Parliamentary Speeches
534 speeches by Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe — Page 4 of 11
Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I did not speak right away because I was waiting for the light to go on. Likewise, it would be nice to see a light to go on in the brains of some members of the House, especially those making comparisons between squirrels and the CBC. Let us get back to the matter at hand. We know that the Canada Border Services Agency, the CBSA, has serious governance problems. The ArriveCAN file exp…
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Madam Speaker, I think we will disagree. Our parties are unlikely to vote the same way. However, I found one thing rather fascinating when the bill was being studied in committee. Do members realize that the commissioners who will sit on the new miscarriage of justice review commission will not be required to be able to speak and understand both French and English? Why is that? It is because, when…
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister is finally going to meet with François Legault on Monday to talk about immigration. It is about time, after leaving Quebec to deal with a record influx of newcomers. Monday should be the deadline for the federal government to stop offloading its responsibility. Quebec is calling for a temporary reduction in immigration and for French requirements in federal programs…
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I am speechless, Mr. Speaker. If the federal government thinks that $1 billion is a lot, then all it had to do was take care of asylum seekers sooner, rather than sit back and watch the bill get bigger and bigger. The government could have also kept the bill lower by doing its job, especially when it comes to work permits. According to Quebec, asylum seekers represent nearly 20% of social assistan…
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Mr. Speaker, there is a cost related to asylum seekers. There is also a responsibility. We have to house them, care for them, educate them and provide them with French classes. We have to allow them to work, something that Ottawa is incapable of doing. Asylum seekers currently represent 20% of social assistance recipients in Quebec. The Prime Minister says, “come to Canada, oh downtrodden of the e…
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Mr. Speaker, these are troubled times. There are troubling situations in the Middle East, Eastern Europe, Mexico and just about everywhere on the planet. Add to that global warming, institutionalized violence and war, and these are troubled times indeed. It is easy to understand why people from around the world are seeking refuge. That means we find ourselves with record numbers of asylum seekers,…
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Madam Speaker, I am grateful to my colleague. We work together on the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration and I enjoy working with him a lot. I prepared a short speech tonight. I hope people are ready. It is probably one of the best speeches I will ever give in the House. When it comes to international relations, it is hard to look away, especially considering all the headlines that …
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Mr. Speaker, we know a thing or two about helping and supporting one another in Lac-Saint-Jean. More than five years ago, the municipality of Saint-François-de-Sales, in my riding, became a true food desert with the closure of the only grocery store in the community. It was nearly impossible for many seniors to travel to the major centres so the community rolled up its sleeves and came up with a s…
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Madam Speaker, I am pleased to be here this evening to finally give this speech, which I have been looking forward to doing for quite some time. I would like to start by saying that there are some good measures in Bill C‑59. As everyone knows, this is an omnibus bill. It would have been terrible to not have anything to sink our teeth into. Of these good measures, I have identified a few that I thi…
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Mr. Speaker, what I have to say is that it is great if an announcement was made with my colleague from Salaberry—Suroît, who I always refer to as my treasured whip. When I am told that the federal government is working hand in hand with the Government of Quebec, then I want to know why the federal government is funding the court challenge against a law that was passed by the Quebec National Assemb…
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Mr. Speaker, the bill is 550 pages long and my colleague zeroed in on something very specific. I thank my colleague for asking that question, but I will come back to what he said. Am I in the wrong Parliament? No, I am not. If he wants to fight for a united Canada, I strongly suggest that he run for the National Assembly. Now, since Quebeckers voted 32 members of the Bloc Québécois into the House …
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Mr. Speaker, after the meeting, the Minister of Immigration stated that the status quo was no longer acceptable. However, as we speak, it is still the status quo. Nothing has changed on the ground. As of now, the federal government has not paid back a penny, and Quebec is still taking in more than half of all of Canada's asylum seekers. His committee must not become a gimmick that will sit around …
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Madam Speaker, I really enjoyed my colleague's speech. There were a lot of numbers in his speech, which is great. He shared one number that I liked. He talked about the polls and said that the Liberal Party was 20 points behind the Conservative Party in the polls. What he may have forgotten to mention is that there is a place in Canada called Quebec, where the Conservative Party is not first or se…
