Parliamentary Speeches
1,014 speeches by François-Philippe Champagne — Page 15 of 21
Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, that is music to my ears when I hear that from the party blocking everything. We can imagine that folks at home are watching, and they are saying that the Conservative Party of Canada voted against the Canada-Ukraine free trade agreement. I am sure people at home are asking what is going on in Ottawa these days. They want to know what kind of Conservatives would vote against a nation …
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Mr. Speaker, with all due respect for the member for Abitibi—Témiscamingue, that is exactly what we are doing. There have been five days of debate, which adds up to 20 hours. I am listening to the member, and I hear him. He says we must act, and that is exactly what we are trying to do. I hope the Bloc Québécois will be with us. My colleagues need to remember that there were 120 days of consultati…
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Mr. Speaker, in the meantime, I am going to respond to that, because I know Canadians are watching. My colleague is right. Yesterday must have been a shock to Canadians from coast to coast to coast, seeing the Conservatives voting against Ukraine in a time of war. Did they really vote against the Canada Ukraine free trade agreement? They tried to find excuse after excuse for it. Now we are going t…
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Mr. Speaker, I have enormous respect for the member, but let me repeat in English what I said in French. Do they know how much we consulted on that when it came to competition? There were 120 days of consultation. Five round tables were held across the country. Four hundred submissions were received in 120 stakeholder organizations. On the one hand, the Conservatives say they want more debate, con…
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Mr. Speaker, I am glad that my colleague is talking about competition because we know all about competition in Quebec. Consumer protection is a value that Quebeckers hold dear. Right now, Quebeckers who are looking at my colleague must be thinking that the Bloc Québécois will certainly support a bill that promotes competition. One of the problems we have seen recently involved the food sector. Bil…
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Mr. Speaker, I would not bet on that. However, I would say that I know the member; he is a man of good heart. I have had a number of discussions with him, and he is someone who wants to do what is right for Canadians. However, like me and I hope all members, when they get groceries, when they walk in their ridings on the weekend and when they talk to people in the street, they hear that there are …
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Mr. Speaker, this is the reality for many Canadians. One thing we have seen across many nations is that the best way to bring affordability and stabilize prices is through competition. Bill C-56 would do something that has not been done in about 37 years in our country. It would reform the Competition Act in ways that are very clear. The bill would give more power to the competition authority, for…
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Mr. Speaker, I am glad to take that question from the member because, as we said, Parliament is the place where we should debate ideas. This is the place where the best ideas should come from and actually be implemented. That is what we are seeing with Bill C-56 and this motion. There is a time for consideration and debate, but there is also a time for voting and acting. If the member believes wha…
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Mr. Speaker, it is so urgent that we have to move a motion to force members to vote. I understand why my colleague says this is urgent, I feel the same way. That is why the government believes it must move this kind of motion this morning. After 20 hours of debating, after five days of debate, it is time to act. I have listened to my colleague and I share his views. That is exactly right. What we …
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Mr. Speaker, I am sure the member would agree that there is one way to help everyone in Canada. If we look at countries around the world, the best way to stabilize prices, reduce consolidation and have lower prices is through competition. Everyone would agree that this is the best way to make sure we help Canadians, and the bill would do exactly that. The last time anyone touched the legislation w…
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Mr. Speaker, the member's question was very thoughtful, and she pointed out what is going on in this place. I hope Canadians are watching. There is a party in front of us that will do anything to block any progress. Yesterday, we saw something egregious. The Conservatives blocked the Canada-Ukraine free trade agreement. What the member is saying is that we see it time and time again. If I look int…
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Mr. Speaker, I agree with my colleague that we have to do more. This is why we introduced Bill C-56. We said the meeting with grocers was a first step. We asked them to do what was necessary to help Canadians, but we are not fools; we know more has to be done. I know my colleague will vote in favour of the bill. I can see it in his eyes. He is thinking that Bill C-56 gives more power to the Compet…
