Parliamentary Speeches
998 speeches by François-Philippe Champagne — Page 18 of 20
Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, we will take no lessons from the Conservatives and their leader, that is for sure. We listen to Canadians, and I think they should do that more often. Canadians have told us one thing: they want lower prices. The way to have lower prices is through competition. The way to have more competition is to have a strong, fourth national player that will bring prices down. That is why the t…
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question. However, I think he missed this morning's press conference. This morning, we said that Canadians asked us for one thing: to lower the price of telecommunications services in Canada. The best way to do that is to have competition, and we need a fourth national player to do that. Not only will we have a fourth national player, but we also imposed…
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Madam Speaker, I have enormous respect for my colleague, but when we gave the red light, we did not approve the transfer of licence from Shaw to Rogers. That was very clear. Instead, we listened to Canadians, something that everyone in this House should do. Canadians have told us one thing: Bring prices down and have more competition. The way to do that in Canada is to have a fourth national playe…
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Madam Speaker, I have enormous respect for my colleague and my critic. One thing he would know is that, as the regulator, they do not meet with the parties. That is a basic principle in due process. What Canadians, particularly western Canadians, understood this morning is that we have their backs because what they want is lower prices. The way to do that is to have competition and the way to do t…
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Madam Speaker, I am so happy that my colleagues ask questions. I look forward to more questions because one thing that people at home understand is that we are fighting every step of the way to bring prices lower in Canada. What we have achieved today is a new chapter in telecom in Canada. For the first time in Canada's history, more than 150 years, we have binding legal commitments by telecom in …
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question. It is fairly straightforward. We are the regulator and there are two parties involved, which is why we were able to get commitments from both Videotron and Rogers. There is one thing Canadians understand, and it is very simple. If Videotron adds pricing pressure in western Canadian markets, it will cause the other telecoms to lower their prices…
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his excellent question, which gives me an opportunity to talk about the budget measures. My colleague is right. We have taken action to achieve our ambitious goals by introducing initiatives like a tax credit for clean technology manufacturing, a tax credit for clean hydrogen and a tax credit for electricity. The people I want to thank today are Canadian wor…
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Mr. Speaker, I have a great deal of respect for my colleague, but I think he skipped part of the budget yesterday. One of the key measures will help Canadians with the cost of living. The much-discussed grocery rebate will help more than 11 million Canadians across the country. For those watching at home, the Conservatives are going to vote against assistance for Canadians. That is what is shamefu…
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Mr. Speaker, it is a bit rich for my colleague to criticize this government when, at the time, what we did was the responsible thing. The responsible thing we did at the time was to invest in a different family of vaccines. Why? It was to protect the lives of Canadians. Since that moment, we have invested a record amount of money in Canada to make sure that we have onshore biomanufacturing. Do mem…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Louis‑Saint‑Laurent, for whom I have a great deal of respect. In addition to having listened to entrepreneurs, we have listened to all Canadians. Canadians are asking us to do three things: help them with the cost of living, invest in health and build an economic future that will foster prosperity and clean jobs for the future. I can assure my colleague from …
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Mr. Speaker, Canadians who are watching us from home today saw a disconnected Leader of the Opposition. We listened carefully to Canadians. They asked us to do three things: take action to tackle the cost of living and, of course, the cost of food; invest in health care and dental care; and invest in the green economy to create the jobs of the future. That is exactly what Canadians said. That is e…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Louis-Saint-Laurent. Yes, I will look him and the Canadians watching at home in the eye. We listened to Canadians. That is something that the members on that side of the House should do a little more often. Canadians asked us to help them with the cost of living. The grocery rebate will help 11 million Canadians. That is what being there for people looks like…
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague. We are there for the aerospace industry. We always have been and always will be. It seems that my colleague's memory is failing a bit. He should recall that Premier Legault and the Canadian Prime Minister made the biggest announcement in Canadian aerospace history. That was just a few months ago. We have always been there. We will be there for aeros…
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague from Sudbury for that great question. Semiconductors are at the heart of the 21st-century economy. Last Friday, everyone in the House was very pleased to hear the President of the United States talking about the Albany-Bromont corridor, a major semiconductor manufacturing corridor. He also mentioned IBM's investment. Yesterday, we announced, here in …
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Mr. Speaker, one thing Canadians listening at home know is that one dollar invested by this government will provide opportunities across the country. Canadians have seen that in biomanufacturing, for example, as we have Moderna in our country. Canadians are seeing that we are attracting the likes of Volkswagen to our country to build our ecosystem and the battery ecosystem. Canadians are seeing we…
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Mr. Speaker, I am surprised the member is not talking about the record of our government for eight years. Just this morning, there is a company right here in Ottawa, Ranovus, $100 million of investment in the top semiconductor in the world. We are becoming the silicon valley of the north. Not only are they going to be the most powerful, but they are going to be the greenest in the world. That is h…
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Mr. Speaker, with regard to part (a), the Ellice Avenue property of National Research Council Canada, or NRC, was declared surplus in 2012, and the NRC began the process of selling the property in 2013. This process included consultation with indigenous communities and has involved various interested parties over the years. With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, in the spring of 2020, the Public…