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Madam Speaker, my colleague said something interesting. He said that, ever since the Harper government lost power nine years ago, the Liberals have not stood up to do what is right and fair. In other words, he just admitted that the Liberals have not been getting the job done for the past nine years and that they are not doing things fairly. If there is one thing the NDP and the Bloc Québécois are…
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Mr. Speaker, the Liberals tell us that they are very green and very environmentally minded. We have looked at the budget and analyzed it carefully because we are thorough. If something is good for Quebec, then we will vote for it. If it is bad for Quebec, then we will vote against it, of course. There is no partisanship in that. It is based purely on facts. The Liberals tell us that there are no m…
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Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for his speech. We work very well together at the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration. I really enjoy working with him. He is very thorough. The Conservatives say they are going to form the next government. We, as well as the Conservatives, are going to vote against this budget; there is no doubt about that. Now, what would the Conser…
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Mr. Speaker, he should have invited me. Next time, I will go. Quebec is asking to be reimbursed $1 billion for the cost of welcoming refugee claimants. Quebec is asking that the cost of welcoming refugee claimants be shared with provinces that are not carrying their fair share of the load. Quebec is asking for a temporary reduction in immigration as well as the power to approve all applicants. Que…
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Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Immigration has finally met with his counterparts from Quebec, the provinces and the territories. They have finally started talking about integration capacity. What solution did they come up with? They are going to put a working group together to examine the distribution of asylum seekers. I thought this was not a problem for the minister. I thought that, when we asked…
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Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Immigration is meeting with his counterparts tomorrow and there is no shortage of demands. Quebec is calling for the integration of asylum seekers to be shared with the provinces, a cut to temporary immigration, the approval by Quebec of its candidates, French-language training requirements in federal programs, not to mention a $1-billion reimbursement for welcoming as…
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Mr. Speaker, Quebec will not achieve its French integration targets if the number of people needing to learn French breaks records every year. Quebec cannot continue to take in 54% of all of Canada's asylum seekers. This is a matter of social justice for the people we can no longer house, educate or even feed. Yes, Quebec society is also about integration, because we have a duty to provide these p…
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Mr. Speaker, the willingness to take in asylum seekers is real. Quebec will be unable to reverse the decline of French if the federal government rows in the opposite direction. Ottawa is responsible for two-thirds of Quebec's temporary immigration through the international mobility program and asylum seekers. The federal government is not fulfilling its responsibilities, whether it is in terms of …
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Madam Speaker, I really enjoyed my colleague's speech. It is clear that this budget is mostly about interfering in the jurisdictions of Quebec and the provinces. Now, let us talk about something that strictly concerns the federal government. I am talking about tax evasion. We are often told that the government will seek to collect as much revenue as possible, yet tens of billions of dollars are be…
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Mr. Speaker, Quebec just announced $603 million to stop the decline of French. Most of that amount will be used to teach French to temporary foreign workers. This is good news for the vitality of the French language, but it will not be enough, because the majority of foreign workers are under the exclusive jurisdiction of the federal government through the international mobility program, and the f…
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Mr. Speaker, I appreciated my colleague's speech. Of course we do not agree on many things, but we were told that the Conservative Party would be a decentralizing party. Yesterday, when it had the chance to prove it, the Conservative Party unfortunately voted against an amendment proposed by the Bloc Québécois that simply called on the House to respect the Canadian Constitution and the jurisdictio…
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Madam Speaker, obviously, the Bloc Québécois is not against federal-provincial discussions to establish policies that meet everyone's needs. However, the motion before us today calls for the meeting to establish “plans for provinces to opt-out of the federal carbon tax to pursue other responsible ideas to lower emissions”. Such plans already exist. The federal carbon pricing system contains an opt…
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Mr. Speaker, imposing visas on Mexicans was necessary, but the federal government promised that it would not affect workers. Eastern Quebec is reeling from delays in the arrival of temporary foreign workers for fisheries and processing. Fortunately, after the leader of the Bloc Québécois wrote to the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship and the Prime Minister on March 25, the situatio…
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Mr. Speaker, I apologize. The Bloc Québécois has not supported any of this government's budgets or economic statements. I would like to ask a question of my colleague, who is a respectable man. If a politician—and I am not naming names—were to say that the Bloc Québécois supports all of this government's spending, would he not be shamelessly lying to the public?
