Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the number of homicides is on the rise in Canada. In 2021, it reached 788; that is two per day. In Quebec there were 88 homicides, and that number is also on the rise. It is the highest national rate since this Liberal government came into power. The Liberals have failed in their duty to ensure that Canada is a country where citizens feel safe. Will the government finally do its job a…
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Mr. Speaker, Canadians feel less and less safe in their community and yet this government is doing absolutely nothing to help them. That is the case for women who have to go out at night. The government even reduced sentences for certain violent crimes. The Liberals' soft-on-crime approach is reckless and puts Canadians' lives at risk. When will the government do the right thing and come down hard…
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Mr. Speaker, some people do not know how they are going to pay for groceries on the weekend, nor whether they can pay for heating. Students have to sleep in shelters, and workers have to use food banks, which 1.5 million Canadians turned to in a single month. Can the Liberal government look Canadians in the eye and tell them in all sincerity that the carbon tax is good for them?
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Mr. Speaker, the carbon tax only does one thing, and that is make Canadians poorer. It achieves nothing. The Liberals know that Canadians are suffering due to inflation, yet the government stubbornly insists on increasing the carbon tax. My leader, along with every Conservative in this place, is calling for the Liberals to abandon their plan to increase Canadians' taxes. Will they do it, yes or no…
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Mr. Speaker, the holidays are going to be pretty dismal for Canadians. With the price of groceries going through the roof, there may not be much on families' tables. With the price of gas hitting record highs, some families will not be able to visit relatives and friends. Add to that the skyrocketing cost of heating. That is the last straw. Will the government take our advice and eliminate the car…
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Mr. Speaker, he would do well to stop playing politics and show a bit of compassion. We want tangible measures now, not costly solutions that will take months to come in. Again, I said it yesterday, our leader and every Conservative here is calling for one thing: to cancel the plan to increase the carbon tax. It is clear and simple.
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Mr. Speaker, Liberal inflation is making everyone's life impossible. Winter is here. There is no denying it; it is pretty cold already. Canadians are having a hard time paying their bills, including their heating bill. Canadians need help now. They cannot afford to pay more. Our leader, my Conservative Party colleagues and I have a very simple solution: eliminate the carbon tax on home heating bil…
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Madam Speaker, Liberal inflation is having a disturbing impact on vulnerable pregnant women who are food insecure. According to Fondation Olo, which provides food specifically to those pregnant women, they choose to go without themselves so they can feed their other children. Why is this happening? Because food has become unaffordable. Ultimately, they are being asked to choose between their unbor…
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Mr. Speaker, Liberal inflation hurts. We learned that the proportion of Quebeckers experiencing food insecurity has doubled. It is currently 15%. These are people who have jobs but are worried about not being able to afford groceries at the end of the week, people who are skipping meals and using food banks. That is happening here in Canada, a G7 country. All of my Conservative colleagues have bee…
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Mr. Speaker, the Liberals caused the Liberal inflation that is impoverishing Canadians, who have to choose between putting food on the table, keeping a roof over their heads and getting around. This Liberal crisis is hurting everyone. Some people are skipping meals. Workers are using food banks. Students are staying in shelters. The Liberals do not care about any of that and are still reaching int…
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Mr. Speaker, the Conservative Party saw the economic storm coming and often warned the Liberals. However, poor managers that they are, they continue to spend recklessly. Just consider the ArriveCAN app, which gobbled up $54 million, and the purchase of twice the number of medical ventilators required, which cost taxpayers $403 million for nothing. Families are struggling. Workers are going to food…
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Madam Speaker, today I want to honour the memory of Gérard Laliberté, who passed away on October 11. Mr. Laliberté lived a very full life on both a personal and professional level. He had deep roots in Honfleur, where he lived his entire life with his wife, Rose. They had five children who gave them 33 descendants. Gérard Laliberté was the son of a farmer and he followed in his family's footsteps …
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Mr. Speaker, the situation in this country is pretty bad. Food prices are up 11.4%, houses are unaffordable and young people are sleeping in their parents' basements. Winter is coming, and we know how harsh winter is in Canada. Heating our homes is not a luxury. Today we are calling on the government to exempt all forms of home heating fuel from the carbon tax for all Canadians Will the government…
