Parliamentary Speeches
1,014 speeches by François-Philippe Champagne — Page 12 of 21
Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, we can see, again, where the Conservatives are going. The Auditor General's report was very clear. Parliament decided 20 years ago to have an arm's-length organization to manage that. We investigated the allegations. Now we are proposing a new governance model, which will be under the rules of the federal public service, so that we can have more rules around HR and more rules around f…
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Mr. Speaker, here we go with the Conservatives again, against our small and medium-sized business owners in this country who are fighting climate change. As I have said before, once we received allegations, we initiated the investigation because we wanted to get to the bottom of this. The CEO of the organization has resigned. The chair of the board has resigned. We demanded an action plan by manag…
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Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives are just waking up. It must be the sun. As I said in English: the moment we heard of allegations, we launched the investigation. While the Conservatives were sleeping, we launched investigations with Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton and McCarthy Tétrault. We worked with the Auditor General because we wanted to get to the bottom of things. The governance model we are put…
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Mr. Speaker, I actually welcome the question from the member, because it seems that the Conservatives have not really listened. The moment we heard of allegations, when they were asleep, we launched the investigation. We launched the investigations by Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton and McCarthy Tétreault. Once we had done so, we suspended funding to the organization. The chair of the board and the …
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Mr. Speaker, it seems that there were a lot of people on their side sleeping at the switch. What I have said is very clear. We received allegations and we investigated. We investigated. We made sure that we would get to the bottom of this. We suspended the funding to the organization. The chair of the board and the CO resigned. We made sure that there would be a management plan in place. We want t…
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Mr. Speaker, now the member for Lévis—Lotbinière is waking up. As I said, we received allegations in February 2023. In March 2023, we launched an investigation with an arm's-length organization that was created by Parliament 20 years ago. Following the report submitted to us by an accounting and law firm, we took appropriate action and suspended funding. The board chair resigned. The head of the o…
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Mr. Speaker, everyone in the House can recognize the member for Lévis—Lotbinière's theatrical talents, but the reality is simple. I have said it before, and I will say it again so that everyone on that side of the House and the Canadians watching us can hear it: The most important thing is integrity. That is why, when we received allegations, we launched an investigation. We made sure to suspend t…
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Madam Speaker, I find it a bit odd to hear my Conservative colleagues talk about transparency. That is not really a concept that we have seen them apply in the past. I would like the minister to tell us about important measures. This bill talks about transparency and accountability. I think it is important to hear what the minister, who is very eloquent and obviously very familiar with the sector,…
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Mr. Speaker, again, let me tell Canadians that the Conservatives at the time, 20 years ago, wanted that to be an independent organization, arm's length from government. That was the delivery model that was chosen. From the moment we had allegations, we investigated because we want to get to the bottom of this. We have seen the reports that have come up. We have proactively worked with the Auditor …
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Mr. Speaker, we all recognize in this country that families are having a hard time when it comes to groceries. That is why we have acted, with the Minister of Finance, to present to this nation the largest revamp of our competition law in the country. Guess who voted against it? The Conservatives did. They are the ones who are standing and saying they want to help families. If they want to do some…
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Mr. Speaker, it is amazing to hear the Conservatives talking down Canadians, Canada and our prospects. Around the world, people are talking about Canada. Do we know what? As my colleague said before, we have received the largest level of investment in our economy. Do members know why? It is because we have the best workers in the world, because we have renewable energy, because we have trade agree…
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Mr. Speaker, we obviously expect the highest level of governance from corporations that are operating in Canada. However, this gives me the opportunity to remind Canadians of the investments we have seen in the green supply chain in this country. As we said before, this country has received a record number of investments in the green industry. Even Bloomberg ranked Canada first in the world for th…
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Mr. Speaker, as members well know, from the moment we received the allegation, we started an investigation in order to make sure that we would uncover the truth and that we would restore governance. We suspended funding for the organization. We got a report. The chairwoman resigned. The CEO of the organization resigned. We welcome the findings of the Auditor General. We proactively work with the A…
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Mr. Speaker, I am sure that the Quebeckers who are watching at home right now are tearing out their hair. The Bloc Québécois is now trying to pick fights about science. Imagine that. I think that the Bloc members have come to the end of their playbook. They got to the last page and realized that they have not picked a fight about science in a long time. On this side of the House, we are serious. W…
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Mr. Speaker, now we are seeing the Conservative Party of Canada going after any company that works against climate change in our country. That is what those Conservatives are about. Behind these questions they are against new technologies to help fight climate change. Those members know very well, and I have said it many times in the House, that the moment we heard about the allegation we launched…
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Mr. Speaker, now I have seen it all. The Bloc Québécois is trying to pick a fight about science. We thought they had tried it in every field, but now they want a fight about science. In the last budget, we invested $3.5 billion in science across the country. This will help our researchers, professors and universities. The Bloc Québécois should be thrilled that we are investing in science and resea…
