Parliamentary Speeches
342 speeches by Francis Scarpaleggia — Page 7 of 7
Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, French in North America is under pressure on all sides and especially online, which is why we introduced Bill C‑11. However, Bill C‑13 gives francophones the right to work in French.
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the second report of the Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development, entitled “The Impacts of a Ban on Certain Single-Use Plastic Items on Industry, Human Health and the Environment in Canada”. Pursuant to Standing Order 109, the committee requests that the government table a comprehensive response to this re…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, does the hon. member think that CanCon regulations in radio in the early 1970s took away Canadians' freedom? He should remember that this was a time when we did not have the alternative of listening to music on the Internet through YouTube and such. Basically, all we had was mainstream radio. Does he think those regulations were bad for the Canadian music industry? Does he think those…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, it is always a great pleasure to listen to my colleague. He is a great orator here in the House. I think he has already been recognized as the best new MP in the House. I would like to ask him the following question. Does my colleague believe that someone who arrives from overseas who is not vaccinated or who received a less effective vaccine than Pfizer or Moderna is a greater thre…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, first of all, I wish a happy birthday to Sara. She is very fortunate to have such a wonderful grandfather, whom I am sure she is extremely proud of. The last time I looked, I think we were second or third in the G20. I know it tends to change over time, but all I know is that we were very much near the top and that is something we as Canadians can be very proud of.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I will share my time with the member for London North Centre. There is no overstating the fact that the past two years have not been easy. As individuals and as a society, we are all worn out. The pandemic truly was a tragedy, and it had many and varied impacts on all aspects of society. Businesses had to close their doors either temporarily or, in some cases, permanently because th…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Yes. Why is it important for the most people possible to be vaccinated? As André Picard said in The Globe and Mail, the pandemic playing field is not level. What did Mr. Picard mean by that? An 85-year-old is 340 times more likely to die from COVID than a 20-year-old. A 75-year-old is 140 times more likely to die from COVID than a 20-year-old. A 65-year-old is 65 times more likely. André Picard is…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, again, the opposition is simplifying things. There are very few absolutes in anything, whether it be environmental protection or public health. We work with a risk management approach. That is what governments have been doing all along. We cannot just have blanket statements or blanket policies that overlook certain exceptions that have merit. I am sure that for anyone coming over h…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, the biggest obstacle in the tourism sector, in my opinion, was the pre-arrival test needed to enter Canada. Now that those tests will no longer be required as of April 1, I think that will mean fewer barriers to tourism, especially within Canada. I am sure there are many Canadians who would like to visit my colleague's beautiful region. What I heard from my constituents, however, wa…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, that is a good question. As someone said, we will not be safe until everyone in the world is safe. I am not particularly ideological about how we ensure that everyone is vaccinated. Whatever approach is most efficient in terms of getting the rest of the world vaccinated is the one we should go with. Intellectual property is, of course, a very complex field. We want to ensure that wh…
Read full speech →Statements By Members
Mr. Speaker, World Water Day is a day to promote awareness of the urgent need to protect and sustainably manage this precious resource that is essential to human life, the environment and the economy. Water security is a more serious issue than ever because of the impact that climate change is having on the quantity and quality of our drinking water. A clear policy priority on fresh water can not …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, that is an interesting question. It is difficult to know who is investing in what in the Canadian economy. However, there are other measures we can take if we find that some people, like Russian oligarchs, are profiting in a bad way from a project in Canada. The government also has other measures to deal with such dangers, such as the Sergei Magnitsky Law. The identity of business o…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I cannot comment on all of those examples. There are multiple examples in the world. Each situation can be different and each requires a different, sometimes only a slightly different, response. It is an interesting question. I have total confidence in the Minister of Immigration, the work that he is doing and the decisions he is making at the moment.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, as I said, there is an immediate energy need in Europe, and 31 countries are coming together to release strategic oil reserves to help the European Union get through this difficult period. Oil is part of the energy mix. It is central to the functioning of economies, but we are in a transition and the motion talks about a time far away from today. The energy mix is bound to change. I…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the hon. member for Kingston and the Islands. Courage has a home country, and that country is Ukraine. Courage has a people, and that people is the Ukrainian people. Ukrainians’ resilience is legendary and once again in full view today. Ukraine is the world’s inspiration and its strength, the strength to join forces against Vladimir Putin. The Ukrainia…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague claims that if the three levels of government had worked together from the beginning, the situation would have been resolved amicably. However, I would like to quote from an article on the CBC website. It reads as follows: “Premier Doug Ford does not think trilateral talks between the federal, provincial and Ottawa municipal governments are necessary since all three …
Read full speech →Orders Of The Day
Madam Speaker, does the hon. member think that the letter the Alberta government sent to the federal government seeking assistance with the blockade in Coutts could undermine the Alberta government's upcoming challenge to the Emergencies Act in court?
