Parliamentary Speeches
898 speeches by Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe — Page 3 of 18
Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, today, we are asking ourselves one question: What does this motion have to offer Quebec? As we see it, this motion has absolutely nothing good to offer Quebec. The more electric cars on Quebec's roads, the better for Quebec's economy. Allow me to explain that to my colleague. When an electric car recharges, Hydro-Québec sells that electricity. Instead of using western oil, we use Queb…
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Mr. Speaker, all day, the Liberals have been very proudly saying that they will be voting against this motion, as if they were pro-environment. Can my colleague explain to our Liberal colleagues that their environmental track record is not just about voting against this motion? Their track record is much worse than one would think. I would like my colleague to elaborate on that.
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Madam Speaker, you may not believe anything, but I believe in you. I think there is a major blind spot in the Conservatives' motion when it comes to political prisoners. There are authoritarian regimes in the world that fabricate charges and convict innocent people simply because they oppose a repressive regime. With the Conservative motion before us today, I feel that these people would not even …
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Madam Speaker, I would like to hear my colleague's opinion. In her view, do paragraphs (a), (b), and (c) of the motion not run the risk of being challenged in court? That could drag on for years and years, since, in my opinion, there are many people who would want to challenge these three paragraphs.
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Madam Speaker, I will be sharing my time with someone who is a role model to us all, the member for Rivière-du-Nord, who will be speaking right after me. I will get straight to the point, as I think I did with the questions that I asked. I would like to start by saying that the motion moved by the member for Battle River—Crowfoot does not sit well with the Bloc Québécois. The reason is quite simpl…
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Madam Speaker, I think I made that pretty clear in my speech. I also do not want to be too hard on my Conservative friends, because I am sure they are acting in good faith. Unfortunately, sometimes people have ideas that turn out to be not so great. I think that this motion deserves a lot more work, a lot more rigour to achieve the objective that the Conservatives have set for themselves. Unfortun…
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Madam Speaker, since my colleague did not ask me any questions about my speech, I am not going to answer the question he just asked me. I spoke at length about political prisoners. My colleague is trying to play party politics by attacking the Conservatives and talking about hypocrisy, yet the Liberals are reaching new heights of hypocrisy when it comes to human rights. I spoke about Jimmy Lai. Th…
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Madam Speaker, a significant, concrete and factual step backward is the decrease in funding to Canada's international development envelope, which is being cut by $2.5 billion over three years. That money is often used to fund human rights organizations in countries under authoritarian regimes. That is a fact. The Prime Minister's current vision is to link international development and internationa…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, yesterday, the Subcommittee on International Human Rights took a clear, strong and unanimous stand. It condemned the 20-year prison sentence that the Hong Kong authorities imposed on Jimmy Lai, a defender of democracy and freedom of speech, whose only crime was to express his opinions publicly. The motion calls for his immediate release. In 2023, the House of Commons and the Senate un…
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Mr. Speaker, reading this motion, I do not think a single Quebecker would be able to vote against it, except perhaps 44 of them. According to my colleague, which 44 Quebeckers would vote against this motion?
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Mr. Speaker, I want to congratulate my colleague on his speech. In all honesty, it is one of the best speeches I have heard in my six and a half years as a member of Parliament. I am very proud of him. We have just learned that the Liberals have shown their true colours through the member for Thérèse-De Blainville. They will try to use 40-year-old slogans about the Bloc Québécois rather than apolo…
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to remind the minister that, when Marc Garneau apologized, he did so on his own behalf because he did not have the authority to do so on behalf of the government. What the Bloc Québécois is doing today is giving the government an opportunity to fix past mistakes. When someone from Mirabel reads the Bloc Québécois motion, they will wonder how any MP, particularly one from …
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Mr. Speaker, I am really pleased to hear my colleague. His speech was genuine and sincere. He made a call, and I support that call. He called on us to work across party lines. There are no stumbling blocks in this motion. I do not see how any member, particularly from Quebec, can vote against it. I just want to thank my colleague and give him the rest of the time to respond to the following. How c…
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Mr. Speaker, the motion reads: That the House call on the government to apologize to those whose land was expropriated in Mirabel, to acknowledge the collective trauma these expropriations caused for thousands of Quebeckers who were forced to abandon their homes, their communities and their livelihoods, and to urge the government not to undertake such expropriations again without public consultati…
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Mr. Speaker, we are reaching out and calling for cross-party co-operation today. Given that the next two speakers are Liberal members from Quebec, here is the question that we are all asking ourselves right now: Does my colleague believe that these Liberal members will really address the wording and the subject of the motion, or does he think that they will instead try to avoid the subject, thereb…
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Mr. Speaker, the only question we want answered today is this: What will determine whether my colleague votes for or against the wording of the motion we are introducing today? All we are asking is that she vote on the wording of the motion itself, on the words used in it.