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Mr. Speaker, I can tell you one thing that the people watching us at home understand. They know that on this side of the House, we are prepared to invest in Canadians. People know that the Conservative Party's plan is to make cuts to every program. They had the nerve to rise today. Anyone who watched question period knows it. Every Conservative who rose today voted against the Canada child benefit…
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Mr. Speaker, the people watching us at home must be feeling their blood pressure rise. Now they are talking about a liberal bloc. Canadians understand full well that we, on this side of the House, do not build housing with slogans. We are not growing an economy with ads, like we see on the other side of the House. We are not building the future by asking questions. We are building a country by inv…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question. I think all members of the House can applaud the excellent work of Canada's public servants. They are among the best in the world. Not only did the last budget present a plan for growth, investing in families and in the future of the country, but the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance also presented a plan to cut spending. We will alwa…
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Mr. Speaker, Canadians are not going to take any advice from the Conservatives, who are flirting with extremist groups in this country. Canadians know that the Conservatives are a party with no vision, no ambition and no plan for the country. On this side of the House, we are aware that we need to help families and young people and that we need to invest in housing. Let me remind the people of Sai…
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Mr. Speaker, Canadians are listening to a party that has no ambition, no vision and no plan. Canadians have a choice. They can choose to listen to a party that has no vision or a government that is investing in youth, investing in growth, investing in housing, and investing in science and research. On this side of the House, we will continue to invest in Canadians, because, as my colleague was say…
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Mr. Speaker, Canadians watching the debates at home understand what lacks common sense. What defies common sense is not having any ambition, not having any vision and not having a plan for the country in 2024. We are in the middle of a full-on economic transformation. The people at home understand that. Now is the time to invest in science and research. Now is the time to invest in the next genera…
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Mr. Speaker, I would agree with my colleague that it is disturbing to see the Leader of the Opposition siding with big corporate at a time when all Canadians should be united to put pressure on big grocery in this country. If, on the other side, they are really honest about caring for Canadians, let them speak up. Let them tell Loblaw and Walmart to adopt the grocery code of conduct in this countr…
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Mr. Speaker, what a great question from a great member. This is a colleague who has been advocating for research and science in this country. Canada's research students are our greatest resource in this country. Researchers at Dalhousie University are pushing the boundaries of brain health, big data and ocean research. In budget 2024, we invested $3.4 billion in our world-leading talent. Students …
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Mr. Speaker, Canadians listening to us today understand that they have a choice to make. On one side of the House, they hear the voice of a party that has no ambition, no vision and no plan for the future. On this side of the House, they know they have a Liberal government, a government that has a vision for the future, a government that has a plan for future generations, a government that has amb…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, in response to part (a) of the question, Statistics Canada is responsible for collecting data through the uniform crime reporting, or UCR, survey. With respect to police-reported data, new categories have been created to allow police to report transphobic hate crimes. As of October 2021, the UCR was updated with new hate crime motivation categories. Within the category of sexual orien…
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Mr. Speaker, I usually say that we will take no lessons from the Conservatives, but I will say that of the NDP this time. Canadians watching at home know that we have been fighting for them every single day. Every member on this side of the House wakes up in the morning to work for Canadians and improve their lives. To make sure we stabilize prices, we introduced the largest reform on competition …
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Mr. Speaker, I am very glad that, the day after the budget, my colleagues give me the opportunity to talk about the great investments we have been attracting to this country. For example, last year, Canada ranked third in the world and first per capita for attracting foreign investment. I think about Northvolt in Quebec, the largest private investment in the province's history. I will talk about V…
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to first thank my colleague for his leadership on research and science. Our budget has shown that we have a vision and ambition for science and research in this country because, on this side of the House, we know that the science of today is the economy of tomorrow. We have announced historic investments in infrastructure because we want to make sure we will have state-of…
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Mr. Speaker, the only goal we have on this side of the House is to work every day for Canadians. That is exactly what we have been doing for eight years. While the Conservative leader comes up with a new slogan every week, Canadians know that slogans do not build homes. Slogans do not build growth. Slogans do not create jobs. They have been there for eight years. When was the last time a job was c…
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Mr. Speaker, what Canadians just heard was the voice of a leader who has no vision, no ambition and no plan. We on this side of the House understand—and Canadians understand—that a country with ambition is a country that invests. It is a country that invests to create more jobs. It is a country that invests to build more housing. It is a country that invests to encourage more growth. On this side …
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Mr. Speaker, the member is mistaken. That is the simple answer. He seems to have a memory problem. We presented the biggest competition reform in the country with our NDP colleagues. Unfortunately, we know that the Conservatives were against it, but we moved forward anyway because we know that the best way to ensure price stability and affordability in Canada is to have more competition. More comp…
