, the Front d'action popula…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I move that the 12th report of the Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities, presented on Thursday, October 26, 2023, be concurred in. First, I would like to say that I have made the excellent choice to share my time with the member for Port Moody—Coquitlam. I am pleased to rise in the House to speak to a subject …
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, I am guessing my colleague will not be overly surprised by the question I am about to ask him. I am desperately trying to find a Conservative who will tell me the truth on this subject. Earlier, he said that we are here to work, to take care of people and to improve people's quality of life. I could not agree more. That is why the NDP forced the minority government to set up a denta…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, I want to reassure my colleague. I do not need his confidence to do my work. Let us look at the real issues. Instead of all this taunting and filibustering in Parliament, can my colleague, unlike the other Conservatives I have asked, guarantee to seniors in this country that the Conservatives will extend and conserve the dental care program that has already helped 240,622 Quebeckers…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, in his speech, my colleague said something important. He said that we must be extremely careful with taxpayers' money. I agree. At the moment, however, I think that Conservative measures are wasting a great deal of taxpayers' money. On the topic of saving money, the NDP decided to create a new dental insurance program that is saving people a lot of money, especially seniors and peop…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise to ask my colleague from Louis‑Saint‑Laurent a question. A while ago, he criticized the Liberal government for being incapable of saying yes. I am going to give him a chance to say yes to a question that I think will come as no surprise to him. To help seniors who are often struggling, living in poverty or grappling with inflation and the rising cost of living, we…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, my colleague is giving speeches on his own motion and delaying the Conservatives' own motion, and it is kind of a waste of our time. I want to take this opportunity to say that, this morning, I was proud to find out that 240,622 people in Quebec have received dental care thanks to the work of the NDP, which made this negotiation happen and reached this agreement with the minority go…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, I am going to take advantage of my colleague's speech to ask him the same question I asked one of his Conservative colleagues earlier, although I received no answer. I think that this is something I am going to have to emphasize over the next few days and weeks. I was very pleased to find out that 240,622 Quebeckers have used the new dental care program and are getting their dentist…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, do members know how many people are turning to food banks to be able to eat? What would be a good guess? We are talking about two million people, which is 90% more than five years ago. While people are going hungry and community groups are overwhelmed, the Liberals just sit there, looking smug. When will they have the courage to go after the ultrarich, who are stuffing themselves sill…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I want to present a petition signed by several hundred people, which reminds us that the House recognized Quebec as a nation and that the family reunification thresholds imposed by Quebec are causing unfair delays for Quebec sponsors. The petitioners are calling on Parliament to rule on the constitutionality of the thresholds for family reunification in Quebec and on the constitutiona…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, more and more people are becoming vulnerable and falling into poverty. One study reports that, month by month, 40% of Quebeckers are just $200 away from bankruptcy. The situation has reached such a crisis point that the expression “tightening one's belt” is literally coming true. Twenty per cent of people are eating less just to save a little money. That is just plain wrong. It shows …
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to ask my Conservative colleague a question. We are in an odd situation. The Prime Minister has said that he was informed that some Conservative members and candidates are or were under foreign influence. The leader of the Conservative Party asked the Prime Minister to provide the names of those people, which is obviously completely illegal. Then,…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, people are dying in the streets, on park benches, in alleys and sometimes in portable toilets. The number of deaths among the unhoused has skyrocketed. In fact, it has tripled in recent years, and this is just the tip of the iceberg considering that a lot of deaths are not even recorded. The housing crisis kills. Liberals and Conservatives alike have allowed this crisis to fester so t…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, a rather sinister spectacle has been unfolding over the past two weeks as the Liberals and the Conservatives play their partisan games. Meanwhile, work on behalf of Canadians has come to a standstill. I would like to ask my Conservative colleague a very specific question. We, the NDP, managed to force the government to provide dental care to seniors. If his party comes to power, will …
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, in 2015, the Liberals promised people a major employment insurance reform. They promised to give everyone better access to EI, to take into account seasonal industries, to protect self-employed workers and to put an end to discrimination against women. Nine years later, it is clear that nothing has been done. The Liberals once again dragged their feet and failed workers. That is why a…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, according to a new report, living costs are rising faster than incomes for the bottom 40% of families. Roughly speaking, almost half of Canadians are getting poorer and poorer. Ordinary folks are struggling while the rich line their pockets. On top of that, the Conservatives are announcing that they would cut programs that help people, like dental care and pharmacare, programs that we…
Read full speech →