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Mr. Speaker, we support the high-speed rail project. I wanted to make that clear to the former minister. That has always been our position. With respect to the matter before us today, I would like the member opposite to explain to me what is so divisive about our motion. The motion calls for an official apology from the government. No such apology has ever been offered. It calls on the government …
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to begin by apologizing to my colleague from Jonquière for all past wrongs I committed against him. I hope he will be magnanimous enough to forgive me. Now, my question for him is this: If Liberal members were to vote against this motion, especially members who represent Quebec ridings in the Liberal caucus, how does he think it would affect their influence within the gov…
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Mr. Speaker, again, I think the only ones who do not understand why it is important to support this motion are the Liberals. I think that everyone in the House is wondering how anyone can vote against this motion. I think that my colleague eloquently demonstrated that. Now, I would like to take my colleague to another issue. This government passed Bill C-5 under a closure motion. Does that not fly…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, Taiwan is a reliable partner. It is a democracy and a market economy. It is a leader in green technology and AI, fields where trade would be good for Quebec. It is the sixth-largest economy in Asia. It is exactly the kind of middle power that Canada should join forces with to counter the hegemony of giants, according to the Prime Minister's speech in Davos. However, it is the Prime Mi…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, Michel Marc Bouchard, the little guy from Saint‑Coeur‑de‑Marie who became an internationally acclaimed playwright, is making Quebec culture shine on the world stage. His name now proudly appears on the sign of the community and cultural centre of the city of Alma. Michel Marc Bouchard, a giant of Quebec culture, has always promoted love in all its forms in over 25 plays that have earn…
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Madam Speaker, I rise on a point of order. Do we have quorum?
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Mr. Speaker, a part of this bill purports to address court delays, more specifically, the harmful effects of the Jordan decision. This is something the Bloc Québécois has been calling for for quite some time. My colleague is familiar with that part of the bill. Does he believe that passing this part of the bill as drafted will negate the harmful effects of the Jordan decision?
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Madam Speaker, my colleague is a passionate and hard-working member. Indeed, that is the point of my question. In the limited time she has, I would like her to summarize the work that the Bloc Québécois has done regarding what is included in Bill C-16 and what it means to be a passionate and hard-working member like her.
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Mr. Speaker, first and foremost, it is important to note that in introducing the nearly 130-page document originally known as Bill C-2, an act respecting certain measures relating to the security of the border between Canada and the United States and respecting other related security measures, the government was doing a complete 180°. I say this because, as I am sure members will recall, the Liber…
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Mr. Speaker, indeed, it is the holiday season. We are going to be nice when we ask our questions and make our comments because we do not want to part on bad terms right before Christmas. I understand that the government is introducing Bill C-12. It used to be Bill C-2 and was much more robust. My Conservative colleague and I sit on the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration, where we ma…
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Mr. Speaker, there are two things to consider. First, the CBSA union has said that there is currently a shortage of between 2,000 and 3,000 officers. Second, according to the union, the government could grant border services officers the power to patrol outside border crossings immediately, through a simple administrative decision, without having to introduce a bill. The union says this measure al…
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to express my gratitude to my colleague whom I have had the opportunity to work with on several committees. He works tirelessly and does so for the right reasons. Even though our views sometimes differ, we are able to debate, make progress and collaborate. Since the government took office, it seems to have forgotten one thing: It is a minority government. It behaves as th…
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Mr. Speaker, what I find fascinating about Bill C‑12 is that the government is telling us that we need a drastic course correction, that we need to modernize border processes, that it is important, that what is happening at the border is terrible and that we need to change our laws on immigration, justice and public safety, because things are not going well. However, this government has been in po…
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Mr. Speaker, I want to wish everyone a merry Christmas. I also want to thank my colleague, whom I enjoy working with at the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration. We work really well together. I think we are showing that it is possible to do really solid collaborative work together in committee. Speaking of committees, things are not going very well in some of them, such as the Standin…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, a grande dame has left our midst. One of our most distinguished actors, Béatrice Picard, passed away yesterday at the venerable age of 96, yet we all feel that she has left us too soon. Béatrice Picard was a fixture of Quebec's theatre scene for over 60 years. She played iconic roles in over 40 plays at the Duceppe theatre, which will forever be linked to her name. Examples include Fr…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague. At least he is clear, straightforward and honest, unlike the Liberals. He says what he thinks. He debates. The Bloc Québécois is the same. I think that the objective behind our proposal to remove the religious exemption from the Criminal Code is straightforward, honest and clear. As we have seen, the Liberals do not want to work. They are making sure that…
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Madam Speaker, I just want to reassure my Conservative colleagues. The Bloc Québécois is not on a mission against people of faith or people who preach. The Bloc Québécois is on a mission—
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I just want to reassure my colleagues: The Bloc Québécois is not on a mission against people of faith, believers or those who represent different religions. That is not the case at all. The Bloc Québécois wants to remove a provision of the Criminal Code that makes it possible to incite hatred under the guise of religion. Take, for example, Mr. Charkaoui. Unless I am mistaken, the me…
