Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, after eight years of this government, cover-ups have become the Liberal trademark. At the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates, the Liberals filibustered for hours to avoid having to publicly disclose the battery factory contracts. It is easy to see why they are afraid. This Prime Minister has spent billions of dollars on temporary foreign workers for both Stellan…
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Mr. Speaker, Quebeckers have learned that the Northvolt battery manufacturing plant in Quebec is going to hire hundreds of foreign replacement workers. This means that $7 billion of taxpayers' money will be used to fund these jobs, which should have gone to Quebeckers. This Prime Minister is definitely not worth the cost. After eight years in power, this Prime Minister is not protecting jobs for Q…
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years of this Prime Minister, he is trying to save his career any way he can. As luck would have it, he has found a new partner in the centralist Bloc Québécois. Monday, we voted on a common-sense motion that would have given everyone a break on the carbon tax on home heating. That was not just for 3% of the population, but for all Canadians, contrary to what the Minister …
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Madam Speaker, we know that the current Prime Minister has the utmost admiration for the President of China. Again, when it comes to totalitarian countries like China that want to acquire Canadian technologies, it is vital that we find a way to act. I think that our amendments were designed to help—
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Madam Speaker, I agree with my colleague. It is quite incredible to see the Bloc Québécois aligning itself with the government again today to vote against an opposition motion to remove the carbon tax on all types of home heating. The Bloc Québécois is in an odd position here, because we are proposing an amendment that would keep us—
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Madam Speaker, I am very pleased to rise to speak to this bill for the second time. Last February, I gave a speech on Bill C-34, an act to amend the Investment Canada Act. At the time, I talked about the many problems with this legislation and our intention to improve it in committee. I will come back later to the amendments we proposed. Some of them were adopted, while others were, unfortunately,…
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Madam Speaker, what I was saying is that I hope the Bloc will vote with us on this amendment. The possibility of having two ministers from Ontario or British Columbia who would be responsible for public safety, innovation and industry would mean that no one in cabinet would have any power or say over a decision concerning a company that could be sold in Quebec and acquired by other companies aroun…
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Madam Speaker, that is an important question since, indeed, when we talk about national security and the security of companies that might be acquired or that have a national security interest, it is vital that we ensure that the process is done properly. Unfortunately, several of the amendments we proposed were rejected. They would have enhanced the quality of the work that the government in place…
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Madam Speaker, on Monday, members of the House will have the opportunity to vote for common sense and cancel the carbon tax on every type of home heating. After eight years, this government still does not understand that it has to give all Canadians a break. Unfortunately, the Bloc Québécois does not understand that either. It wants to drastically increase the carbon tax. It is costly to vote for …
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Madam Speaker, I was under the impression the NDP would be supporting our motion. I thank my colleague. I cannot believe what she keeps saying about the western Canadian oil and gas sector. She is from Edmonton, Alberta, which sends $13 billion to the province of Quebec. Basically, what she is telling me is that they are all rotten. I cannot understand why she is not prouder of her own province's …
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Madam Speaker, I am very pleased to rise in the House to speak to this opposition motion, which reads, and I quote: That, given that the government has announced a “temporary, three-year pause” to the federal carbon tax on home heating oil, the House call on the government to extend that pause to all forms of home heating. Note that we are talking about a “temporary, three-year pause”. That means …
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Madam Speaker, the answer is quite simple: reduce taxes on heating. It is not hard. By the way, he says that heat pumps are better for the environment. I agree with him. The Liberals have been in power for eight years. Instead of collecting a tax on carbon and giving part of it back to people, why did they not decide eight years ago to provide all Canadians who are less fortunate with heat pumps o…
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Madam Speaker, I feel I must compliment my colleague. She is probably the least condescending of all the Bloc Québécois members here in Ottawa. She is careful about what she says. She is very nice. I think she is once again making the mistake of saying that this is of no concern to Quebeckers. Clearly we see things differently. We also have a very different vision of government. The Liberals, with…
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years of this government, Quebeckers simply cannot take it anymore. The use of food banks is at an all-time high: Every month, one in 10 people in Quebec is forced to go to food banks. The government, with the Bloc Québécois's radical support, wants to make things worse with its carbon tax. It is costly to vote for the Bloc Québécois. The Prime Minister gave a break to the…
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Mr. Speaker, the alliance between the Bloc Québécois and the Liberal Party continues. The RCMP commissioner appeared before the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics last Monday and was prepared to give evidence on the Prime Minister's interference in the SNC-Lavalin affair. The Liberals ended up adjourning the meeting. Who supported them? It was the Bloc Québécois. The m…
