Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, the Bloc Québécois supports Bill C-12, an act respecting certain measures relating to the security of Canada's borders and the integrity of the Canadian immigration system and respecting other related security measures, at third reading. As the critic for immigration, refugees and citizenship, I will explain why we support this legislation, particularly in terms of what it does for ou…
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Mr. Speaker, I understand my colleague's opposition to Bill C‑12. However, we think it is a balanced approach that is not without risks, but that addresses our legitimate concerns about the integrity of the process. In particular, the government wants to add a rule that would require asylum seekers to be on Canadian soil to have their case heard. What does my colleague have against that specific p…
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Mr. Speaker, I have been the immigration critic for a few weeks, and my relationship with the minister is not yet close enough for her to tell me about her choices regarding her agenda, unfortunately. However, I do think that her presence could have enlightened the House, but perhaps not.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his well-reasoned question. With respect to the distribution of asylum seekers, I call on this government to show leadership and ensure that a distribution plan is put in place. That has not been done. It made a timid attempt to do so in the summer of 2024, if memory serves. In the end, roughly 200 asylum seekers were willing to resettle in Newfoundland and La…
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Mr. Speaker, we support Bill C-12, with the amendments that have been made.
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague very much for her speech and for walking us through the legislative process. I have a question for her. Can she inform the House about the balance that we struck between the imperative need to protect our facilities from cyber-attacks and the need to avoid compromising people's privacy, particularly when Internet service providers are allowed to do certain thing…
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Mr. Speaker, I think it is very important to look into what happened in order to try to restore some trust among the public. There have definitely been issues with adaptation. There has been a significant increase in asylum seekers and temporary residents. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada asked the colleges and universities to send in semi-annual reports, which it then set aside and di…
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Mr. Speaker, extensive work was done in committee with the Bloc Québécois immigration critic at the time, the member for Lac-Saint-Jean. We think we were able to get our most important amendments adopted. That is why we are supporting Bill C-12 today.
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Mr. Speaker, I think that Bill C-12 will provide some tools, and that is great. Now all we need is some leadership. On Monday, the minister came to talk to the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration. We pointed out to her that there were serious problems with the integrity of the process regarding international students. I did not get the sense that we were talking to someone who is det…
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague, whom I hold in high regard, for her remarks. She took the time to clearly explain the Kanyinda decision, a recent Supreme Court ruling. There has been debate in Quebec following this ruling as to whether Quebec will invoke the notwithstanding clause to opt out of it. This is a debate that will take place in Quebec, and it will be up to Quebeckers to…
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Mr. Speaker, as I understand it, that is what was discussed in committee, and it was determined that Bill C‑12 includes a deadline of one year, after which asylum claims cannot be made. It stands to reason that someone who fears persecution if they return to their country would be capable of submitting a claim within a year of arriving here.
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague spoke at length about constitutional limits and about the fact that, in today's Canada, some sections of the Constitution would prevent the full integration of the Conservative ideology. Members of the Bloc Québécois are separatists. We would like Quebec to become a country so that we can set our own standards. In our opinion, the Constitution of Canada sets limits that p…
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to hear my colleague’s opinion on the two interpretive provisions that were added to the bill in order to address certain concerns. Here is what is clearly stated in one of those provisions:...nothing in subsection 319(2) or (2.2) of the Criminal Code shall be construed as prohibiting a person from communicating a statement on a matter of public interest, including an ed…
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Mr. Speaker, the question I have for my colleague is this. Do we want to live in a country where people can incite hatred and use religious text as an excuse to get off scot-free?