Read full speech →Orders Of The Day
Madam Speaker, that was an amazing speech. I have two questions for the hon. member. There has been a lot of talk about division, but I would be interested in hearing her comments on the role of disinformation in stoking that division. I would also like her comments on the naive suggestion that if only the Prime Minister had sat down and had a cup of coffee with the leaders of the convoy, somehow …
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, as a preamble I would like to say I am not sure I agree with taking events from the past and comparing them directly, because every one is different and each context is different. I would not compare a natural disaster to a conscious, coordinated movement, which is what we have seen. There has been coordination between what happened in Coutts and what has happened here. I enjoyed the …
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, many members have said we already had the legislative tools, yet I noticed that the Province of Ontario enacted some emergency legislation. Would the member not agree that the reason exceptional legislation was not sufficient was that it did not engage FINTRAC and could not deputize police forces from outside Ontario?
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, I feel like I just attended an excellent bit of theatre. It was a very passionate performance. My colleague gave the example of parking his car in a no-parking zone in Longueuil. The police comes along, he refuses to leave, and the police give him a fine. He claims that the police would call the towing company to have his vehicle towed. Is he aware that towing companies in Ottawa di…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, the hon. member has completely ignored my question and—
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, my colleague does not seem to understand that governments do not direct the police. Does my colleague realize that what we have seen and experienced is part of a something bigger than mandatory vaccination for truckers? We already met with the convoy organizers two years ago. They came here with their trucks to protest the carbon tax. Does my colleague also know that the Canada Unit…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, one of the letters the hon. member read, from one of his constituents, implied very strongly that what we saw for the last three weeks in the streets of Ottawa was a legitimate protest. The leaders of the protest have contended they were just exercising their charter rights. Does the member agree that this was an illegal protest, which was what prompted the police action? Why is the…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, when one wants to undermine the security of a country, of a nation, one targets its critical infrastructure. For a trading nation, the most critical infrastructure is its border points. We saw what happened at the Ambassador Bridge, what happened in Manitoba and what happened in Coutts, Alberta. However, what many people do not realize is there were 12 additional protests that directl…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, like my colleague who spoke before me, I would like to thank the members of the Parliamentary Protective Service and the peace officers who have come to Ottawa to deal with this unprecedented situation. There has been a great deal of misinformation, misconception and misunderstanding around the pandemic and the public health measures that have been necessary, as well as about how th…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, I think it is also incumbent upon us to tell our citizens what the Emergencies Act does and what it does not do. First of all, it is not the War Measures Act. I know that some members have tried to make a subtle link to that. Some have been less subtle, but it is not the War Measures Act. Second, the Emergencies Act does not suspend charter rights. Here we go back to charter rights.…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, I would also like to say that I enjoy sitting on the environment committee with my hon. colleague, who is always well prepared for the meetings and holds the government to account. The act also allows the police in Ottawa to create a no-go zone: to prevent people from across the country from converging on Ottawa on weekends to cause more disruption. This has been attributed as one o…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, I think it is very likely that when we review the events and the existing legislation, there will be some fine‑tuning to be done in terms of the government's ability to follow the tracks created by new technologies that allow money to be sent anonymously to support illegal activities. This will be looked at when the situation is reviewed after the act is withdrawn. That said, it is …
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, the situation at the Ambassador Bridge was a motivating factor in the government's decision. The act allows police forces to create larger no-go zones. If there is a threat to a border crossing such as the Ambassador Bridge, it would hopefully help to keep the bridge open.
