Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I know that my colleague works hard at the Standing Committee on Industry and Technology to defend small businesses. Is this not another sign of Liberal incompetence? The government says it took action, but we now learn that there was no agreement and that it was actually just a unilateral, temporary, voluntary decision. All these words confirm that without a stricter law in place, …
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, as I said earlier today, my riding is home to many SMEs, businesses and members of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, or CFIB for short. I am in regular contact with the folks at CFIB, and they talk to me about fees and input costs for businesses and SMEs. These are some of their biggest concerns for the future, because with costs going up across the board, their input…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, as the status of women critic, I want to draw attention to the presence of one more woman in the House at a time when people are worried about not maintaining women's 30% share in the next election. My feminist parliamentary group colleagues and I signed a letter calling for greater civility in the House. We must set an example. The current climate of highly polarized debates and po…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, as we stand in solidarity with American women, let us not forget the Iranian women who are fighting for their rights. Let us keep in our thoughts Ahou Daryaei, the new heroine of the resistance. When confronted by the morality police about wearing a veil, she shed her clothing in front of the misogynistic authorities with dignity, pride and courage before she was arrested. Her fate re…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I would like to follow up on the question from my colleague from Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie. The minister responsible for seniors is the one who led the debate in Quebec. When I spoke to her, she said that her government was obviously going to move forward, but that she thinks that it is a shame that the federal government will not follow suit for the reasons my colleague from Montca…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, last Saturday, I met with delegations from across Quebec during their visit to Granby, host of the next Special Olympics Quebec. This athletic event will feature more than 1,050 athletes from 12 to 70 years of age with intellectual disabilities or autism, accompanied by more than 400 coaches and 100 officials. About 3,000 visitors are expected to attend what is sure to be an unforgett…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, I rise on a point of order. The interpreters are saying that there is a telephone causing interference. That can hurt the interpreters' ears and damage their hearing. We need to listen to them.
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, very briefly, I would like to table an important petition concerning Bill C‑319, which would increase OAS for people aged 65 to 74 to the same amount paid to people aged 75 and over, and would also increase the GIS by $1,500. Indeed, 79% of Canadians agree. The ball is now in the government's court. The petition has been signed by 1,450 petitioners. I have another petition containin…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, the whole issue of revictimization is absolutely terrible for victims. We heard a bit about that in committee. Who are these people the minister has appointed to the commission? What do their pasts look like? Do they truly want to shed light on what is happening in the sports world and work for the victims, or would they rather participate in a system that allows people to help frie…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, my colleague's question is an important one. We talked about the impact on victims at the Standing Committee on the Status of Women, but I know that, at the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage, my colleague from Abitibi—Témiscamingue was mainly concerned about the issue of governance. Our committee also heard about governance and accountability for the people running these sport…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague from the Standing Committee on the Status of Women for her question. I will simply say that we should be listening to what victims and survivors are asking for. Victims and survivors were pretty unanimous in their calls before the Standing Committee on the Status of Women, but that is not what the ministers put in place. It is not working. For example, the Offic…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I want to begin by reminding everyone in the House that people are watching us at home right now. I would remind them that victims and survivors are listening to this debate. I want to recognize Kim Shore, from Gymnasts for Change, who is calling on us to rise to the occasion and to take action for victims and survivors. I also want to recognize her entire team. I am rising today to…
Read full speech →Statements By Members
Mr. Speaker, on October 11, we celebrated the International Day of the Girl Child. This year's theme was “Girls' vision for the future”, which conveys the need for urgent action and for hope, driven by the power of girls' voices and their vision for the future. In 2011, the United Nations General Assembly declared October 11 as the International Day of the Girl Child to recognize girls' rights and…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, I have held back from making comments for some time. After what I just heard, however, I have a question. South of the border, a presidential candidate has just aired an ad on social media featuring his appearance at a McDonald's restaurant. Here, the Conservatives are talking about cheeseburgers and the same restaurant chain. Do we have to take our lead from what happens south of the…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, sometimes it seems like the Liberals want people to hate them. About 79% of the population wants old age security to be increased for seniors 65 to 74. Seventy-nine percent support means it is as popular as ice cream on a sunny day. All seniors are calling on the government to stop dividing them into two classes. Every age group is also asking for this, including young people. Even th…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, at the beginning my colleague spoke about the fact that we are in a minority government. I would like to thank him for this reminder because I sense that the government and the official opposition have forgotten that this is precisely the mandate voters gave us during the last general election. Essentially, they told us they did not want either the government or the opposition gumming…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, my colleague opened an interesting door in his speech. He spoke about the hybrid Parliament, the motion and the fact that things