Parliamentary Speeches
418 speeches by Claude DeBellefeuille — Page 1 of 9
Government Orders
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…
Read full speech →Government Orders
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…
Read full speech →Government Orders
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…
Read full speech →Government Orders
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 →Government Orders
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…
Read full speech →Government Orders
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…
Read full speech →Government Orders
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.
Read full speech →Government Orders
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…
Read full speech →Government Orders
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?
Read full speech →Government Orders
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…
Read full speech →Government Orders
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…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
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…
Read full speech →Government Orders
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…
Read full speech →Government Orders
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…
Read full speech →Government Orders
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…
Read full speech →Government Orders
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…
Read full speech →Government Orders
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 →Government Orders
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…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, As one of the parliamentarians present in the House on Fridays, I can attest that the last hour of debate is moving. Last week, we debated Bill C‑222, introduced by the member for Burnaby North—Seymour, and it was quite emotional. The bill proposed amending the Employment Insurance Act with respect to maternity leave in cases where a parent is grieving the loss of a child. It propos…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I appreciated my colleague's speech, which was eloquent, as always. I feel the amendments that were to Bill C‑3 are reasonable. They do not negate the bill, but they do set out conditions for obtaining citizenship. That is reasonable. The fact that the Bloc Québécois and the Conservatives joined forces without the government's agreement is neither excessive nor abusive. It is an imp…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Mr. Speaker, I can tell you one thing: To me, this bill is deeply offensive and disrespectful. I am a social worker and a member of my professional order. I was a manager in the public health care system for years. One thing I know for sure is that, if my colleagues who work in hospitals, local community services centres and long-term care facilities heard what I heard today, they would be very an…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I want to thank my very humble colleague. He is a lawyer, as members know, and he has some authority or reputation when he talks about a bill that is closely related to his former duties. I want to ask him the following question. What possible explanation is there for the fact that we now have a huge number of inmates awaiting trial? Is there a delay in appointing judges? Is someone…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Mr. Speaker, I am deeply moved and feel privileged to speak on the bill introduced by my colleague from Burnaby North—Seymour. I know exactly how my colleague must feel in introducing a bill that responds to a very obvious need expressed by the people around him, people who have experienced the tragedy of losing a child and having to return to work quickly without being able to grieve because EI i…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, it is national independent community action week in Quebec, and I rise today to pay tribute to the thousands of organizations across Quebec that work with passion and determination to build a more just, inclusive and supportive society. These groups are rooted in our community. They are the glue that holds us together. They defend people's rights, support the vulnerable, promote civic…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Mr. Speaker, I am also deeply moved. I think there can be no greater tragedy than losing a child. I congratulate the member for introducing this bill, which brings all the current limitations of the Employment Insurance Act into full view. I would like to know whether, as a member of the government, he has verified that this humane amendment to the act will receive a royal recommendation.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I think that my colleague's speech laid out our basic argument quite clearly. As far as the numbers go, we disagree with representatives of the NDP and the government on the amount people this would affect. However, if there is one person held in high regard by all members of the House, that would be the Parliamentary Budget Officer. He said that a lot more people would be affected th…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I would like to reiterate to the members opposite, including government members and the NDP, that the Bloc Québécois and the Conservatives do not oppose Bill C‑3, quite the contrary. We have shown our support for the bill. However, we did propose amendments to provide a slightly tighter framework for determining whether or not someone is a Canadian citizen when they live outside Canad…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, as the public safety critic for the Bloc Québécois, I can say that we have studied Bill C-12 at length. We have also heard from a lot of witnesses. I am an MP who is capable of weighing the pros and cons. Bill C‑12 contains some good measures, such as the one that gives the Minister of Health the power to identify precursor chemicals to fight the opioid crisis. Does my colleague think…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask my colleague a very specific question. Bill C-12 provides that railway companies and port authorities must pay for suitable facilities where border services can carry out inspections. Does my colleague agree that companies, not the government, should pay for these facilities?
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I listened closely to my colleague's speech. Can she give me her opinion on the fact that Bill C-12 proposes to integrate the Coast Guard under the defence umbrella, under the umbrella of the Canadian Armed Forces, yet there are no plans to arm the Coast Guard? Does my colleague believe that our Coast Guard is genuinely being integrated into the military?