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Mr. Speaker, as several of my colleagues pointed out today, the cost of food is 11.4% higher than it was last year. Prices have not gone up that much since 1981. Canadians are struggling to buy food and clothing and heat their homes. Christmas is coming. What kind of holiday are Canadians going to have? The Prime Minister is bound and determined to take even more money off Canadians' paycheques. W…
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Mr. Speaker, according to a recent poll, 85% of Quebeckers have had to change their habits to deal with the rising cost of living in 2022. They are reducing their outings, choosing house brands or putting off renovations. They are struggling to keep their heads above water. Instead of helping them, this government wants to deduct more money from their paycheques. Will the Prime Minister commit tod…
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Madam Speaker, the reality is that this government is going to take even more money out of Canadians' paycheques. People are drowning. Everything is so expensive. House prices have gone up 21% in the Quebec City region alone. A pound of butter, from a well-known brand in Quebec, now retails for $8.49. Instead of showing contempt for citizens who are struggling to get by, will the government commit…
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Mr. Speaker, the Liberal government has chosen to protect Hockey Canada instead of women who are victims of sexual assault. The government has known since 2018 that there was a problem at Hockey Canada, but it deliberately looked the other way. On behalf of all these victims who were let down by Hockey Canada, we demand to know why the government turned a blind eye to these multiple sexual assault…
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Mr. Speaker, it is not news to my colleagues that the cost of living has now made things so difficult that more and more Canadians are living paycheque to paycheque. The Conservatives have made concrete suggestions to give them a bit of relief: Cancel the January 1 tax increase and above all cancel the carbon tax that the government wants to triple. What is the government doing? It refuses to list…
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Mr. Speaker, people nowadays feel like they have lost control of both their wallets and their lives. Government spending is driving up the cost of living. This Liberal government has doubled our national debt, which is now more than that of all previous governments put together. It is the most spendthrift government in history. The more it spends, the more prices go up. As a result, families are b…
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Mr. Speaker, Conservative members have spoken every day in the House about what we are hearing in our ridings. We hear terrible stories about the cost of living. More and more Canadians are going to food banks. Mothers have to make painful choices. Young students have to sleep in shelters. Winter is coming, and families will have trouble heating their homes. We are asking the Prime Minister to hav…
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Mr. Speaker, the price of basic foods is skyrocketing. For example, bakery products are up 16% in one year. Butter costs 26% more and is now $8.26. Thousands of Quebec families are struggling to make ends meet. Instead of wanting to help them, the Prime Minister wants to increase the burden on families. There is only one thing to do: Cancel the tax increase. Can we count on him?
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Mr. Speaker, the riding I represent stretches from the St. Lawrence River to the American border. A very large part of it is rural. With the high cost of gas, it is very expensive for my constituents who have to drive to work, do errands or access health care. To help these people, the Prime Minister needs to do just one thing: Cancel the planned tax hike on gas and paycheques. Does he have the gu…
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Mr. Speaker, according to the National Payroll Institute, 85% of Canadians are worried about inflation and rising interest rates. Furthermore, 37% of them are living from paycheque to paycheque and have to spend everything they earn or even more than they earn. Things are starting to look bad. This government could not care less. It is not interested in coming up with a concrete plan to help these…
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Mr. Speaker, the government is looking through rose-coloured glasses. The reality is that inflation is eroding Canadians' morale. The cost of food is up 10.8% over last year, the largest increase in the last 40 years. Parents are struggling to feed their children properly and have to make agonizing choices. This government, however, wants to raise taxes for taxpayers who are already stretched to t…
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Mr. Speaker, passports are a major issue. In an interview with Paul Arcand this morning, the minister said that she knew for months that the situation was going to become problematic. She let the situation deteriorate. Her negligence is typical of this government. The number of applications the government needs to deal with has gotten so out of hand that we have lost count. The minister misled Can…