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Mr. Speaker, at the end of the day, the only people who have anything to fear from Bill C‑9 are those who want to incite hatred—so they are already doing wrong—by hiding behind their religion, using passages from the Bible, the Torah or the Quran, for example. All the bill does is remove the religious exemption. Someone who is accused of inciting hatred would not be able to hide behind a text and …
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Mr. Speaker, in the Conservative Party's motion, they propose to adopt policies that would see the immediate deportation of foreign nationals convicted of serious crimes in Canada. However, section 36 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act already provides for the deportation of individuals convicted of serious crimes punishable by a term of imprisonment of at least 10 years, as well as tho…
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Mr. Speaker, the Bloc Québécois is concerned that Build Canada Homes will create a new point of federal-provincial friction and make things more complicated. I agree with my colleague on that. I would like to hear my colleague's opinion. What does he think of our proposal, which is simply for the federal government to redistribute the billions of dollars to the provinces so that the provinces can …
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Mr. Speaker, we in the Bloc Québécois share my colleague's concerns about the centralizing and bureaucratic nature of Build Canada Homes. Of course we want housing to be built and we want the federal government to invest. I will give an example. There is a program from the Quebec government in my riding, but the situation is somewhat similar. The cost of modular homes was calculated, and the same …
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Mr. Speaker, the federal government's loss of control during the Roxham Road crisis is worse than we feared. According to the C.D. Howe Institute, when the federal government was overwhelmed by too many refugee claims, it scaled back its assessments. Between 2019 and 2023, 25,000 people were accepted as refugees without being interviewed. These are 25,000 refugees who were accepted, many of them i…
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Mr. Speaker, when the federal government was swamped with asylum claims at Roxham Road, its solution was to accept refugees indiscriminately in order to speed up the process. Ottawa drew up a list of countries whose applicants were automatically accepted without any questions asked. Those countries included Russia, Afghanistan, Iran and many others that are currently problematic. As a result, at t…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his speech. I think that we share his concerns about the centralist nature of the bill. Let us not forget that the Liberal government's last good idea on housing was the Canada housing infrastructure fund, which was announced in April 2024. It took almost two years before an agreement was finally reached with Quebec for the money to come through. I would like …
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to begin by taking a moment to recognize scouting week, which runs from February 16 to 22 this year. The scouting movement is an educational path for young people that is based on volunteerism and is open to all, as conceived by its founder, Baden-Powell. Scouting is the largest youth movement in the world, and the francophone scouting movement brings together more than 1…
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Mr. Speaker, the Bloc Québécois believes that EVs are the future. There are currently no EV assembly plants in Quebec. However, subsidies for purchasing EVs are effective because they fast-track the electrification of transportation and make EVs more affordable. What does the Conservative Party have against more affordable EVs?
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Mr. Speaker, my party is in favour of electric vehicle subsidies. However, we are disappointed that the federal government has scrapped the idea of an electric vehicle availability standard that would have required all vehicles sold in Canada as of 2035 to be electric. Such a regulatory tool would have been key to achieving transportation electrification. Can my colleague explain why they scrapped…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his speech and his joyful words. I have a question for him. Why are the Conservatives getting all worked up about EV subsidies, saying that this encourages foreign auto manufacturers, but they are perfectly fine with giving about $10 billion in subsidies every year to the oil industry, 60% of which is owned by Americans?
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his speech and his explanations. The Bloc Québécois supports this bill and believes that it gives parliamentarians a tool to put pressure on the executive branch in the event that it fails to meet its obligations. I understand what my colleague is saying. We should be able to expect the government to do its job and we, as MPs, could apply pressure. However, le…
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Madam Speaker, as I talk about housing, I would like to also broach the subject of young people, justice and hope. First, let us talk about our young people. They are buckling under the weight of a triple crisis: unaffordable housing, crushing debt and unemployment, which is two times higher than other generations. In fact, 59% of people under 35 report having serious housing problems. That figure…
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Mr. Speaker, my question for my colleague is this. What is his reaction to the public concern underlying our motion? People are afraid that their property will be stolen out from under them and that their rights will be violated. How does my colleague respond to the fact that we are being attacked, here in the House, for raising public concerns? We are being accused of spreading disinformation and…
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague from eastern Quebec and I often talk about trains. We are currently discussing high-speed rail, this major project, but there is also the problem of Via Rail's passenger train service, which I think both of us are concerned about, but that is a separate issue. On the issue of cost, obviously that is a point that deserves to be raised and studied. If we go too fast, withou…
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Mr. Speaker, it would be difficult for me to speculate on what is motivating my colleagues' position on our motion. I think the general idea is that this is a great project and we want everything to be great. Nevertheless, we have to be very careful in life. It is like when someone wants to build something and is too hasty. I believe that we are the voice of reason in all of this, and perhaps this…
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Mr. Speaker, if anything, I wish that my colleague were right and that this were all made up, because I would be less concerned for the people over there. Some mayors are now saying that they are not being consulted. That is a fact. What does Bill C-15 do? It exempts the project from a number of protections that were enshrined in law. These are legitimate concerns, and it worries me when my collea…
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Mr. Speaker, what is progress? In my opinion, that means moving forward as a society toward the common good. Was Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau's Mirabel Airport project a step in the right direction at the end of the 1960s? No, because the plan for an airport of the future fell through, but also and especially because it was rushed. With the massive expropriations carried out by the federa…
