Parliamentary Speeches
525 speeches by Claude DeBellefeuille — Page 11 of 11
Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, over the past eight months, the Prime Minister has reduced guaranteed income supplement payments for seniors who legitimately collected CERB. These are not wealthy seniors. They work part-time to pay for rent, groceries and prescriptions. It took months for the Prime Minister to realize that was wrong, and he is going to make it right—but not until May—and he is still going to cut ben…
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Mr. Speaker, seniors are suffering as a result of the cuts to the guaranteed income supplement. Some of them are going hungry, selling their possessions and even losing their homes. These people cannot wait until late spring for the federal bureaucratic machine to get moving. The Prime Minister proved with CERB that he can get cheques out quickly when he really wants to. If the Prime Minister was …
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Mr. Speaker, the interpreter is unable to do their job properly because the sound quality is poor.
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Mr. Speaker, by the time this government stops making cuts to the guaranteed income supplement for seniors, the government will have been depriving them of the basic essentials for 11 months. During those 11 months, inflation had time to reach the highest levels in 30 years. For 11 months, seniors had to leave more and more food on the shelves at the grocery store because it is too expensive. Thei…
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Mr. Speaker, for the past eight months, the government has been making cuts to the guaranteed income supplement for seniors who received CERB. We are talking about seniors who have to work part time to pay for the basics, such as their rent or medication. This morning, after eight months, the government introduced a bill to right this wrong. Do my colleagues know when this bill will come into forc…
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moved for leave to introduce Bill C-238, An Act respecting the French language. Mr. Speaker, it is with great pride that I introduce this bill, entitled an act respecting the French language. This bill will subject federally regulated businesses to the Charter of the French Language. Members will recall that Quebec workers, except those who are federally regulated, are entitled to all the protecti…
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague. It is interesting and really quite something to listen to an expert in this field, an ethicist who is well known in Quebec, Canada and around the world. My question is quite simple. I am new to this field, but I think the process would have been more transparent if the government, whether it be the Minister of Health or his staff, had been clearer and more fort…
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Mr. Speaker, at this very moment, some seniors are having to cut back on groceries because the federal government has taken away their guaranteed income supplement. The people who get the GIS are not rich. They do not have a bunch of credit cards they can max out while they wait for the federal apparatus to give their money back. They make sacrifices every day and have been doing so for eight mont…
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Mr. Speaker, some people are able to make a significant impact by channelling their remarkable commitment and determination. There are great women who have strong convictions and who strive to set an example. These are the kinds of people whose passion for a healthy planet can galvanize and inspire others. There are some people without whom our communities would not be as green, as beautiful, or a…
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Mr. Speaker, right now, the government is cutting the guaranteed income supplement for seniors who legitimately collected CERB. Some seniors are not filling their prescriptions or having a hard time paying the rent. This despite the fact that, in December, the government admitted its mistakes and announced it would compensate the victims of this injustice, though not until May 2022. Now that the g…
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With regard to the funding granted in 2020 to United Way Centraide Canada, through the Emergency Community Support Fund, to increase response capacity and expand 211 service coverage to all Canadian residents, with said funding coming to an end on March 31, 2021: (a) what amount was spent to expand coverage of the 211 service across Quebec; and (b) how many referrals were made through the 211 serv…
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Mr. Speaker, the cost of groceries has increased 7%, but the income of seniors under the age of 75 has not increased at all because the government is denying them the old age security pension increase they deserve. This basically forces seniors, whose health is often fragile, to cut back on the food they buy. I know that the finance minister understands perfectly well that freezing the pension of …
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Mr. Speaker, experts expect food prices to rise by 7%. Meanwhile, Ottawa wants to cut back the guaranteed income supplement for 183,000 senior workers, many of them among the poorest seniors who received the Canada emergency response benefit. Grocery bills will be going way up, yet the government is clawing back an average of $3,500. In committee on Thursday, the Minister of Finance confirmed that…