did not go the way they should have, that is, by consensus. One of the criticisms against this Parliament is that there is less accountability. People often say that ministers and members can hide a little more easily behind a screen. They see the lack of ac…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, what I am hearing in the House today is not particularly edifying. I get the impression that both sides are simply trying to capitalize on the obstruction. I can confirm that it was my Conservative colleague who talked about lies. I would actually like to point out that a big one was told, specifically that the carbon tax applies in Quebec. We have a party on the other side that refus…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, frankly, we are wondering why the Liberals are seeking a fourth term when their plan for society is to withhold income from one million Quebec seniors. They are out of touch, and the public is starting to notice. We will say it again: The Liberals have until October 29 to pass Bill C‑319 and increase the pension for people aged 65 to 74. Time is flying by, especially since the Senate …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, when we demand that the government increase old age security for seniors between the ages of 65 and 74, the Minister of Seniors accuses us of saying no to seniors. However, he should know that the Bloc Québécois says yes to seniors. We say yes to retirees, yes to improving their living conditions and yes to putting an end to two classes of seniors. The minister is the one saying no. T…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the Bloc Québécois is not the only one saying yes to seniors: 79% of the public is saying yes to increasing old age security for people 65 to 74. The House is saying yes. Seniors are saying yes. Seniors' groups are saying yes, including FADOQ, AQDR and AREQ, even the AREQ branch in Outaouais, the minister's region. They came to support us on the Hill. The minister stands alone. In his…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, since he was appointed Minister of Seniors, the member for Gatineau's only accomplishment has been to turn his back on people aged 65 to 74. All he does is play petty politics when he should be thinking big. He promotes Liberal interests when he should be thinking of the collective interest. He is an old-style politician, devoid of statesmanship. It is not too late. He can still take …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, on top of that, the minister is using conspiracy theories to justify the fact that he has no intention of doing anything at all for seniors. He tells them that the big bad separatists have a secret plan to take away their pensions. These are the same old scare tactics from the 1980s. He talks about winning conditions and independence, but so do we. We believe that improving seniors' l…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, across all age groups, 79% of the population is in favour of increasing OAS, regardless of age. No need to be between the ages of 65 and 74, everyone agrees. Why is that? It is because people respect seniors and stand with them. If we can improve the living conditions of those who need it, people are all for it. Even in the House, everyone agrees except for the Liberals. When are they…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his speech, but after listening to all this today, I cannot help but think that there is something wrong with the entire federal system. Let me explain. If the government keeps interfering this much in Quebec's areas of jurisdiction or refuses to grant the transfers requested by Quebec and the provinces, for example in health care, we are headed straight for…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his speech. It really caught my attention when he talked about control of the public purse, the nation's finances. I want to come back to a subject that is near and dear to my heart, and that is Bill C‑319, which his party supported. The government is telling us that there is not enough money to increase OAS, a program that helps seniors. How are we to feel …
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, there is a lot I could talk about, but I am going to limit myself to one aspect of my colleague's speech, for which I thank her. I would also like to acknowledge her commitment to people living with disabilities. She is very passionate about this issue. That is what I wanted to tell her. In her speech, she talked about people with disabilities and this long overdue benefit. Organizati…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, is that what the Quebec Liberals are really about? They get all worked up when delivering their speeches about seniors in Ottawa, but in reality, they are abandoning the seniors in their communities. The Minister of Labour and Seniors is depriving nearly 30,000 retirees in his riding of Gatineau of a 10% increase in their old age security pension. Similarly, the Quebec lieutenant is a…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for her speech and for the work that she does on the Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities. I say that because I am especially grateful for the work that this committee did on Bill C-319. I also want to thank her for supporting fairness for seniors. She asked me questions when I appeared …
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I have a question for my colleague, who spoke on the important committee report we are debating this morning. I will be quoting heavily from an amazing organization in my riding called Dynamique des handicapés de Granby et région, which works to address the challenges facing persons with disabilities. The organization has a very dedicated executive director, Marie‑Christine Hon, whom …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Labour and Seniors has spent the week lecturing all and sundry, but he is in no position to lecture anyone. He is the one depriving almost 30,000 people in his own riding of a 10% increase in their OAS. He, the Minister of Labour and Seniors, is the one leading the Liberal fight against the will of the House to support people aged 65 to 74. He is even willing to risk a…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the House has spoken. Yesterday, it demanded that old age security be increased for people 65 to 74. It demanded that the government give a royal recommendation to Bill C‑319. This bill is the only way to permanently protect all seniors' income. It is also the only way to permanently abolish the age discrimination that seniors are experiencing. Will the government finally listen to th…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, what does the minister have to say to the organizations in Argenteuil—La Petite-Nation that welcomed me this summer and that, without knowing why I was coming to see them, told me that they had told their member of Parliament that the idea of creating an OAS loophole made no