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the tourism and travel sectors have been hard hit by the pandemic. Businesses and organizations in these sectors are excited and look forward to being able to welcome and move even more vaccinated people. Can the Prime Minister tell us more about the easing of health measures at the airports?
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I am very pleased to rise this afternoon to speak to Bill C‑11. During the 43rd Parliament, I gave a speech at second reading stage of the previous bill, Bill C‑10, and I am pleased that this new version is being debated in the House. I believe that, in a way, this bill represents a second chance. It gives the official opposition a second chance to clearly support our creators and t…
Read full speech →Statements By Members
Mr. Speaker, this past December, Senneville, a historic municipality on the western shores of the Island of Montreal, lost a true stalwart, a leader whose name was synonymous with the town's deep sense of civic engagement and commitment to quality of life. George McLeish was Senneville's longest-serving mayor, occupying the office from 1995 to 2013, interrupted only when island suburbs were briefl…
Read full speech →Speech from the Throne
Madam Speaker, I appreciate the granular nature of the question, which is focused on the member's riding. My riding is also on a water body, on the St. Lawrence River. Actually, it is located where the St. Lawrence, the Ottawa River and the Rivière des Prairies converge. Of course, I know about projects in my area. I believe that in Windsor, work is being done with Transport Canada and Environment…
Read full speech →Speech from the Throne
Madam Speaker, I thank my esteemed colleague for his question. I would like to point out that I was in the House in 2006 or 2007 when we voted on the motion that Quebec is a nation. I voted in favour of that motion because it stated that Quebec is a nation within Canada. Unfortunately, that is not how the motion moved by the Bloc Québécois was worded. I do not know why, but that wording was not us…
Read full speech →Speech from the Throne
Madam Speaker, I would like to begin by acknowledging that I am rising on the traditional unceded territory of the Anishinabe Algonquin people. I would also like to thank the voters of Lac-Saint-Louis for sending me back to the nation's capital to be their voice and represent them once again and also help them in their dealings with the federal government. I would like to acknowledge that my staff…
Read full speech →Speech from the Throne
Madam Speaker, that is precisely why we needed a national climate adaptation strategy. However, I will mention that billions of dollars have been invested in infrastructure, and that work obviously has to occur with the provinces to identify where the work needs to be done. Our government is there to invest in infrastructure. We have been there to invest in infrastructure for a number of years, an…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the first report of the Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development, entitled “The Road Ahead: Encouraging the production and purchase of zero-emission vehicles in Canada”. Pursuant to Standing Order 109, the committee requests that the government table a comprehensive response to this report.
Read full speech →Statements By Members
Mr. Speaker, no one elected has served the City of Kirkland longer than John Meaney, who sadly left us last month. First elected to city council in 1975, John served as mayor from 1994 to 2013. All told, he led Kirkland from a town of about 7,500 into a populous and prosperous Montreal suburb of 21,000, doing so with an efficient decision-making style and practical common-sense approach. John Mean…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I would like to describe a scenario that will likely come up at some point. Imagine an MP is exposed to the virus or contracts it even though he is double-vaccinated and has to stay home in quarantine. Is the fact that he is unable to vote because he is not given the opportunity to debate or vote remotely not akin to removing his privilege, given that a tool exists and it is not being…
Read full speech →Statements By Members
Mr. Speaker, I am proud to share the news with members of the House that one of my constituents, Rachel Watts, a fourth-year journalism student at Carleton University, is the recipient of this year's Fraser MacDougall Prize for best new Canadian voice in human rights reporting. This prestigious prize is awarded to an exceptional piece of student journalism with a human rights focus. Rachel's winni…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I congratulate you on your new role, and I congratulate the member for Ottawa West—Nepean on her victory. To me, this debate is very much about the role of technology, not just now but throughout history, in allowing societies to be more productive and work in a safer way. I see the fact that we can use video conferencing as a way to continue to do our very important work but in a saf…
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