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Mr. Speaker, I would not have talked about the leader of the Conservatives, but since my colleague raised it, let us remember, for those watching at home, that this is the leader who advised Canadians to invest in cryptocurrency. In terms of economic advice, I am sure Canadians would probably agree with me to not follow anything he says. When the member talks about our record, I am so happy. She w…
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Mr. Speaker, it would take me more than an hour to try to explain that to Canadians, but I do not think I could find any answers. On what Canadians witnessed yesterday, I am sure they are still at home wondering whether what they saw really happened, that in 2023 the Conservative Party of Canada would vote against the Canada-Ukraine free trade agreement. Did it really? A time when a nation is figh…
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Mr. Speaker, what Canadians know is that the Conservatives voted against Ukraine. They decided to vote against a free trade agreement with Ukraine. What we decided to do in the economic statement is what Canadians want. We will continue to build a stronger economy. We will overhaul competition in Canada. We will continue to invest in housing. We have a plan for prosperity. We have a plan for growt…
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Mr. Speaker, I have enormous respect for my colleague from Louis-Saint-Laurent; he is an honourable man. If he wants to convince his colleagues to do one thing for Canadians before Christmas, he must convince them to vote for Bill C-56. This is a bill that will help with affordability, reform the Competition Act after 36 years and allow us to stabilize prices in Canada. I know my colleague is a ma…
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Mr. Speaker, I am not going to resort to rhetoric like my colleague. One thing is clear, however: I will always stand up for the millions of Canadians out there. That is exactly what I did. For the first time in history, a minister called industry giants to a meeting, told them that 40 million Canadians were outraged and asked them to help us stabilize prices. If my colleague wants to do something…
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Mr. Speaker, I find it shocking that the hon. member would not stand with the government when we are standing up for Canadians. I remember an NDP that would stand for consumers, stand for Canadians and stand for our country. I enjoy the member. Instead of criticizing, he should join us and fight for Canadians and express the outrage of millions of Canadians. That is what we did. That is what we wi…
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Mr. Speaker, I hope he is going to vote for Bill C-56 to make sure we have more competition in this country.
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Mr. Speaker, what is up is our ranking in the world. What is up are the number of jobs that we have created in the country. What is up is the prosperity in the country. We rank third in the world now for foreign direct investment. We have seen landmark investments in the auto sector, in the mining sector, in biomanufacturing, in steel and in aluminum. Canada is winning on the world stage, while th…
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Mr. Speaker, it is obvious for Canadians watching at home how much the Conservatives do not want to talk about Ukraine. One thing I can say is that it is amazing to see to what extent the Conservatives will go to spread misinformation. Do members know what? Sometimes they get caught. I will quote Brendan Sweeney of the Trillium Network for Advanced Manufacturing: “I think those making the noise ar…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for giving me another opportunity to point out that Canada now ranks third in the world when it comes to attracting foreign investment. Not only are we securing record investments in the automotive industry, we also have investments in mining, biomanufacturing, aluminum and steel. One thing should be perfectly clear: We have a plan for prosperity. We have a plan f…
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Mr. Speaker, in fact, nothing, because we are the ones who want to get to the bottom of this. That is the reality. Let me bring some facts to this story. The fact is that, the moment there was an allegation, I called for an investigation. I called for an independent report. I demanded from management a plan to restore good governance. The CEO has resigned. I have accepted the resignation of the ch…
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Mr. Speaker, unlike my colleague, who is behind the game, I am the one who started the investigation. Once we had the allegations, that is what we did. The record speaks for itself, but I know that my Conservative friends want nothing to do with the facts. They like to have their story, but they are not entitled to their own facts. We are going to get to the bottom of this. We are going to restore…