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, that is a very good question. We do not have the inside track, so we will talk hypothetically. I agree that the U.S. President's team must be disappointed, given that the U.S. government did not get what it asked for. The Liberal government backed down on a number of decisions that were made in the House to please the U.S. government, in the hopes that it would have some impact on t…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I think I said this, but perhaps my colleague missed the beginning of my speech. I said at the outset that the Bloc Québécois agrees to refer Bill C-12 to committee so that we can hear expert opinions on this bill. We will be able to hear from witnesses to determine whether we should propose amendments and whether we can improve the bill. The answer to my colleague's first question …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague with whom I have the privilege of serving on the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security. I would say that, to calm things down a bit, the Minister of Public Safety should make it clear that the three troubling parts that were removed from Bill C-12 need to be scrapped for good. Bill C-2 should die on the Order Paper and there sho…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I tend to agree with the first part of my colleague's question; it is true that workers are losing their jobs right now because of American tariffs. It does not seem as though the government is acting very quickly to support the small regions and medium-sized businesses that do not have the cash flow they need to cope with these changes. Quite frankly, we had very high expectations …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I am very pleased to hear that my Conservative colleague supports the Bloc Québécois's proposal to optimize the work of our officers by allowing them to leave the border crossing where they are posted to intercept migrants or goods. We know that border officers are armed and trained in self-defence. They have everything they need to better co-operate with the RCMP, which is often fa…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, it is always an honour to speak when you are sitting in the chair. I would like to congratulate the newly acclaimed mayors in my riding. We recently had an election in Quebec for cities and municipalities. I would like to congratulate Alain Dubuc, who was re-elected as mayor of Beauharnois. I would also like to congratulate Daibhid Fraser in Dundee, Deborah Stewart in Elgin, Mark Wa…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I really appreciated the parliamentary secretary's constructive tone when speaking about Bill C‑12 generally. We have a lot in common. We both agree that border security needs to be enhanced and that much tougher and more robust measures need to be taken to ensure security. As he said, we agree that the Coast Guard should be given more powers and more tools for surveillance and comm…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to proudly acknowledge the 45th anniversary of the Centre d'action bénévole de Beauharnois, a pillar of solidarity and generosity in our community. Since its founding, the centre has exemplified civic engagement and dedication to those who are most vulnerable. Thanks to its passionate volunteers and dedicated team, it delivers essential services that make a real differenc…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, Driver Inc. truckers are a danger to the public. It is good news that Ottawa wants to tighten up income traceability for incorporated truck drivers, as the Bloc Québécois has been calling for. That is a first step. However, a first step is not enough when people are being killed on our highways and Quebec is launching a public inquiry. Temporary immigrants must be prevented from worki…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, although I cannot list the provisions, I can say that we will be moving a few amendments on privacy. We also intend to move amendments to ensure respect for Quebec's jurisdictions and ensure that Hydro-Québec can continue to collaborate with the United States, since it is already heavily regulated. If the bill stays in its current form, with no amendments, we find it hard to imagine t…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I listened carefully to the minister. I also reviewed the bill and read the legislative summary from the Library of Parliament. As a side note, the work of the Library of Parliament's analysts and researchers is outstanding. They are really great. Although the minister is trying to reassure us, the fact is that some doubt remains in terms of the protection of privacy in this bill. T…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I agree with my colleague that this is a very urgent and important bill that deserves our attention. I would like to have the opportunity to study it in committee right away so that we can present our arguments and amendments and better define the issue of interference. Honestly, I do not think the Liberals and Conservatives fully understand what this means for Quebec and Hydro-Québec…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, when it comes to interference in this case, there is really no difference between the Liberals, the Conservatives and the NDP because they all have the same penchant for centralization. Earlier, my Conservative colleague, the public safety critic, with whom I serve on the committee, was telling me that cybersecurity and cyber-threats know no borders. I understand what he is saying, bu…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, while listening to my colleague, I also get the impression, as a member of the Standing Committee on Public Safety, that we will have a lot of work to do. We seem to agree, however, on the importance of discussing and passing this bill, which will allow us to manage cybersecurity systems across Canada. My colleague knows that the bill targets highly critical sectors like banking, bu…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I am rising on a point of order. The interpretation stopped working during my colleague's speech. The minister is moving papers around near the microphone and it is affecting the sound quality and making it hard for the interpreters to hear.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague, with whom I serve on the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security. I think we have something in common, specifically that we both want to understand the issues and learn more. My answer to his question is no. Hydro-Québec already complies with North American standards. It feels as though Bill C-8 is another layer on top of existing standards. Hyd…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I would like to thank the member for Winnipeg North for asking me that question. I get the sense that he is curious and wants to understand our position, which is nice. As for me, I am curious about whether Manitoba was consulted. That is something I am personally curious about. Perhaps my colleague already knows the answer. We need to see how we can avoid duplicating what is alread…
Read full speech →