Parliamentary Speeches
1,014 speeches by François-Philippe Champagne — Page 16 of 21
Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the hon. member and members of the House will have an opportunity to do something for Canadians. I have asked the Leader of the Opposition to do one thing for Canadians, which is something that he does not do very often, but that one thing is to vote for Bill C-56. Canadians will be happy to learn that Bill C-56 would reform competition by giving more power to the competition commissi…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, with respect to key milestones, it was announced on March 13, 2023, that Volkswagen and its subsidiary PowerCo will establish an electric vehicle battery manufacturing facility in St. Thomas, Ontario, making it the company’s first overseas battery cell plant. This news was shared on the Government of Canada’s website, found here: https://www.canada.ca/en/innovation-science-economic-de…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, with regard to part (a), after production ramp-up and assuming full capacity utilization of 90 gigawatt hours, the value of battery production from the PowerCo plant is estimated to reach $200 billion in less than 15 years, which is well within the average lifespan of a plant in this sector. The calculation is based on the average price of a battery cell in 2022 multiplied by an annua…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, with respect to key milestones, it was announced on March 23, 2022, that LG Energy Solution and Stellantis had created a joint venture with a total investment of more than $5 billion Canadian, or $4.1 billion U.S., toward a facility to manufacture batteries for electric vehicles in Canada. As per the announcement, the plant construction activities were scheduled to begin in late 2022,…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, with regard to part (a), the number of direct jobs generated by the Volkswagen battery plant in St. Thomas was provided by Volkswagen and is based on the level of employment it has determined it needs to reach the anticipated production capacity of the plant. With regard to part (b), as indicated, the number for direct jobs was provided by Volkswagen. Unfortunately, we cannot provide …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, there is a time to think, a time to debate and a time to act. I am pleased to report to Canadians watching at home, and I am sure there are many on this Monday morning, that not only the bill but also the amendments have received unanimous support from all parties in this House. I am a bit surprised to see, even today, the hidden agenda of the Conservatives to block this bill from goi…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for a great question and for his leadership. He is actually right. I am very pleased to report to this House that Umicore from Belgium chose Canada to have its plant in North America. The plant is going to create 600 jobs in Loyalist Township near Kingston, but it is also going to produce enough battery materials for 800,000 electric vehicles. There wi…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I thank the Leader of the Opposition for his question. There is one thing the Leader of the Opposition can do. There are not many, but there is one thing he can do to help Canadians. He can vote to support our bill on affordability. Why? First, because we want to reform competition, and second, because we want to reduce the GST on new housing construction. Will the opposition finally …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, we will take no lessons from the Conservatives, and Canadians will take no lessons from the Conservatives. There is one thing, and there are not many, I agree, but there is one thing the Leader of the Opposition can do for the Canadians watching at home, and it is to vote for the affordability bill, which would empower more competition in this country and reduce GST in new housing. On…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, we all feel for what she has said. Instead of having words, why do we not talk about action? There is one thing the opposition can do, not many, I agree, but one thing. It can vote for the affordability bill. If she really cares about the lady she refers to, why does she not convince her caucus to vote for the affordability bill, so they can do something for once for Canadians?
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question. There is one thing he can do to help Canadians, and that is vote in favour of the affordability bill. Why is that? It is because our legislation will overhaul competition in this country and also reduce the GST on new housing construction. I implore the opposition and all members of the House to cast a vote that will benefit Canadians. They despe…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, for all the people from Mégantic—L'Érable watching us today, there is something their MP can do: convince all Conservative members to vote for the affordability bill. Why? We are going to overhaul competition. We are going to give the Competition Bureau more authority and put a stop to dangerous practices or practices that hurt consumers. Will he do his job and convince his colleagues…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I have tremendous respect for my colleague from Louis‑Saint‑Laurent and for everyone from Louis‑Saint‑Laurent watching us today, because I know they are watching. I can tell my colleague from Louis‑Saint‑Laurent that the people of La Tuque expect one thing. They know that the member for Louis‑Saint‑Laurent is a man of influence, a man of reason and a man who speaks for his caucus. I h…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question, but the ones who are really suffering now are the interpreters. Another thing that hurts even more is that Canadians are watching us, including the people of Saint-Nicolas in Lévis, in my colleague's riding. People are watching and wondering whether, for once in their lives, the Conservatives will vote in favour of Canadians to help them with aff…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, again, we need to rectify the facts. I think there will be a number of small and medium-sized businesses in the country in the energy space and in the environmental space that will be shocked by this comment. We did the responsible thing. The moment there was an allegation of wrongdoing, we hired an independent third party expert to investigate. Once we got the results of that investi…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, we will not take lessons from the Conservatives. What the Conservatives are proposing to the Canadians who are watching today is to make cuts to services, investments and Canada's future. Canadians