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Mr. Speaker, we are having a strange debate today. From what I understand, the Liberals do not want to debate this in committee and the Conservatives are clearly against the provision. However, as my colleague from Rivière-du-Nord pointed out in his speech earlier, there was an agreement. As my colleague from Drummond said—and I thank him for his excellent speech, by the way—75% of Quebeckers are …
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Mr. Speaker, I think Quebeckers who are watching what is happening here must be finding it a bit surreal. Everyone is missing the point. Let us take a good look at the Bloc Québécois's proposal concerning the religious exemption. The Criminal Code says that it is against the law to promote hatred, to incite hatred. Unfortunately, there is a small paragraph that provides an exemption when a religio…
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Mr. Speaker, it would be hard to overstate how disappointed people would feel if they heard what is being said here. Quebec has already had this debate. The National Assembly unanimously adopted a motion to remove the religious exemption from the Criminal Code. Seventy-five per cent of Quebeckers support the Bloc Québécois's proposal to remove the religious exemption from the Criminal Code. People…
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Mr. Speaker, thank you for recognizing me. We are always forgotten, but we are part of the House, unfortunately for the other two recognized parties. I just want to understand. I have been here since this morning, and there is something I really do not understand. Quebeckers are watching everything that is going on right now and finding it completely surreal. The Bloc Québécois's proposal is not c…
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Madam Speaker, once again, we share many of the Conservatives' concerns about this budget and its implementation. For example, my colleague mentioned the waste of money. If there is one clear and compelling example of money-wasting in this budget, however, it is no doubt the $100 billion we are collectively leaving on the table only to fill the pockets of the oil and gas industry. That is the choi…
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Madam Speaker, I appreciated my colleague's speech. I think he did a good job. He tore apart the budget point by point in an extremely methodical and serious way. Listening to his speech, I felt that he was right on several points. Eventually, a question popped into my head: Why did the Conservative Party allow the budget to pass?
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Madam Speaker, I have asked my Conservative colleagues two questions now. I am not sure whether they have been given orders not to answer questions from the Bloc Québécois, but both times their answers completely sidestepped the very specific question I was asking. What I am thinking now is that, if they want to replace the government one day, then they have to be able to answer questions when the…
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Madam Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for his speech, which was thorough and to the point as always. We have talked a lot about things in this budget that are not good for ordinary people. For example, we talked about the $100 billion in tax credits that are still being given to the oil and gas industry, even though it logs record-breaking profits year after year. That said, there is one thi…
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Mr. Speaker, I have been asking a few questions about what is not in the budget. One thing that is missing from the budget is the $814 million that the Bloc Québécois was calling for. We wanted that money to be returned to Quebeckers following the spring rebate on a carbon tax that had never been paid. Cheques totalling $4 billion were sent out across Canada, except to Quebec and British Columbia.…
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Mr. Speaker, as everyone knows, the Bloc Québécois voted against this budget and will be voting against its implementation. I listened closely to every word my colleague said. There is something I have been wondering about from the start. We have been hearing a lot about how this budget wastes public money and does not spend it on the right things. For example, the government just extended tax cre…
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague compared the current Prime Minister to former prime minister Trudeau, saying that they were exactly the same. Allow me to disagree. These days, Quebec television programs are comparing the current Prime Minister to Stephen Harper. We can look to the budget to see if that is true. That comparison is not far-fetched at all, considering that the budget contains a measure tha…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, I am really pleased to be able to give this speech this evening because what I have to say is very important to me. Since the new Parliament began, many of my colleagues in the House will certainly have noticed, as I have, that the importance of parliamentary and committee work seems of little interest to the Prime Minister of Canada. He seems far too busy meeting with leaders of wh…
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Mr. Chair, I rise on a point of order. My colleague says that he did not understand the question, so there is clearly an interpretation issue. If we intend to abide by the Official Languages Act, I suggest that my colleague rephrase his question so that my colleague can hear it properly.
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, people are waiting for years to get their citizenship, while Ottawa drags out the process, dithers, twiddles its thumbs and sits on its backside. We know what the Liberal solution is. All it would take for Ottawa to finally get moving is a referendum in Quebec. Imagine how the conversation would go. If people want their file to be processed faster, they would be instructed to vote no,…
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Mr. Chair, I want to thank my colleague for her speech. Earlier, my colleague from Jonquière asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources a question. He asked him whether he was open to the Bloc Québécois's proposal. Actually, this proposal comes from the industry and the unions, but the Bloc Québécois supports it. It consists of asking the government to buy ba…
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Mr. Chair, during the budget debates, we talked a lot about government spending that made no sense, along with an $80-billion deficit. For one thing, this government extended tax credits for the oil industry until 2040. These tax credits for the oil industry are collectively going to cost us $100 billion. In the meantime, the struggling forestry sector is getting not one penny. That is why we are …
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