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Mr. Speaker, I am sure that the Canadians who are watching the member are wondering what he is saying. Let me bring facts to the story. From the moment we heard the allegations, we commissioned an independent investigation. We froze the funds of the institution. We accepted the resignation of the chair. The CEO has resigned. We are going to get to the bottom of this. We are going to continue to ha…
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Mr. Speaker, what is scandalous is the Conservatives making claims and allegations against people. What a responsible government does when there are allegations is investigate. That is exactly what we did. We suspended the financing of the organization. The CEO has resigned. We have accepted the resignation of the chair. We are going to get to the bottom of this. We are going to continue to help c…
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Mr. Speaker, I have a great deal of respect for my colleague from Louis‑Saint‑Laurent. He is an honourable man. Today, the people of Louis‑Saint‑Laurent who are watching him are wondering about what he said, because he knows very well what the government did. As soon as the allegations were made, we commissioned an independent report to get to the bottom of things. We suspended the organization's …
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Mr. Speaker, we will take no lessons from the Conservatives. They have done nothing for the people of Windsor. They have done nothing for the workers. They have certainly done nothing for the auto sector. One thing that we have done is maximize opportunities for Canadians. Let me give the member some news. The CEO of the company just confirmed that there will be 2,500 Canadian workers at the plant…
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Mr. Speaker, I am sure that Canadians are shocked to hear the member again repeating falsehoods. Canadians know not to trust the Conservatives when it comes to jobs, when it comes to growth, when it comes to the auto sector. Let me repeat, so that he can write down the numbers: 2,500 jobs at the plant and up to 2,300 to build the plant. That is what the CEO said. That is what we are going to do. W…
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Mr. Speaker, in response to part (a) of the question, the fact-finding exercise completed by the consulting firm Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton, or RCGT, was not a full audit of Sustainable Development Technology Canada, or SDTC. The fact-finding exercise was specific to the allegations put forward to Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, or ISED. The report on the exercise did not r…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the Leader of the Opposition for his question. I would like to provide some facts about his story. As soon as we heard about the allegations regarding the management of funds at that agency, I called for an external investigation to get to the bottom of the matter. Based on the results that we obtained, I asked for corrective action to be taken. We expect the highest level of …
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Mr. Speaker, let me bring some facts into the Leader of the Opposition's fairy tale. From the moment I learned about an allegation of wrongdoing, I demanded a third party investigation. After receiving the report, we demanded that there be corrective action at the management level and at the board level. We expect the highest level of governance from any entity that has received money from the Gov…
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Mr. Speaker, we did even more than that. For the first time in Canada's history, we called all the CEOs to come to Ottawa to tell them one thing. We expressed the frustration of 40 million Canadians, and we expect everyone to do their part, including signing the grocery code of conduct to help stabilize prices in Canada. However, there is one thing that the members on the other side can do to help…
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Mr. Speaker, we will take no lessons from the Conservatives. I am surprised that not only do they not have a climate plan, but they do not even have an economic plan. Their only plan is to cut services, cut investments and cut programs in Canada. I have a piece of good news: Today the OECD ranked Canada third in the world for foreign investment attraction. Our plan is working. We are creating pros…
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Mr. Speaker, I am happy to answer any and all questions the member has. Let me bring facts to the story. By the way, this organization existed for 10 years during the Harper government. Let us bring some facts to the table. One thing Canadians at home should know is that the moment allegations were brought to my attention, we launched a third party investigation. On the basis of that report, we to…
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Mr. Speaker, I do not think he will be able to use that clip because that corporation existed for 10 years under the Harper government. Just think, 10 years under the Harper government. On this side of the House, what did we do? As soon as we were made aware of the allegations, we asked an external firm to investigate them. When we received the report, we asked that corrective measures be taken. W…
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moved that the bill, as amended, be concurred in at report stage with further amendments.