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the leader of the NDP for supporting us when we launched the biggest competition reform the country has ever seen. Canadians watching us at home know that the best way to stabilize prices in Canada is to have more competition across the country. That is exactly what we have done. If he wants to help Canadians, families and young people, why not join us in support…
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Mr. Speaker, six is the number Canadians at home need to remember. The man we just heard, the Conservative leader, the one who wants to advise Canada on what plans to make, managed to build six units of affordable housing when he was the minister responsible for housing. I have said it before and I will say it again: We will not take any lessons from the Conservatives. On this side, we have a plan…
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the leader of the NDP for bringing a very important question on this file, but it seems that he is missing a part. He was with us in order to make the largest reform on competition in this country. In fact, thanks to this work and the help of the NDP and our government, we have brought in the largest reform on competition in our nation's history. There is one thi…
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Mr. Speaker, it seems like my colleague has been missing out on some of the great announcements we have been doing for the last two weeks, explaining to Canadians how we are going to help them. We just announced a national school food program. It will help more than 400,000 kids in this country. We understand something that the Conservatives can never understand; they have repeated the same thing …
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Mr. Speaker, we have no lessons to learn from the Conservatives. We have a plan to create more housing in the country. We have a plan to create more jobs in the country. We have a plan to create prosperity in the country. What they have across the way are slogans. People at home know that slogans do not create housing. Slogans do not create jobs. Slogans do not create prosperity. On this side of t…
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Mr. Speaker, Canadians who are tuning in, and we here on this side of the House, hear the voice of inaction. What the people at home understand is that inaction does not a strategy make. Inaction is not a plan, nor is it an option. On this side of the House, we have proposed a plan for Canadians: invest in more housing, invest in day care, invest in jobs, invest in growth. We will let the Conserva…
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Mr. Speaker, I think my colleague must have had amnesia for a while. It was our government that arranged the largest private investment in the history of Quebec. Let us not forget Northvolt, an investment that will support economic development for this and future generations. While we are doing that, we are also investing in child care. We are investing in housing. We are investing in mental healt…
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Mr. Speaker, what we are hearing is the party of inaction. According to the Conservatives, doing nothing is the answer. Well, no, the people watching us at home know we need to invest in housing, we need to invest in day care, we need to invest in workers. If my colleague from Quebec wants to talk about success, let us look at the biggest private investment in Quebec's history. We attracted Northv…
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Mr. Speaker, we will take no lessons from the Conservatives—
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Mr. Speaker, I hope that the Conservatives will listen this time, because Canadians are watching at home. We will take no lessons from the Conservatives. On this side of the House, we have a plan to build more houses. We have a plan to build more prosperity in this country. We have a plan to create more jobs. On the other side, they have slogans. Canadians are smart. They understand that slogans d…
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague will admit that we are investing precisely to help the most vulnerable Canadians across the country. We are also investing in child care and in housing. Moreover, my colleague knows full well that the best way to stabilize grocery prices in this country is to have more competition. That is exactly what we have done with the biggest competition reform since the law was pas…
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Mr. Speaker, we will take no lessons from the Conservatives when it comes to expertise. One thing is clear. Every time we have been there for Canadians, the Conservatives have voted against our measures. They are against investments in child care, housing and seniors. If we were to listen to the Conservatives, we would be saying no to pretty much everything. No, in today's world, confident countri…
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Mr. Speaker, in response to part (a) of the question, the status of each commitment is to be determined by Innovation, Science and Economic Development, or ISED, when it receives the first annual reports from Rogers, due on April 3, 2024. and Videotron, due by July 3, 2024. The parties have also committed to publish their annual reports online. The deadline for fulfillment of each commitment is se…
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Mr. Speaker, the grocery task force was established within the office of consumer affairs of the Department of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, with the main mandate to provide the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry with advice tied to his efforts to stabilize food prices in Canada. As the task force has no mandate to take enforcement actions, it has not conducted any invest…
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Mr. Speaker, with regard to federal investments in Canada’s grocery sector since January 1, 2006, no federal funding has been provided to Loblaws, Metro, Walmart, Sobeys or Costco.
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Mr. Speaker, the leader of the Conservative Party has become the CEO of Canada, the chief electoral officer. What he is advocating on that side of the House is inaction on climate change. It is inaction on clean growth. It is inaction on green jobs. On this side of the House, along with millions of Canadians, we believe in action: action against climate change, action to build the economy of tomor…
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Mr. Speaker, it is clear to the thousands of Canadians watching us on television today that that is the party of inaction. Inaction is the Conservatives' approach to fighting climate change, to economic growth and to creating the jobs of tomorrow. The thousands of Canadians watching at home believe in climate action. They want action to create the jobs of tomorrow. They want economic growth. That …
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Mr. Speaker, Quebeckers watching at home just do not understand. This is not the first time they fail to understand the Conservative Party. What the member just said does not apply to Quebec. They are the party of inaction; that is what we are hearing today. What Quebeckers want is action against climate change, action to grow the economy, action to promote green jobs. While those members on the o…
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