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Mr. Speaker, the bill would not be as high if the federal government dealt with asylum claims in a timely fashion. Former Liberal minister David Heurtel reminded us of that in the Journal de Montréal. Quebec experienced the same problems in 2018 under Philippe Couillard. Even then, Quebec was already asking the federal government to reduce wait times. Something that is supposed to take a maximum o…
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Mr. Speaker, when it comes to the asylum seekers file, the Minister of Immigration has some nerve. It has been since 2021 that Quebec has been calling on the federal government to reimburse the costs and ensure that asylum seekers are spread out among the provinces. It has been three years. Today, the minister has the nerve to say that the Government of Quebec did not seem serious about sitting do…
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Mr. Speaker, the Conservative members are all worked up. I get it. Today is their opposition day. I am going to try to ask the Conservative leader a direct question, but I have no illusions. I do not expect an answer because he plays exactly the same political games as the Prime Minister: He refuses to answer difficult questions and tosses around political slogans. Still, I will give it a try. Whe…
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Mr. Speaker, I enjoy debating with my colleagues. We may not always share the same opinions, but I enjoy a debate based on facts. Since 2015, the Bloc Québécois has voted against every Trudeau government budget and every Trudeau government economic statement. Knowing this, when the Conservatives say that the Bloc Québécois supports all of the Trudeau government's spending, would my colleague, hypo…
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Mr. Speaker, that just goes to show that just because a person is six foot, three inches tall does not mean they are able to take the high road. The federal government also needs to ensure that asylum seekers are spread out among the provinces. Everyone has to put in their share of the efforts. The federal government finally started spreading out the influx last year. However, the last time we ask…
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Mr. Speaker, the government already owed Quebec $470 million for services rendered to asylum seekers. Its debt has just climbed to $1 billion. These are not projections, these are the bills incurred for guaranteeing the asylum seekers quick access to social assistance, temporary housing, health care and schooling. Ottawa's refusal to pay Quebec what it owes is sabotaging our capacity to not only i…
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It is a great relationship, Mr. Speaker. For months, the minister has been repeating that he is at the negotiating table with Quebec, but there are no negotiations going on. The Quebec immigration minister confirmed that on Thursday, when she said that the federal government has been wasting Quebec's time for two years. Fortunately, we know that the premiers will be meeting in the coming weeks. I …
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Mr. Speaker, Quebec's French language commissioner released a report that may shock the immigration minister, but does not surprise anyone in Quebec. Temporary immigration is setting French back in Quebec. According to the commissioner, it would cost between $10.5 billion and $13 billion to teach French to all newcomers. Needless to say, that is unsustainable. One of the commissioner's recommendat…
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Mr. Speaker, these answers are no longer credible, but that is okay. I will continue. Quebec's French language commissioner goes further. He proposes that the federal government ensure that asylum seekers are spread out among the provinces, taking language into account. Ottawa could encourage people who have knowledge of French to stay in Quebec or, as the Bloc Québécois proposes, go to franco-Can…
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Madam Speaker, I would like to invite my colleagues in the Conservative Party and its Quebec caucus to take inspiration from what happened in Quebec during the debate on medical assistance in dying. We discussed it calmly and in a non-partisan manner. We looked at the data and let the science guide us. In his speech, my colleague insinuated that Quebeckers and Canadians could request medical assis…
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague from Vancouver East for her speech. I think that she is not only a person who is easy to work with on the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration, but one who also knows everything there is to know about Canada's immigration system and all of its programs. She truly has a sound knowledge of the subject, and I wanted to say so today in the H…
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Mr. Speaker, my plan is for Quebec to have full authority over immigration. It is not complicated. I have never heard a Conservative member tell me whether they agree with Quebec's immigration minister, so the next time a Conservative member rises to ask me a question, I would like them to answer the following question. Do the Conservatives agree that Quebec should have full authority over immigra…