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Mr. Speaker, there are a number of things in this bill that would help Canadians. Members should think about that. We are going to reduce the net benefit threshold review, which is something a lot of members in this House have been asking for. We are going to expand the jurisdiction of the ICA to include asset sales. At this time, we need these kinds of provisions. We are going to have stronger pe…
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Mr. Speaker, I like the question. I wish I could answer it. I do not know, honestly, because Conservatives agreed to the legislation and the amendments. They support them, yet they do not want to vote. I am glad Canadians are watching. They must be wondering at home why the Conservatives agree but do not want to vote. What is the logic of that? The only thing I can find is that they want to obstru…
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Mr. Speaker, it is a very good question. The obstruction tactics that we see from the Conservatives are hurting Canadians. I like the way the colleague put it. There have been two concurrence motions for when we brought this bill forward. For folks at home who are at watching and wondering what a concurrence motion is, it is a delay tactic, which is what is happening. There were over 20 hours of d…
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague knows how much I respect him. He is one of the members of the House that always contribute to the debate. The problem is that the Bloc Québécois supports this bill, and people likely do not understand the situation. The Bloc Québécois supports the amendment. Everyone has spoken and everyone has voted in favour of the bill and the amendments. We are asking our colleagues i…
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Mr. Speaker, I understand my colleague's argument, but legislation must move forward even in a minority government. I think that my colleague would agree that, once the debate has taken place and members are in agreement, they call for a vote. Instead, we are seeing the Conservatives move all kinds of motions to prevent us from voting. In a democracy, it is important to vote. Debating is important…
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Mr. Speaker, I am very happy to answer that question. The hon. member would know that what we are doing with this bill is giving more tools. That was the discussion at committee, I would say respectfully. Let us look at that. There were 11 meetings at INDU and over 20 hours at committee. Not one but 11 significant amendments were voted on by everyone. Everyone agreed that this bill needed signific…
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague knows that I have a lot of respect for him. I find we do a lot of work together. The current debate is to decide whether we proceed to a vote. My Bloc Québécois colleagues had the opportunity to debate the bill. We heard from 44 witnesses for a bill on which everyone agrees. People are watching us. They see that we debated the bill for 20 hours in committee, and that ever…
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Mr. Speaker, I am happy to answer the question again. There were 11 meetings at committee to talk about that and 20 hours of debate. This has been debated at committee. People had the chance to debate it, but now that the debate is taking place in the House and everyone agrees, it is time to vote. Canadians watching at home are saying there were 20 hours of debate in 11 committee meetings and 20 h…
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Mr. Speaker, the member knows how much I like her, and her contributions to the House are well known to all members. We actually want debate. There were 20 hours of debate in the House, 20 hours of debate at committee, and 11 meetings at committee with 44 witnesses. I agree that we need debate, which I believe in, but there is also a time when we need to act. My colleague from the NDP said it best…
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Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the member's contributions in the House. I am sure the people of Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo like him. I am sure they are watching the TV today and saying, “Hold on a minute. We are all in favour of debate, but once we agree, can we vote?” That is the question. People have agreed on the amendments. I am sure people watching are thinking that we all agree. They want democrac…
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Mr. Speaker, this will allow me to respond to the point of order that was made. There was agreement by all parties on 11 significant amendments to the bill that we are talking about. I value the contributions of my Conservative colleagues. I value them. That is why I went to the committee. We took on border amendments. We agreed that the best way to have good legislation in this country is to have…
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Mr. Speaker, the member knows how much I like him and, I will say in front of everyone in this House, his contributions. I may have had half an hour, but he had 20 hours of work at the committee to put forward his amendment. During these 20 hours, not one but 11 significant amendments were adopted by everyone. This was the Liberals, the NDP, the Bloc and the Conservatives. They had 20 hours in com…
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Mr. Speaker, yes or no, will my colleague vote for the motion? That is the real question, because they had 20 hours of debate. The good people in his riding are wondering. If he agrees, how will he vote? Like I said, there is a time for debate and there is time for action. The time for action has come now. This is about national security. This in the interest of Canadians. I want every member of t…
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