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Mr. Speaker, 32 years ago today, Quebec bore witness to a femicide that left 14 students dead at Polytechnique. Against the background of the 18 femicides this year and the wave of shootings that have shaken Montreal, the lack of progress on gun control since this massacre took place is even more glaring. One Polytechnique survivor, Nathalie Provost, said, “It is a disaster. We are less protected …
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Mr. Speaker, according to the coordinator at PolyRemembers, “There is a weakening of gun control while we are witnessing an increase in femicides and several shootings.” Thirty-two years later, we are regressing instead of progressing. It is so discouraging. That is what the Polytechnique survivors are telling us today. We owe a debt to those women. What strong action will the Deputy Prime Ministe…
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Madam Speaker, I am pleased to congratulate my colleague. During the last Parliament we had the opportunity to work together as whips. I have a simple question. I would genuinely like to understand the reasons behind this decision to have a hybrid Parliament until June 23, 2022. As the government House leader knows, the House Administration and the technical support people would be able to reinsta…
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Madam Speaker, I thank the member for his speech. Something made me prick up my ears. I am a whip, I helped create the hybrid Parliament and I am going to say quite frankly that it is a temporary tool to get through a pandemic. I am hearing that telework is becoming more and more popular, that it is flexible and so on. Am I hearing that the government wants to change how Parliament works? That it …
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question. It gives me an opportunity to clarify what I was saying. I do not know his profession, but I do not think he is a scientist. I am not a scientist, but what I do know is that I received instructions, a directive from the Sergeant-at-Arms, who issued a policy and directives here that said that Ontario Public Health deemed it safe for the 338 MPs …
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Madam Speaker, the Bloc Québécois's House leader is a tough act to follow. It is hard to improve on his use of metaphor and imagery to get his point across. Nevertheless, I will try to lighten things up and make members laugh. First, though, I would like to thank the people of Salaberry—Suroît for re-electing me to serve a fourth term. I was fortunate to be a member of Parliament from 2006 to 2011…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, when I say that I am proud to be the member for Salaberry—Suroît, it is because I have every reason to be. I have the honour of meeting exceptional people, including the most recent winner of the Coup de coeur des Agricultrices du Québec award. Pioneering, determined and innovative: That is how best to describe Nathalie Lacroix, co-owner of Petits Fruits St‑Louis in Saint‑Louis‑de‑Gon…
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question. Yes, we are aware that being at home, being in our ridings, voting remotely, being able to deliver a speech and then leave 10 minutes later to go vote gives us plenty of freedom, more so than if we came to work in the House. I agree with him that this freedom is perhaps more appreciated by the government party, whose gamble to win a majority go…
Read full speech →Speech from the Throne
Mr. Speaker, I would like to share with you a major concern that my Bloc Québécois colleagues and I share regarding the health and safety of members of the House and parliamentary staff. This concern is a direct result of the Conservative Party's lukewarm position on whether it is effective and necessary for its members to be vaccinated against COVID‑19. Since the Board of Internal Economy made it…
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to share certain points that we believe must be considered with regard to the question of privilege raised by the chief opposition whip. I would first like to say that the decision made by the Board of Internal Economy concerning vaccination of people on Parliament Hill was necessary and vital given the COVID-19 pandemic. As the administrative body of the House of Commons…
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Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Prime Minister appealed to opposition parties to be progressive and pass his bills. The opposition has enabled the passage of nine bills since June 1, including Bill C‑10, which would have died without the Bloc Québécois. Now it is the government's turn. Sick people often need up to 50 weeks of special EI benefits. That is what our Bill C‑265 provides for. In order for i…
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Mr. Speaker, at the end of her life, Émilie Sansfaçon was fighting two battles, one for her life, against cancer, and one so that sick people could have up to 50 weeks of EI sickness benefits. The Prime Minister met Émilie. He knows very well what she went through. Émilie lost her first battle. Today, the Prime Minister could make it so she wins the second one. I appeal to the Prime Minister's com…
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