Parliamentary Speeches
525 speeches by Claude DeBellefeuille — Page 1 of 11
Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise at third reading of Bill C-8, a very important bill. We agree with the government and with all members of the House that we needed a bill on cybersecurity. We took the necessary time to debate this bill over a number of sittings. We heard from a number of witnesses and experts, and there was no filibustering by the Conservatives, the Bloc or the Liberals. No one f…
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Madam Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for being a paragon of collaboration. He is one of my colleagues on the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security, and when I tabled my amendment, he came to see me and said that if we added what he just mentioned to the amendment, the government would be subject to more oversight and would have less time to present the analysis and repor…
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for her kind words and her question. As a mother and grandmother, I welcome any measure that can really rein in attacks on individuals and their integrity in the digital realm. I wish she had asked me a question about Bill C‑22, which is another bill that was introduced before the break. In my opinion, it will require the same rigorous study and the same amount …
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague, who always asks very relevant questions. Indeed, that is what motivated us throughout our work in committee. In other words, when we analyzed Bill C‑8, we wondered how we could both ensure security and protect privacy and personal information. I think we achieved that. It is not perfect, but I think we achieved that by incorporating the amendments proposed by t…
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Madam Speaker, that is indeed a problem, considering the work and analysis that goes into amendments. These amendments had been thoroughly debated by the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security, and though they were deemed inadmissible by the committee chair, we had strong arguments to show that the chair was mistaken. Democracy prevailed, and we overturned the chair's decision. …
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Mr. Speaker, as the critic for public safety and emergency preparedness, I debated Bill C‑12 in committee, and I can say that we put in a lot of hours. We worked until midnight to get through the clause-by-clause consideration of this important bill, which makes rather significant amendments in the realm of refugees and immigration. Even after such an eloquent speech, does my colleague have anythi…
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Madam Speaker, I understand my colleague's frustration because, at the end of the day, she has just as much right to be here in the House as I do. Her voice carries just as much weight as mine and those of all our colleagues in the House. However, it is true that the rules in committee are such that unrecognized parties are not represented around the table during committee deliberations. My collea…
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to start by congratulating my colleague. I enjoyed debating Bill C‑8 with her at the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security. I really appreciated the questions she asked the witnesses and experts with a view to improving Bill C‑8 based on their testimony. Can she honestly state that all members debated Bill C‑8 rigorously and professionally and that the…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, in a split second, tragedy struck. Two pilots lost their lives on Sunday in a collision involving their aircraft on a runway at LaGuardia airport in New York. On behalf of the Bloc Québécois, I wish to offer my condolences to the loved ones of Mackenzie Gunther. I also extend my condolences and full support to all the members of Antoine Forest's family. Antoine was barely 30 years old…
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Mr. Speaker, tomorrow is Valentine's Day, a holiday for lovers. We know that some people think Valentine's Day is too commercial or too corny, and some say that lovers do not need a holiday. Others who are single simply do not care. As for me, I think that we need a holiday that celebrates love now more than ever. When times are uncertain, when tragedy strikes, when people are wondering what the w…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, we need an independent public inquiry into Cúram because the Liberals are out of touch with reality. Imagine causing financial problems for 85,000 retirees and thinking that it is no big deal. Imagine letting 85,000 people fall through the cracks thanks to a computer system and responding by just asking us to pass on their names and saying the government will look into the issues. The…
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Mr. Speaker, I want to congratulate my colleague on the thoroughness of her presentation. She has done her research and knows what she is talking about. She studied law herself, so it is interesting to hear from someone who knows the subject so well. My question is perhaps more for her in her capacity as the Bloc Québécois House leader. I understand that currently, in the House, the government is …
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
moved for leave to introduce Bill C-261, An Act to amend the Old Age Security Act (amount of full pension). Mr. Speaker, introducing a bill that directly affects the daily lives of our constituents is always an important moment in a parliamentarian's life. In my riding, as in many regions, a large proportion of the population is 65 years of age or older. In Beauharnois—Salaberry—Soulanges—Huntingd…
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Madam Speaker, I listened carefully to my colleague's speech, and I think he knows full well that the Bloc Québécois will support Bill C-19. We heard from a lot of members of my party who have indicated that we will be supporting this bill. There is one issue that keeps coming up that I am really concerned about. We get a lot of calls in our riding offices from people who say that they need more i…
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Madam Speaker, as always, I greatly appreciated the speech by my colleague across the floor. It is a pleasure to hear him speak. He is a new MP, and I honestly think that he has learned a lot, very quickly. I know that my colleague is a thorough and hard-working member of Parliament who knows his files. In his speech, he said that budget measures had been announced to help people. I wonder why, th…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, I am very pleased to rise to speak to Bill S-233. However, before I begin my speech, I want to draw attention to this tartan I am wearing, which is is certified and registered in Scotland. It was made by two weavers in my riding who are members of the Guilde des Tisserands du Suroît. They wove this tartan and gifted it to me in celebration of the 150th anniversary of the City of Sal…
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Madam Speaker, I appreciated my colleague's speech. Yes, the agreement allows for market diversification, but it seems to me that it is not modern enough. There is no assurance that the supply chains will be free of forced labour or human rights violations. That issue is not taken into account at all. I think Canada has proven to be a slightly more progressive country in this regard in the past. I…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all the best for 2026. I also wish all my colleagues a happy new year filled with happiness, health, serenity, a bit of calm and, above all, kindness for everyone around us. If I may, I would like to point out that I am proudly wearing a purple flower on my lapel to signify recognition and awareness of Alzheimer's disease, hence my men…
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Madam Speaker, Bill C-12 is full of intentions for border security, but I believe that the government does not have the means to achieve its ambitions and that 1,000 officers will not be enough to fulfill all of the ambitions that the government has set out in Bill C-12.