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Madam Speaker, I am pleased to hear my colleague say that the government passes legislation and then enforces it by regulation. We have absolutely stunning evidence of this before us. I would like my colleague to answer this: Why does the Bloc Québécois support the government so often and, more specifically, why did it support the second carbon tax, called the clean fuel regulations? How come the …
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Madam Speaker, I cannot believe I am hearing my Liberal and Bloc colleagues in the House talking about a Government of Canada ATM. The Government of Canada is not an ATM. It is not an ATM for infrastructure, or for any of its services. It is not a cash machine. We are talking about taxpayers' money. The Liberal government has never been able to balance a single budget. Now it is trying to lecture …
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years of this government, the cost of living is only going up. Inflation is at a record level. People just cannot get by. This government's inflationary spending has impoverished Quebeckers. Considering the fact that one in two Canadians lives paycheque to paycheque, it is clear that things are not going well. However, this government is clinging to power thanks to its agr…
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Mr. Speaker, it is with immense pride that I rise to mark an exceptional occasion: the 100th anniversary of Premier Tech, based in Rivière-du-Loup. Premier Tech has forged a reputation for excellence with 100 years of history, determination and daring. The story began when the Bélanger family purchased a small business. It moved into horticulture with sphagnum peat moss and is now known for automa…
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Mr. Speaker, this government's policies have forced the Bank of Canada to increase the interest rate 10 times, with devastating effects. Here is the latest example. Approximately 20% of mortgages at the country's big banks are in negative amortization. What does that mean? It means that people's monthly payments are not enough to cover the interest. The unpaid interest is growing and being added t…
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Madam Speaker, the Bloc Québécois is scrambling to convince Quebeckers that the carbon tax will have no impact on Quebec. Nothing could be further from the truth. Everything that is transported from one province to another and ends up in our shops costs more because of this tax. Everything, including voting for the Bloc, costs more. After eight years of this government, many Quebeckers are being s…
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Madam Speaker, the Bloc Québécois said it wanted to drastically increase the carbon tax. The Liberals got their wish. A second carbon tax now applies in Quebec. According to the Parliamentary Budget Officer, it will cost 17¢ more per litre. This Bloc-Liberal alliance is always looking for ways to take more money from Quebeckers' pockets. It is just ridiculous. Will the Prime Minister put an end to…
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years of this government, our country is broken. Inflation is already hurting families, and food prices are expected to rise by 34% over the next two years. Repeated interest rate hikes have doubled mortgage payments. One in two Canadians lives paycheque to paycheque. What is the government's response? It is adamant about going ahead with its plan to increase the carbon ta…
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moved for leave to introduce Bill C-351, An Act to amend the Corrections and Conditional Release Act (maximum security offenders). Madam Speaker, I am proud to rise in the House today to introduce a private member's bill. Canadians were shocked to learn that Paul Bernardo, a dangerous criminal, had been transferred from a maximum-security prison to a medium-security prison. This bill amends the Co…
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Mr. Speaker, for eight years, the carbon tax has had an impact across the country, even in Quebec, despite what the minister and the Prime Minister are saying. As if that were not enough, the government will be imposing a second carbon tax as of July 1. Quebec families will be paying an average of $436 a year for this new measure they really do not need. Since we know that families are already str…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleagues, and I want to take a moment congratulate all of the young folks. In fact, everyone is taking the opportunity to thank everyone else because of the short time we have left in the House of Commons. I would like to take a minute to thank and congratulate all of the young people who found a summer job in all of the ridings, mine in particular. These young people are…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his speech. As a member of the Standing Committee on Industry and Technology, I helped analyze this bill. Obviously, it is a very important bill, considering that it aligns with the provinces' legislation, as my colleague pointed out. I would like to ask him a question. My colleague mentioned Bill 78, which was adopted in Quebec in 2022 or 2021, with respect t…
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Mr. Speaker, by interoperability we understand the connections and interplay between the provincial laws and the federal law that enable them to work together. It is imperative and fundamental that these laws can work together so that the work done upstream or downstream—whether at the federal or provincial level—can be constructive and effective, particularly against money laundering. I think my …
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for his excellent question. To move society forward, we must move bills forward, be it at the federal or provincial level. I realize that the registries are all harmonized at 25%. We are fully aware of that, but, in moving amendments like the one meant to lower the ownership threshold to 10%, we have made people think, not only in the House, but also at the provinci…
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Mr. Speaker, for the past eight years, this Prime Minister and this government have been spending recklessly, and this is having a devastating effect on Canadian families. Accumulated deficits drive up inflation. Everyone knows that. Inflation has led to higher interest rates. The Bank of Canada had to raise its key interest rate. The result is ever-higher mortgage payments. When will the Prime Mi…
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Mr. Speaker, there are some good bakeries in my riding. Four years ago, I could still get a loaf of bread for less than $2. That was perfectly normal. I go grocery shopping regularly. I am also very pleased to tell my colleague that. In the past four, five or six years, I have seen prices skyrocketing, particularly in the past two years. The inflationary taxes that the government continues to impo…