sense? What does he have to say to the people from the Association québécoise des retraité(e)s des secteurs p…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for her question, which leads me to a final comment about senior women. During a press conference a while back, the Association féministe d'éducation et d'action sociale, or AFEAS, came out in support of the bill. At one time, women could not amass as much capital or prepare for a comfortable retirement. Those women are now between 65 and 74 and are practically …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, on this International Day of Older Persons, the Bloc Québécois would also like to highlight the work of community organizations that support retirees. It is inexcusable that they are being denied funding from the age well at home program. It is inexcusable that the government is starving our organizations and depriving Quebec seniors of the money and services that are rightfully their…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I would say this to my colleague. What is the retirement age, in the Liberals' view? Is it 65 or 75? We hear that some seniors have a harder time working. Not everyone can work. The retirement age was set at 65. It is a universal program. Creating two age categories and two separate amounts in a universal program is called a loophole and age discrimination. It is called ageism. Let …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I want to begin by answering the member for Lac‑Saint‑Louis by paraphrasing what my colleague from LaSalle—Émard—Verdun said: True power is independence. I wanted to remind the member of that. I am not sure how to approach this issue any more, because, since we came to the House in 2019, the Bloc Québécois has been talking about the importance of equity among seniors and the importa…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, we are not keeping the government in power. We are not here to replace one government with another. We are here to get this bill passed. Also, there was no record to set straight. I have always said that there was a majority vote at second reading and that the Conservatives voted in favour of this bill. I thank them. This bill has already made its way through the House. After a majo…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, if what the minister is saying were enough, FADOQ, AQRP, AQDR and many other groups would not be in Ottawa today. However, they are here to demand a 10% increase in OAS for seniors under the age of 74. All seniors deserve the same support when they are facing the same rising cost of living. Everyone understands that. They certainly do not deserve to be divided into two classes of citi…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Beloeil—Chambly for his wonderful presentation on Bill C‑319. First of all, I would like to say that a young man in his twenties named Samuel Lévesque was the first person who asked me to take action for seniors and sign a petition to address this unacceptable inequality between seniors in the name of intergenerational equity. A few weeks ago, I went to the ridi…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, as coincidence would have it, the Bloc Québécois's opposition day calling for a royal recommendation for Bill C‑319 happens to fall on October 1, the International Day of Older Persons. The bill aims to restore equality among all seniors and eliminate this gross unfairness. We have to recognize that people on fixed incomes are directly affected by inflation and need an increase in the…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the Bloc Québécois is making October 29 its ultimatum on behalf of seniors. Their representatives are in Ottawa today to support our efforts. The FADOQ is here, and so is its Mauricie association. The Association québécoise de défense des droits des personnes retraitées et préretraitées, or AQDR, is here. The Association québécoise des retraités des secteurs public et parapublic, or A…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I request a recorded division.
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, that was not the question. The Liberals may not realize it, but October 29 is just around the corner. In the meantime, they can start today by showing seniors and the community organizations that assist them a sign of good faith. The Liberals can promise to reach an agreement with the Government of Quebec and stop withholding funds from the age well at home program. It is unacceptable…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I will try to make my question shorter. My colleague from Calgary Nose Hill talked a lot about the help that needs to be given to people who are finding the current climate a bit tough. Does she think that the oil companies need as many credits and as much financial support as they are currently getting from this government and got from the previous government?
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, in 2024, the Granby branch of the Association québécoise de défense des droits des personnes retraitées et préretraitées, or AQDR, is celebrating 40 years of fighting for the rights and dignity of seniors. The theme of the anniversary celebration was “40 years of struggle and commitment: working together for the rights and dignity of seniors”. It was an opportunity to reflect on the p…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, Quebeckers have told us again and again that they are concerned about the cost of living and seniors' living conditions. That is why we issued our October 29 ultimatum. The Liberals have no right to abandon seniors aged 65 to 74 considering the rising cost of living. They must put an end to the two classes of seniors they have created. They must stop discriminating against retirees ba…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I would like ask my colleague a question. She said her government had helped seniors by increasing old age security for seniors 75 and over. I just want to remind her that it was her government that caused this injustice in the first place, this unacceptable inequity, this hole in the pension program, by creating two classes of seniors. The reason we are talking about this bill so m…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I was listening to my colleague talk about people who need help. She said that we need to help the most vulnerable. Does she include oil companies among the people or companies that really need help? Money from the Liberal government or previous Conservative governments—
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I know my colleague has a keen interest in women's issues. Since she also talked about pensions, I will try to combine the two issues. How can restoring equity between seniors aged 65 to 74 and those aged 75 and over also benefit women, who are often senior women disproportionately affected by insecurity? How would putting an end to this unacceptable inequity created by the governme…
Read full speech →