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Madam Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise in the House, particularly with you in the chair. You and I founded the all-party maritime caucus. That is proof that we can work together even if we are of different political persuasions. I also want to sincerely thank the member for Winnipeg North and the member for Calgary Nose Hill for very generously allowing me to move up my speaking spot. Team…
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question, which I find particularly interesting as a former whip. We have studied the rules and procedures extensively and are always looking for ways to improve participation in debates in a constructive manner. I do not know whether we will manage to present any suggestions this time around to the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs to mo…
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Madam Speaker, that is a good question. The idea is that committees are masters of their own proceedings. When we study a bill and we come to an agreement on amendments, even if they do not please the government, it is strange, not to say unacceptable, that the Speaker of the House can then rule amendments that were duly debated and adopted out of order. That means that they disappear completely f…
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Madam Speaker, if you seek it, I believe you will find unanimous consent for the following motion: That the member for Beauharnois—Salaberry—Soulanges—Huntingdon be allowed to use the speaking slot allocated to the member for Winnipeg North for this debate. That the member for Winnipeg North not be deemed to have spoken, that he retain his right to speak, and that this right be used in the first o…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Mr. Speaker, you will not be surprised to learn that the Bloc Québécois will not be supporting Bill C-218. Although we do not support this bill, it is not because we are unconcerned with the issue of medical assistance in dying for people with mental disorders. It is because it is not up to a political party to decide whether to implement a medical assistance in dying procedure for people with men…
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Mr. Speaker, I greatly appreciated my colleague's speech. The two of us had the opportunity to sit together on the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security. I know that a shooting range in her riding, in the city of Penticton, is threatening to close because the government may be making a decision that clashes with this community's needs. Perhaps my colleague would have liked to s…
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Mr. Speaker, I know that one of my colleague's values involves opposing the federal government's centralization of health and social services. Does he agree that money could have been found in the budget to increase health and social service transfers? Every province in Canada is struggling to provide quality services because they have to do more with less. Does my colleague agree with me that the…
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Mr. Speaker, it seems odd to me that two government representatives are causing disorder in the House this morning. I do not think that they are setting a good example. I find it rather odd that two government representatives are causing disorder by talking and preventing us from speaking. My question for my colleague is this. All along the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River, many smaller port…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Mr. Speaker, I am stunned by what I just heard. I agree with the member that there needs to be more mental health services. Obviously it falls under the jurisdiction of the provinces and Quebec to provide the whole range of services needed to support people experiencing mental health issues. However, in her speech, my colleague misled the public somewhat by claiming that the law allows for medical…
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Mr. Speaker, I appreciated my colleague's speech. I know she is an expert on immigration. I would like to ask her about the budget allocated to border protection. Does she think that hiring 1,000 border services officers over three years will be enough to keep our borders secure? Will Canada have all the resources it needs to properly manage immigration?