know that we have a plan to help them prosper in the 21st century economy. More importantly, Canadians realize that the Conservatives are too dangerous for this country, and they trust us t…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I am really surprised in a way by the question. We did something that has never been done in Canadian history. We called the five grocery CEOs to Ottawa and expressed the frustration of 40 million Canadians about the price of groceries. I would urge all members of this House to give the same message that I gave: Make sure they help Canadians and help us to stabilize prices in Canada. …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I am glad the leader of the NDP asked me that question. Not only is this what we proposed, but I even wrote to the committee chair asking him to invite the CEOs of Canada's major grocery store chains to come and explain their plan to Canadians. I am happy to answer his question, because we were the ones who asked the chair of the parliamentary committee to invite the CEOs to come and …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for her question. I wonder why she has nothing to say about what the government has recently done. We recently announced the largest private investment in Quebec's history, known as Northvolt, precisely to manufacture batteries and electric vehicles. My colleague should have focused on this issue, because Quebec will not only become a champion of the auto industry…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, Canadians watching at home should remember what the facts are in the House. The moment that we heard about allegations of misconduct, we immediately commissioned a third-party independent expert to investigate these allegations, who reported back to me. We have suspended, in good governance, the funds that would be disbursed to protect the interests of Canadians. I can assure the memb…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, it seems the Conservatives once again failed to look at what we presented. We presented an action plan to stabilize prices in Canada. The first thing the plan will do is ensure that Canada's grocers are accountable to Canadians, something that the Conservatives would never have considered. We also helped consumer groups, another thing that the Conservatives would never have considered…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I have a great deal of respect for my colleague from Louis-Saint-Laurent, but does he know what is really causing anxiety among young people? It is the idea of having the Conservatives in power, which means cuts, cuts and more cuts. That is what young people are afraid of. That is what my colleague does not understand. We on this side of the House understand that we had to invest in C…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I can assure members that there was nothing nice about my meeting with the five grocery CEOs in Canada. I expressed the frustration of 40 million Canadians who are struggling to put food on the table, and I asked them, on behalf of all Canadians, to do their part to stabilize prices in Canada. If all the members of Parliament want to do something to help Canadians, they can vote for B…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the colleague for the question, but I am really surprised that she is not talking about the historic investment announced in her riding yesterday. Umicore invested $3 billion in her riding, creating 600 jobs for young people to stay in her riding. We are building the economy of the future. We are investing in electrical vehicles. The member should be rejoicing th…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, as my colleague knows, and as Canadians know, Canada is a global leader in AI and Canadians have created many of the world's best AI innovations. At the same time, Canadians take the potential risks around AI very seriously. That is why we are committed to ensuring that Canadians can trust the AI system. Through our voluntary code of conduct, leading Canadian companies will adopt resp…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, this is not about anyone being caught red-handed. It is about the serious allegations that were raised. The government requested the report precisely to ensure that it could investigate the allegations and then implement a system with the highest level of governance, because that is what Canadians and the government expect from all agencies that receive federal funding. We are going t…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, my voice was used to express the frustration of millions of Canadians when I met the CEOs of the grocery stores. The good news is that today we presented a five-point action plan. First of all, we have a commitment from the grocery stores. We are going to create an office of consumer affairs to help consumers. We are going to make sure the grocery code of conduct is going forward. We …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for Louis-Saint-Laurent for his question. It is important to remind Canadians who are watching us today of the facts. As soon as the allegations were made, we commissioned an independent expert report. On that basis, we took action and demanded that a plan be put in place to ensure that we have the highest level of governance at that foundation. When it comes t…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the Leader of the Opposition. He is coming to his senses. He realizes that the best way to help Canadians is to support the government. This is a time when all parliamentarians need to come together. That is why we presented a plan that is going to help stabilize prices in Canada, that is going to increase competition in this country and that is going to take mea…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I hope they have this much energy to support our bill to make a difference in the lives of Canadians, because this is not a joke. Canadians expect action. That is what we took this morning with a five-item action plan to help stabilize prices in Canada. If the Conservatives want to keep laughing and making jokes, they should tell them to Canadians, who expect them to approve Bill C-56…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition can have as much as he wants, but one thing I can say is that Canadians have no fun these days because they know—
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I was shopping for the Leader of the Opposition to help him. If the Conservatives want to do something for Canadians, not just ask questions but do something, they should vote for Bill C-56. It is going to help Canadians. It is going to stabilize prices in Canada. It is going to bring competition to this country. What we need is for them to act.