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Mr. Speaker, the people of Gaspé have been without Via Rail passenger rail service for over 12 years, a service that is essential for our community. Passenger rail service supports the regional economy, reduces greenhouse gas emissions and helps people get around. We are talking about 12 years of neglect by a Crown corporation that is largely funded with taxpayers' money and whose mandate includes…
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for his interesting remarks on the country's debts. It is well known and accepted by everyone: more debts equals less freedom. Now, my question is as follows. When the government has to address certain issues, is it better for the state to go into debt or for households to do so? What we are seeing is that household debt has increased fairly significantly …
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague. I am willing to work with her on this important matter. There is a food bank near me in Gaspésie that has had to turn away people. Let us imagine these people, who must overcome their shame and who show up to get food, but who are unfortunately turned away because so many people showed up that the food bank worker had to screen applications. I spoke with …
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Mr. Speaker, I think that, like me, my colleague is concerned about the impact inflation is having on people. I would like to share that, shortly before Christmas, I was walking around Chandler, in my riding. I stopped at an arena to chat with people. One of the volunteers, who might have been over 65, came up to me, took me by the arm and asked me what we are doing here, because he cannot make en…
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Mr. Speaker, I want to commend my colleague for his resilience considering the challenges he has overcome, which have no doubt made him stronger. While we are talking about the rising cost of living, he is focusing a lot on the carbon tax. I have a question for him. Does he not recognize that global warming, the accelerating deterioration of the climate, the increased flooding, the increased droug…
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Mr. Speaker, it seems a little presumptuous to think that we members of the House can foresee every possible scenario or that we can see things clearly from here that we can establish a rule that would be safe from any exceptions, in any scenario. The truth is that life in society is very complex, and all kinds of stories are uncovered in courtrooms. If judges are allowed to deviate from a minimum…
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to wish my colleague a happy new year and a happy return to Parliament. Let us talk a bit about femicide, because the start of the year has been tragic. There have been several femicides, in Quebec at least. This bill will impose harsher sentences and make it possible to charge those who commit these heinous crimes with first-degree murder. Can my colleague tell us what t…
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Mr. Speaker, I want to congratulate my colleague on her speech. I want to talk to her about one specific aspect of Bill C-16, which is a bill that we support. There is one measure that I believe will make a difference, and it involves criminal harassment. I was a legal aid lawyer for 10 years. I had clients who came to me who were victims of criminal harassment. However, because of the way the off…
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Mr. Speaker, this is not the first concession the Prime Minister has made out of fear of Donald Trump. He abandoned the digital services tax, which would have forced American web giants to pay their fair share. Then he abandoned the anti-evasion measure known as the global minimum tax in order to spare the people who are financing the President's new ballroom. Today, he is abandoning our forestry …
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Mr. Speaker, today, the Prime Minister is meeting with Donald Trump in connection with the FIFA World Cup. He should not be talking about sports. He should be talking about the economy. He was elected on a promise to protect us from the American President. So far, not only is no one claiming victory, but yesterday we learned that the Prime Minister is giving up on our forestry industry's main dema…
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Mr. Speaker, I want to commend my colleague's excellent speech. He basically expressed and illustrated a great irony. The recent trade war with the Americans has led to a bit of a surge in Canadian nationalism. At the same time, the current government is making a lot of concessions. The Liberals say they want to defend Canadian sovereignty, but they are aligning themselves with American policies o…
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Mr. Speaker, my concerns lie with the poorest members of our society as well as social equity. My colleague addressed those issues. I would like to hear his perspective on a problem that is very important to us, one that we have been calling for a solution to for a very long time. I am talking about a comprehensive and major reform of EI to ensure that the seasonal sectors of our economy can funct…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for her presentation of the bill she is sponsoring. I just want to draw something to everyone's attention because I get the impression it was not mentioned. I may have missed a word or two. It is already possible to give consecutive sentences in the case of a repeat sex offender or someone who commits multiple sex offences. Under the current system, with the Crimi…
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Mr. Speaker, I want to talk to my colleague about a specific aspect of Bill C‑15. Last week, there was an announcement about the agreement between the federal government and Alberta and the possible construction of a pipeline. Bill C‑15 contains a kind of fast track that allows a minister to exempt a company from the application of almost every law but the Criminal Code. Given that announcement an…
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Madam Speaker, I understand why the debate is getting heated, because what we are talking about is important. I am happy that my colleague is speaking out on behalf of seniors in her riding because I, too, have seniors in my riding who are contacting me and calling our offices. They tell us how hard life is for them because they do not have the ability to work to increase their income, in many cas…
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Mr. Speaker, tonight we are debating Bill C-246, which was introduced by my colleague from Lethbridge, Alberta. I commend her. This bill seeks to amend the Criminal Code to require that sentences imposed on offenders convicted of multiple sexual offences be served consecutively, that is, one after the other, in cases where multiple offences are committed against one victim at the same time and als…
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Madam Speaker, we are debating the bill introduced by my Conservative Party colleague, who was elected in Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, in British Columbia. I salute him and I would like him to know that I have the utmost respect for him, despite the fact that I strongly disagree with his approach. His Bill C-235 proposes to amend the Criminal Code so that, in cases of murder preceded by kidnapping o…
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Madam Speaker, I want to repeat my question for my colleague. If he is truly serious about his initiative, then he must promise the victims today that if this bill passes and is later struck down, and if the Conservative Party ever forms a government, it will use the notwithstanding clause to uphold the bill.
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