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Mr. Speaker, people have to bring a tent and camp out on the sidewalk overnight just to get a passport. This is happening in Canada, a G7 country. That department is in chaos. Passport Canada is processing 75,000 applications per week, down from more than 90,000 before COVID. Employees need to be allowed back to work in person, so the business hours can be extended at all offices. Can the minister…
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Mr. Speaker, the cost of groceries increased by almost 10% in April. It was the fifth month in a row that food prices had increased by more than 5%. The cost of gas was more than $2 per litre. In the greater Quebec City area, house prices have increased by 21% over the past year. With wage increases averaging about 3%, people are struggling to get by. Can the Minister of Finance offer Canadians so…
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Mr. Speaker, contrary to what the Minister of Public Safety said, neither the RCMP nor the Ottawa Police Service asked the government to invoke the Emergencies Act. However, true to form, whenever the Prime Minister is confronted with his contradictions, he dodges the issue or blames others, and when that does not work, he takes cheap shots, which is what he has been doing throughout question peri…
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Mr. Speaker, yesterday, the Minister of Emergency Preparedness, the very colleague of the Minister of Public Safety, said, “I am not aware of any recommendation from law enforcement. Quite frankly, this was a decision of government”. This completely contradicts what the Minister of Public Safety said. He has misled Canadians and the House. There must be consequences. Will the Prime Minister do the…
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Mr. Speaker, on April 26, the Minister of Public Safety said, with regard to emergency measures, “I don't want to speak for every last serving member of law enforcement, but there was a very strong consensus that we needed to invoke the act.” We now know that there was no such consensus at any time. He has misled Canadians. He no longer deserves the confidence of the House. Will the minister do th…
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Mr. Speaker, my question is very simple. He misled the House, so he should apologize and step down. Period.
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Mr. Speaker, it is always someone else's fault. Being a minister comes with great responsibility. The minister stated several times, “It was on the advice of law enforcement that we invoked the Emergencies Act.” However, law enforcement never asked for draconian measures. Rex Murphy wrote in the National Post that, for the sake of his integrity, the minister should resign. What is he waiting for—
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Mr. Speaker, a 12-year-old girl found herself right in the middle of a shooting in Montreal. She was traumatized, of course. This is happening in our streets in Quebec. Instead of tackling the problems of street gangs and illegal arms trafficking, this Liberal government is doing the opposite with its Bill C‑5. It is eliminating mandatory prison sentences for gun crimes. How can this government be…
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Mr. Speaker, on this side of the House, we believe that serious and violent firearms offences warrant a mandatory sentence. We stand on the side of victims. It is disappointing to see this government openly siding with criminals. It is even letting them serve their sentence at home for such crimes as armed robbery and extortion with a firearm. Those are quite serious crimes. Why is this government…
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Mr. Speaker, the Parliamentary Budget Officer tabled a study on the estimated cost of implementing Bill C‑13 on official languages. Treasury Board, Canadian Heritage and IRCC refused to provide the PBO with their planned expenditures for implementing this bill. This is public money. It is money given to us by our citizens. This is a question of transparency and integrity. What are they trying to h…
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Mr. Speaker, two of my constituents, Audrée and Nicolas, contacted me about a very serious issue. Each of them has a baby with serious allergies to breast milk and regular formula, so they absolutely have to use hypoallergenic formula. A product recall caused a shortage, and now, extremely worried parents are seeing empty shelves. Apparently Health Canada has implemented an interim import policy t…
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Mr. Speaker, rising gas prices are directly impacting all Canadians. A recent survey indicated that two-thirds of Canadians will forgo travelling far from home this summer. The impact is also being felt on store shelves. Goods cost more to produce and transport and, of course, consumers are the ones who end up paying the price. Who is actually profiting? The government. For every litre of gasoline…
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to take a moment to recognize the achievements of the Blais family from my riding, who were named farm family of the year for 2021. Marcel Blais acquired a small farm in Honfleur in 1969. He married Monique Bélanger the same year, and they would go on to have two children, Dominic and Guillaume. In the early days, the business operated with 23 cows, 92 acres of crops and …