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Madam Speaker, like my colleague, I am very concerned about the fact that more and more seniors are asking for food assistance and going to food banks for help. We have seen the 2025 Hunger Count for Quebec, produced by the members of Food Banks of Quebec. In my riding, I have seen an increase in food aid in general, but particularly for seniors, and I am sure my colleague has seen something simil…
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Mr. Speaker, I appreciated my colleague's speech. I have several questions for him, but here is the one I am dying to ask. Like me, he is a member from Quebec, so he knows that our health and social services are really struggling because of a lack of resources. They are forced to do more with less. One of the Bloc Québécois's demands was an increase in health transfers to the provinces. Unfortunat…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, what we are hearing is frightening. This same minister also called his worried Liberal colleagues boy scouts and naive, according to the Toronto Star. In Canada today, it is normal for a natural resources minister to think that worrying about the expansion of dirty oil pipelines is simply nostalgia, magical thinking, naïveté and behaving like boy scouts. Even the Conservative leader…
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Madam Speaker, the new Minister of Energy and Natural Resources seriously crossed the line yesterday. When commenting on the resignation of the former environment minister, he said that people who are concerned about the Liberal shift towards more oil are nostalgic for the past and are looking for magical solutions. It seems that nowadays, caring about the environment is considered nostalgia and w…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague and commend her for her dedication to the plight of seniors. The Bloc Québécois is lucky to have her. She gives a voice to seniors in the House of Commons. If not for the Bloc, no one would be talking about seniors here. To answer her question, seniors talk to us in our ridings. Twenty per cent of my constituents are seniors aged 65 and over. Quebec and British Co…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for her question. This gives me a chance to tell her that seniors are indeed happy that their dental care is cheaper. However, can they really pay for fillings if they do not have the money to pay the rent or buy groceries? I do not think the member understands that the old age security pension and the guaranteed income supplement are universal programs and that t…
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Mr. Speaker, I represent a rural region where there are many produce growers and many people who farm grains, fruits, vegetables, corn and soybeans. Frankly, this budget does not take into account our farmers' reality at all. It does not offer them the support they require or programs tailored to their needs. Canada-wide programs do not work in agriculture because production in the east and west a…
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Mr. Speaker, before I begin my speech, I want to point out that, with both pride and sadness, I am wearing a white ribbon to mark the 12 days of action to end violence against women, ending on December 6. I believe that next week, we will have a day to make speeches as part of a ministerial statement. It is important that we remember these women who were murdered in cold blood in 1989 simply becau…
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Mr. Speaker, I appreciated my colleague's wonderful speech, which, as always, was informed by the needs of her community, her riding. Since she is also the Bloc Québécois critic for the status of women, I would like to know her opinion on something major missing from the budget: measures for women who, upon returning from maternity leave, do not have access to employment insurance if their positio…
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague and I had the opportunity to work together when he was his party's whip. I know that he is a diligent and hard-working MP, and I want to ask him about the whole issue of seniors. We were stunned to see that the budget included only one small program for seniors, the New Horizons for Seniors program. How can my colleague understand and accept that seniors did not get an in…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Mr. Speaker, I would be remiss not to begin my speech on Bill C-236 by pointing out that Quebec's early childhood week is drawing to a close. Yesterday was National Child Day. It seems only fitting to share that today, because it is a day for acknowledging that children are people and citizens in their own right who are entitled to freedom, safety and a life without violence. We must never forget …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, Quebeckers do not want another Liberal pipeline of dirty western oil. We all remember last summer, when we had the worst air quality in the entire world because of the forest fires. Albertans may have forgotten that Jasper burned, but we have not. We have also not forgotten our produce growers who lose crops almost every year because of abnormal weather patterns. Climate change is alr…
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Mr. Speaker, I want to congratulate my colleague for introducing this bill. I can assure him that it has the Bloc Québécois's support. Here is my question. The bill would allow judges to consider a person's refusal to disclose the location of a murder victim's remains or body as an aggravating circumstance. However, my understanding of the bill is that if the judge does not consider this to be an …
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Mr. Speaker, I listened carefully to my colleague and I know that the border security issue is especially important to him. I would like to know his thoughts on the Canada Border Services Agency's commitment to hire an additional 1,000 officers, 800 of them armed and 200 unarmed. Does my colleague agree that we need not 1,000 border officers, but close to 3,000 to meet the needs and provide adequa…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Mr. Speaker, I am extremely pleased to rise this evening to speak to Bill C-234, which was introduced by my colleague from Edmonton Manning. It is an important bill. We know that private members' bills are often rooted in the member's personal experiences. In the case of my colleague, back in 2003, he showed selfless generosity by donating part of his liver to his son, who went on to live a good l…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, I want to congratulate my colleague. Sometimes, especially when we sit on Fridays, we study private members' bills that are based on deeply moving personal experiences. I thank my colleague for introducing this bill and I assure him of the Bloc Québécois's support. My question is this. Would it not be possible to go a step further in the bill and stipulate that families be automatic…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, I had the opportunity to do so earlier, but I would like to once again commend my colleague for introducing this bill. After listening to all the speeches, I can see that members largely agree: Victims have rights, including the right to information. The bill that our colleague is proposing is almost a carbon copy of another bill, Bill C‑320, which passed all legislative stages in t…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, I think it is important, in this month of November, that we call attention to this year's Social Economy Month, because it builds on the advocacy and promotion surrounding the 2025 Social Economy Summit. The summit was so historic that the advocacy work and resulting call to action were unanimously supported by the Quebec National Assembly. The turnout included 1,500 people from all r…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I have the privilege of sharing my time with my friend, the chief whip of the Bloc Québécois and member for Berthier—Maskinongé. Before I begin my speech, I would like to take a moment to congratulate the 25 mayors in my riding who had the pleasure of being elected or re-elected. I would also like to congratulate all the municipal councillors who were elected on November 2 in Quebec's…
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague, whom I appreciate, for his question. This gives me an opportunity to tell him that it is about time, since it has been quite a few years. My colleague from Gaspésie—Les Îles‑de‑la‑Madeleine—Listuguj said that we have been asking for this money for the airport runway for years. It is about time. Yes, it is good, but is it enough? Is it enough to convince s…
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Mr. Speaker, we responded to the question of privilege. We agree with the member that what happened is quite incomprehensible, as we said. The government cannot withhold documents or make a mistake of this magnitude. It has consequences. All of this has been documented. I also agree with my colleague that we should not put all our eggs in the basket of modernization through automation. I have to a…
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