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Mr. Speaker, with regard to part (a), in projects supported by the strategic innovation fund, or SIF, the Crown does not have an ownership interest in intellectual property resulting from the project, nor will the Crown acquire new rights in existing intellectual property owned or licensed by the company. Strategic innovation fund contribution agreements require companies to own the background int…
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Mr. Speaker, that is a great question. Bringing Volkswagen to Canada is a home run for the country. It is the first manufacturer we have brought into our country in 35 years, and it is the first time we bring a European manufacturer to Canada. This is a huge vote of confidence for Canada, it is a huge vote of confidence for the auto sector and it is a huge vote of confidence for our talented auto …
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moved for leave to introduce Bill C‑42, An Act to amend the Canada Business Corporations Act, and to make consequential and related amendments to other Acts. (Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)
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Mr. Speaker, with regard to parts (i) and (ii), according to data from the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, in 2021, 99.2% of those living in urban areas had access to 50 Mbps download and 10 Mbps upload Internet speeds, compared to 62% of those living in rural areas. This represents an increase for rural areas compared to 2019, when 45.6% had access to Internet speeds …
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Mr. Speaker, I have enormous respect for the member, but I am surprised that he would be talking down the Canadian economy at a time when we have record investment coming into our country. I think my colleague is forgetting that, for example, we rebuilt the whole biomanufacturing sector. We have investments like Moderna in Canada. We have further investments when it comes to the battery ecosystem.…
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Mr. Speaker, we will take no lessons from the Conservatives. If there is one Canadian who has stoked fear in our society, it is the leader of the Conservatives. Canadians watching at home on Friday know that. This is the time to unite Canadians. This is the time to talk about Canada, to talk up Canada. We are winning around the world. We have record investments in this country. Every parliamentari…
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Mr. Speaker, it is honestly quite disturbing to hear a member of Parliament talk about Canada being broken. At a time when we see division in the world, let us unite together to build up Canada. Let us talk about our economy. Let us talk about what we are doing for Canadians. Let us be together, not to stoke fear but to stoke hope in Canadians. That is what we are doing on this side of the aisle. …
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Mr. Speaker, again, Canadians are watching. All we hear this morning is about “broken”. Let us talk about building together. That is what we are doing on this side, and I think every member of Parliament wants to do that. Let us look at what we have done together. We have been there for seniors. We have been there for children. We have been there to help Canadians when they need it most. At the sa…
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Mr. Speaker, it is a bit rich to hear from the NDP that, because I am fighting for Canadians, I am not defending them. That is exactly why I am saying I will render a decision in due course. I have said all along that the only thing that matters is to fight to bring prices down. The way we have achieved that in Canada is through competition, to have a strong fourth national player. Canadians know …
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Mr. Speaker, Canadians are tired of those Conservatives talking down our economy and talking down Canada. In terms of good news, let us celebrate. This morning I was celebrating project arrow, the first 100% Canadian-built electric vehicle. That is what we are capable of in Canada. It is about innovation. It is about leadership. It is about bringing Canadians up as opposed to bringing Canadians do…
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Mr. Speaker, it is very simple. We stand on the side of Canadians. That is why, yesterday, my hon. colleague was saying we should direct it to the CRTC to lower prices for Canadians and bring more competition into the sector. The member knows, as I have said before, what matters for me is to bring down prices and bring in competition, and the best way we have done that in this country is to have a…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his important question. As my colleague knows and as Canadians tuning in today will be aware, we issued a new direction to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission yesterday, asking the CRTC to adopt policies to lower prices in Canada and increase competition. I have been very vocal about this: It is in everyone's best interest to bring …
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Mr. Speaker, with all due respect, I will not take lessons from colleagues when it comes to fighting for Canadians. We do that every day on this side of the House. We understand that the best way we can do that is by making sure that we lower the price of cellphone bills in Canada, that we have more competition and that we have a fourth national player. It is Monday today. Canadians watching at ho…
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for Alfred-Pellan for his excellent work and especially for his leadership. As per this morning's important announcement, we are going to invest $40 million in artificial intelligence projects that will generate 117 million projects across the country. Canada's global leadership is behind AI. That will help to create high quality jobs, set up more resi…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his excellent question. We will always side with Canadians. That is exactly what I said, because the goal is to lower prices in Canada. The best way to do that is with competition and with a fourth major player across Canada. I have already rejected the transfer of licences from Shaw and Rogers. As I indicated, I will be looking at the ruling by the Federal Co…
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the leader of the official opposition because we are going to do just that and take responsibility for all the investments we have attracted to Canada. I think that the Conservative leader has forgotten the investments in science and biopharma across the country. We attracted Moderna to Canada for the first time. I believe that the opposition leader is forgetting…
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Mr. Speaker, we invested to protect the health and safety of Canadians. Canadians watching today should just watch this guy again. Everyone in the country understood at the time that we needed to invest in all types of vaccines. Today, we are in solution mode. We want to protect the jobs, manufacturing facility and IP of Medicago. Canadians learned something from COVID. We have their backs. We wil…