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Mr. Speaker, the right thing to do is to make home ownership a possibility for aspiring Canadian homeowners. Right now, in the Quebec City region, property and house prices have gone up 21%. Even with a good job, home ownership is not a given. Young families are completely giving up on their dream of owning a home. Unfortunately, the Liberals are unsympathetic to their plight. Will this government…
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Mr. Speaker, Canadians have had enough. The cost of living and inflation are at a 30-year high, and Canadians overburdened. Everything is more expensive and wages are not going up. The government does not realize how stressful this is for thousands of Canadians. The media and our constituents are telling us about untenable situations and about the difficult choices that have to be made, such as de…
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Mr. Speaker, real estate costs have risen sharply. Under the Liberals, the average cost of a house doubled from $434,000 to $868,000. That is just insane. Young people cannot even dream of buying their first home. In the rental market, even shacks are out of reach. The government created this real estate chaos, so will it now give a little hope to our young people, who are once again victims of it…
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Mr. Speaker, I am going to repeat the question. When newcomers are asked why they would not recommend Canada as a destination to other potential immigrants, 43% blame current government leadership and 35% blame the cost of living. Will the NDP-Liberal Minister of Finance commit to cleaning up her suffocating and inflationary tax policy, which is such a mess that many Canadians, even newcomers, are…
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Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Finance has announced that she will table a NDP-Liberal budget on April 7. We are very worried. We have serious concerns. We moved a motion, which I will read, because that is what we are debating today. That, given that, (i) excessive government spending has increased the deficit, the national debt, and fuelled inflation to its highest level in 31 years, (ii) taxes on…
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Mr. Speaker, I am not saying that we should not work with all other parliamentarians and other parties. Having been a parliamentarian and a minister, I know what it means to negotiate with other parliamentarians and reach a compromise. That is very normal and that is why we are here. That is why we have committees: to improve bills and arrive at the best possible solution. However, what we are tal…
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Mr. Speaker, let us leave former prime ministers and the leadership race out of this debate. The Conservatives have moved a clear and simple motion calling on the current NDP‑Liberal alliance to present a credible, reasonable plan to balance the budget with well-defined measures for government spending. Every expenditure must correspond to revenue. That is what we are saying today.
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Mr. Speaker, Canadians, including my constituents, are under a lot of pressure. They are in the clutches of skyrocketing inflation, which is currently at 5.7%. Our fathers, mothers, sisters and children are struggling to make ends meet. Young people cannot buy a home. Seniors are unsure of what they can afford and why they have to choose between food and medications. That is what we are talking ab…
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Mr. Speaker, nobody wants to hear the government's same old tune about how inflation is a global phenomenon. Right now, inflation is at 1.5% in Switzerland, 1.7% in Japan, and 3.7% in Norway. Those rates are all lower than Canada's 5.7%. Can the government compare itself to the top performers and tell us how it plans to slow inflation, which is currently eroding our fellow citizens' buying power?
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Mr. Speaker, he could at least have the decency to answer the question. The NDP-Liberal party has no idea of what our constituents are going through. We meet with them every weekend. What do they talk to us about? They talk about groceries, which now cost an additional $1,000, and houses, which cost an average of $868,000. When will the government do something? The budget is coming, so it is time …
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Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to the Sisters of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, founded in 1892 by Father Joseph‑Onésime Brousseau and Virginie Fournier, who became Mother Saint‑Bernard. This community settled in Saint‑Damien‑de‑Buckland. These women performed many tasks and devoted their talents to the service of the most vulnerable and to teaching the residents of rural parishes. It is thanks t…
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Mr. Speaker, young people cannot afford to buy a house and are being forced to camp out in their parents' basement. Seniors are having a hard time buying food and paying for their medications. Gas is now $1.85 a litre in my riding. Meanwhile, the Liberal government is signing agreements with the NDP, which also wants to spend recklessly. The government has done nothing for the past few months. Now…
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