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, we will take no lessons from this Conservative. The last time the Conservative leader advised Canadians, it was about buying crypto. Now he is suggesting to Canadians to buy a turkey at $120. I found a Butterball for him for $30 and—
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, thank you for your intervention. I would also like to congratulate you on your new role. This was my first opportunity to say so. This is not a joke. I hope that the Canadians watching today, and there are many, see that this is not a joke. What we have presented is a five-point plan. First, we have asked the big grocery chains in the country to work together to help Canadians. Second…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I thank the Leader of the Opposition for his question. Canadians know not to take advice from the Leader of the Opposition when it comes to the economy. The last time he advised Canadians, he told them to buy cryptocurrency. Now he is suggesting that Canadians buy $120 turkeys. I have news for him. I found a Butterball turkey for $30, and I think I can deliver it to his official resid…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question. I am glad to see that he knows that inaction is not an option. That is exactly why we convened the country's food executives with a very clear objective: to stabilize prices in Canada. I expressed the frustration of 40 million Canadians, saying that the number one issue for Canadians is affordability and the price of groceries. We have introduced…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I would like to begin by thanking the member for Laval—Les Îles for his work. This is the number one issue for the people of Laval. The work the member has done has allowed us to take meaningful measures to help people at a time when we see that the cost of food is the top issue for Canadians. This morning, I met with the major Canadian manufacturers to tell them three things. First, …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, there is no point in trying to politicize everything that is happening. The moment that we were alerted to the allegations we asked for a third-party to investigate and to bring back a report. I can assure the members in the House and all Canadians that we will look at the report and take all necessary actions. We expect the highest standards of ethics and professionalism when it come…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I feel the enthusiasm in the House. I feel everyone at home should have the same sentiment. Every day is a good day to fight for Canadians. That is what we are doing today with the affordable housing and groceries act. I was encouraged, I would say, by the comments I heard from colleagues. I am very pleased to rise in the House today to speak to the affordable housing and groceries …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, as a member who has been sitting in the House for many years, I should know that. My apologies to the interpreters and to all those who felt the inconvenience. As I was saying, we have provided additional funding to the Competition Bureau. In 2022, in the budget legislation, we included additional amendments to make sure that wage fixing agreements between employers would be illegal…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, members know by now that I have enormous respect for colleagues on both sides of the aisle, because we are all parliamentarians. Canadians are watching at home, and I know many are watching these debates. In times of need, at a time when they are asking for help, I think Bill C-56 is really addressing the most pressing needs of Canadians. One is around competition, one is around mor…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I like my colleague's ideas, and I have a great deal of respect for him. He always has good ideas for getting things done. I met with a group known as the Canadian independent grocers, who represent 6,900 small grocery stores across the country. They told me that the most important thing is the whole issue of competition reform, because that is what will help them. Let me give a ver…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, my colleague is a member of the industry committee and always comes with valuable input in the work of this House, and certainly we listen. It is always a good day to fight for Canadians. I think everyone in this House would agree that our job is to keep fighting for Canadians at every step of the way. The landmark reform we are seeing, with more power to the Competition Bureau, goe…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, the member is a great member who is always contributing to the debate in this House. I think she would find comfort in the fact that in Bill C-56 we are not only addressing issues around groceries and stabilizing the price of food in this country but also addressing the issue of housing. She is quite right that there is always more we should be looking to do. The fact that we are go…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, first of all, I am very grateful for the question from the member; he knows I like him very much. Talking about fast-tracking, I think Canadians watching are going to hear that the Conservatives are going to fast-track Bill C-56 because, as they claim, a lot of their good ideas are in it. I suspect what I am hearing very loudly now is that the Conservatives are going to support and …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, we will take no lessons from the Conservatives. Last time the Conservative leader gave advice to Canadians, he advised them to buy crypto. The last piece of advice that Canadians will take is from the leader who talks about interest rates. Today, we introduced a bill to tackle the cost of living in this country and issues with respect to housing. Canadians know we have their backs. We…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I may give the Leader of the Opposition an A for making jokes, but when it comes to the economy, it is something different. Canadians know that. What the Conservatives should look at is what we did today. We talked and introduced a bill that would make a difference in the lives of Canadians. That is what Canadians expect, not for us to make fun of each other in this chamber. They expe…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I have a great deal of respect for my colleague from Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles. He was talking about today's news. I am sure that he saw the news that we introduced the act to amend the Excise Tax Act and the Competition Act, which will do three things for people in his riding. First, we will deal with the issue of competition in Canada, the first reform in decades, which will …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, it surprises me to hear my colleague present the facts that way. Instead, he should be focusing on the fact that today, the government is presenting legislation to reform Canada's Competition Act. We want less consolidation and more competition to lower prices. That is the way to make things right. I am disappointed to hear my colleague ask this kind of question rather than inform Can…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, first of all, I would like to thank my colleague for her question, because she spoke from the heart and shared what all Canadians are feeling. That is exactly what we have done. Today, after convening the CEOs of the major grocery chains to Ottawa to express the frustration of millions of Canadians, we, the Liberal government, introduced an historic bill to tackle inflation and afford…
Read full speech →