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Mr. Speaker, I respect the member a lot. He is my critic. However, this is not the time for recrimination. This is the time for solutions. That is exactly what we are doing on this side of the House. Yesterday, I spoke with the CEO of Mitsubishi Chemical in Japan. We all understand, in the House, what we should care about is preserving jobs, preserving the plant in Quebec City and making sure we k…
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Madam Speaker, that is one of the best questions I have heard in a long time. I am delighted. The credit goes to all the men and women employees of OpenText. It is thanks to their talent, expertise and know-how that today we can celebrate a moment in Canada's history. For the first time in our nation's history, the NASDAQ bell was rung out of Canada. We did that here in Ottawa. We should all be pr…
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Madam Speaker, as I was listening to the hon. member very carefully, I think he gave all the reasons we need to modernize the law on investment in Canada. A number of examples he mentioned would be addressed by this revamping of a law that was crafted in 2009, the last time we did that. I think I like it, because in a way he listed all the reasons we should be doing that. By providing more agility…
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Madam Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for his question. We are currently working to save the jobs, the technology and the intellectual property. That is the priority today. We are in problem-solving mode. Yesterday, I was in contact with the mayor of Quebec City and our colleagues in Quebec City. I was even in contact with the president of Mitsubishi in Japan. One thing is certain: We are in…
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Madam Speaker, I would like to remind my hon. colleague, for whom I have enormous respect, as he knows, that we were in “prevention mode” at the time. It is important to remember that, at the time, there was not enough scientific data to know what kind of vaccine was needed to fight COVID-19. Canada was one of the few countries in the world to invest in the various families of vaccines to ensure t…
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Madam Speaker, today was a great day for one of our Canadian champions. OpenText, one of the largest software companies in the world, made its debut on the NASDAQ today. Not only that, but for the first time in Canadian history, the bell of the NASDAQ was rung from Canada, from here in Ottawa. I would say to all Canadians and all members that if they know people who are employees of OpenText, it i…
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Madam Speaker, Canada's position is that the seabed and the marine environment require effective protection through rigorous regulatory structures, applying a precautionary ecosystem-based approach, using science-based and transparent management and ensuring effective compliance. As the situation evolves, our government will continue to work with scientists and will work with international partner…
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moved that Bill C-34, An Act to amend the Investment Canada Act, be read the second time and referred to a committee. Madam Speaker, I am pleased to rise today. I would like to point out that the Nasdaq opening bell rang for the very first time in Ottawa, Canada, this morning. This is the first time in history that the Nasdaq opened in Canada. OpenText has just been registered in Canada, and I thi…
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Madam Speaker, I appreciate my hon. colleague a lot and I think we can work together in making sure that this bill would better protect Canada. When we make decisions in matters of national security, I think it would be comforting to the members and the public that is with us today that these decisions are made on the basis of advice from our intelligence agencies and experts. Obviously, my role a…
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Madam Speaker, I will first thank my colleague, for whom I have a great deal of respect. He works with us on industry files. Members will recall that Bill C‑34 concerns the part relating to national security. We know that the Investment Canada Act has two parts. The amendments we are proposing are actually amendments pertaining to national security. As a Quebecker and as someone who is in close co…
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Madam Speaker, my colleague and I have worked together for a number of years now. We need agility. My colleague is very knowledgeable and he knows that we live in a world where a number of companies are trying to use different schemes to go around the law so they will not be subject to a national security review. What we want is additional powers for the minister to make sure that we better protec…
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Madam Speaker, my colleague and I work very well together. I am happy to talk about telecoms this morning. I think the member and Canadians watching at home know that the principle I have applied since I became Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry is to make sure that we reduce prices for Canadians. The way to do that in Canada is to have more competition and at the same time to have innov…
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to say to all Canadians that we agree with the member. Enough is enough. That is why we took action. That is why, way back, I wrote to the Competition Bureau to ask them to investigate to make sure there were not any undue practices. I also spoke to the CEOs to tell them to do what is right to help Canadians at their time of need. We will continue to push them to lower pr…
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Mr. Speaker, the Radiocommunication Act does not give the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry the power to allocate auction payments for a particular purpose. As such, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada does not keep auction revenues. They are remitted to the consolidated revenue fund, where they are used to support government priorities and initiatives that benefit Canad…
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Mr. Speaker, the spectrum licence deployment requirements of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, or ISED, are based on the provision of wireless services to a percentage of the population in a given service area, known as tiers, at specific times throughout the term of the licence. These graduated deployment requirements facilitate timely deployment of services across the country …
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Mr. Speaker, the government remains in discussion with Telesat on a potential investment in the Lightspeed project. Completion of the government’s investment is dependent on Telesat satisfying a number of conditions, including Telesat successfully concluding agreements with other parties to fully finance the project. Accordingly, none of the government funds referenced in the agreement in principl…
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