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Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to rise today to share my thoughts on budget 2023, which is at report stage. This government, under this Prime Minister, who has turned out to be the biggest spender in history, has delivered a reckless, irresponsible and free-spending budget. It has upset the fiscal balance that Stephen Harper's Conservative government had managed to restore. Let us remember that in…
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Mr. Speaker, if I am not mistaken, my colleague is an economist and has taught economics. As recently as February of this year, the Minister of Finance said that higher deficits would add fuel to the fire of inflation. That statement from the finance minister is the exact opposite of what she proposed in the last budget. Does my colleague think that makes sense? Does he believe that the government…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his important question. The carbon tax was effectively put in place by the government to get people to change their behaviour. The people who pay this tax were to receive the equivalent amount in the form of a rebate. Obviously, that is not what is happening, because the math does not work. Furthermore, the government has had environmental targets in place to …
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Mr. Speaker, we believe in the science of technology. It is actually surprising that the NDP and Bloc Québécois members do not want to believe in new technologies. It is as if we were going back in time. We only have to look at communications technologies, for example. We hold those in our hands every day. We did not have that 25 years ago. We were still sending letters by mail, as my colleague po…
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Madam Speaker, my response will be brief: absolutely.
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Madam Speaker, we are here this evening to discuss Bill C‑35, or what the Liberals like to call the universal child care plan. In particular, we are talking about the report presented by the Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities, which studied this bill. One of the reasons the Conservatives are here is to ensure that parent…
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Madam Speaker, I did not say whether I would support the bill or not. What we hope to do here this evening, as we have done since the beginning in committee, is to potentially improve this program and how it is implemented. We want to avoid using smoke and mirrors to fool Canadians without actually delivering what was promised. It is always the same thing. The best example is the one I gave earlie…
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Madam Speaker, I am trying to think about the question I was just asked. As we speak, there is a Canadian political coalition. I did not draw up the deal, nor did I sign it. It is between the Liberals and the NDP. Perhaps my colleague should look in the mirror and figure out which party he belongs to. As far as I know, he is from the NDP. The question he just asked me has nothing to do with what w…
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Mr. Speaker, contrary to what the Liberals are saying, the carbon tax will have an impact on Quebec—we just have to talk to farmers and truckers. As if that were not enough, this government wants to add a second tax, a tax on a tax. That tax represents $436 per family per year in Quebec. Canadians are already struggling with rising interest rates and inflation. People are sick and tired of this. W…
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Madam Speaker, since the Prime Minister took office, violent crime has increased by 32%. As an aside, I would just like to remind the House that the Conservative government lowered the crime rate by 23%. This situation is a direct result of this Liberal government's soft-on-crime policies. It is incredibly easy for criminals to get out on bail. Will the Prime Minister finally get the message and m…
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Madam Speaker, I would just like to say to my colleague that we are not in government, and, unlike them, we do not use speech writers.
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Mr. Chair, I have a very simple question. I hope that the minister will have the number for us. How much of the money allocated under his 10-year plan has been spent to date? How many houses were expected to be built with the money that was spent? How many houses will be built in the coming years?
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Mr. Chair, I will repeat my question. Has the target for the number of houses that were planned to be built with the money spent in his 10-year plan been achieved?
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Mr. Chair, how many federal government buildings are available for social housing in Canada?
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Mr. Chair, once again, the minister is taking us for fools for asking him simple questions that I believe are intelligent enough to be answered intelligently. Instead of accusing us of all kinds of nonsense, he really should try to answer the questions we ask him. How many federal government buildings and properties would be available for social housing in Canada now? Can he give us a simple answe…
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Mr. Chair, I am a very patient person. I think I am a smart enough man to ask questions that I consider intelligent. I have a very simple question for the minister. How many federal buildings and property are available for conversion to social housing?
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Hell, Mr. Chair, am I being naive? I asked him a simple question.
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Mr. Chair, I am going to take a slightly different tack. All evening, the minister has been saying that we are asking ridiculous questions. However, he has not answered any of the questions that he has been asked since the evening began. I am going to ask him a very simple one. After spending $92 billion on his housing plan, does he think that he knows more than everyone else?
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Mr. Chair, the reality is that, after the minister spent all of that money on his plan for housing in Canada, 32% fewer homes will be built in the coming year. Could the minister explain why there will be 32% fewer homes built after he spent $92 billion?
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