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Madam Speaker, my leader will correct me if I am wrong, but I think that when it comes to immigration, the substance is almost as important as the form. Let me explain. The tone we take when we discuss this sensitive issue of immigration is almost as important as when we talk about things in depth. Recently, the Minister of Immigration talked to us about heat pumps, but he also told us, when we as…
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Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the member for Salaberry—Suroît, who is also my treasured whip. One must always be kind to one's whip. The federal government needs to revise its immigration targets if it wants to build a successful immigration model and make sure that newcomers find favourable living conditions here. On its opposition day on Tuesday, October 31, 2023, the Bloc Québécoi…
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Madam Speaker, I very much appreciate my colleague from Calgary Shepard. He delivered a pointed speech, and he clearly has sound knowledge of the issue. He is also pleasant to work with in committee. Once again, I congratulate him on his speech. I completely agree with him that the management of the immigration portfolio is unacceptable. The government has appointed three different ministers of im…
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Mr. Speaker, that is an excellent question. We had this debate in the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration, and I do not agree 100% with the NDP's proposal. However, there are things we can look at. Recently, the Union des producteurs agricoles proposed facilitating access to permanent resident status for temporary foreign workers in the agriculture sector. As people can see, I agree …
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Mr. Speaker, that is an excellent question. There is a management problem at the immigration department and it starts at the top. It actually starts with the Minister of Immigration, whose scathing, abrasive and disrespectful tone is unbecoming of his position. Consequently, the debate on immigration, which should be sensitive, responsible and impartial, sometimes winds up going downhill. Things m…
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Mr. Speaker, in November, Radio-Canada revealed that Mexican criminals are using the lack of visa requirement to come to Canada to conduct their smuggling operations. Yesterday, in committee, the Minister of Immigration, the RCMP and the CBSA denied any link between waiving visas and crime. They are burying their heads in the sand, yet all three have access to internal reports that say just that, …
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Mr. Speaker, I will answer by repeating what the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship said. If the Quebec government wants to grow the labour pool or totally control economic immigration, it first has to have all immigration powers. Let us take the example of temporary foreign worker program. People say that Quebec has complete control of this type of immigration and its labour force,…
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Mr. Speaker, the federal government still owes Quebeckers $470 million for taking in asylum seekers, who are actually Ottawa's responsibility. The funding announced for housing future asylum seekers is good, but it will not cover the federal government's debt, which has been accumulating since 2021. Every time we raise the issue, the Minister of Immigration ratchets up the rhetoric and insults. To…
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister must also ensure that there are not too many asylum seekers entering the country at the same place. Quebec has exceeded its intake capacity. There are 289,000 asylum seekers in Canada, and Quebec has shown that it has taken in 160,000, or 55% of the total number. Quebec's immigration minister even announced yesterday that she is considering holding a referendum on t…
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Mr. Speaker, they claim we are picking fights whenever they do not feel like debating. We have the member for Honoré-Mercier to thank for that. The federal government also needs to make it so that every province welcomes asylum seekers. Every time we raise the issue, the Minister of Immigration accuses Quebec of wanting to treat immigrants like cattle. That kind of rhetoric does not help anyone, e…
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Mr. Speaker, the Bloc Québécois is obviously concerned about the situation. My colleague from Avignon—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia wants to ensure that the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security conducts a study. Strangely enough, the Conservatives do not seem to want that study to happen. They would rather have an opposition day about it, which, by the way, will not do much to cha…
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