Routine Proceedings
With regard to the announcement by the current Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry on February 19, 2018, related to a federal contribution of $2,066,407 to have Bell install broadband Internet in Lac Pemichangan and certain other Outaouais communities: (a) did the government chose which communities would be covered or did Bell; (b) what specific criteria was…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I am tabling the following petition in the House of Commons. We, the undersigned citizens of Canada, draw the attention of the House of Commons to the following: Whereas, a new report published by the Associated Press has revealed that there has been an ongoing campaign of Uyghur birth suppression by the Chinese Communist Party which includes methods such as forced sterilization and a…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Mr. Speaker, I am certain that you will find unanimous consent for the motion that, notwithstanding any standing or special order or usual practice, at 3:59 p.m. today or when no member rises to speak, whichever comes first, Bill C-11, an act to enact the consumer privacy protection act and the personal information and data protection tribunal act and to make consequential and related amendments t…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, unfortunately for Canadians, there is once again mass confusion over access to vaccines and our ability to vaccinate all Canadians. Just a couple of minutes ago, Moderna announced that, instead of sending a late delivery of 1.2 million doses, it would be sending just half of that amount. In June, we could be two million doses short of our expected delivery numbers. Once again, this …
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Madam Speaker, once again, those statements are not based on facts. We are not getting more vaccines; we are getting fewer vaccines. The government promised to deliver vaccines as planned, maybe with a few minor delays. These are not minor delays, though, because we are talking about a shortfall of millions of doses. Fewer vaccines means fewer vaccinations. Fewer vaccinations means the economic re…
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Madam Speaker, the facts do not support what the parliamentary secretary is saying. The Prime Minister needs to tell Canadians the truth. Unfortunately, he did just the opposite when he expressed doubts about the CNN story, which was broadcast around the world and reported that Canada is having some real problems. Could the Prime Minister stand up in this House and tell Canadians the truth for onc…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, it is with great pride and emotion that I rise today to talk about the environment. I do so with thoughts of my children and my granddaughter, who will be celebrating her first birthday in three weeks. There are different ways of achieving our common goal of combatting climate change. Climate change is real, and we need to face that reality by taking positive, long-term measures tha…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I want to pay my respects to the member of the Green Party. I can assure her that I welcome each and every question and will ensure that she will have the time to ask questions. To the member's point, we have to realize the truth that we live, and I will give the example of Quebec. In the province of Quebec, based on the last study, nine billion litres of gasoline were sold last yea…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I want to pay my respects to my hon. colleague. I know I should not say it, but I miss him in the House. I will get to the point. When my hon. colleague talks about first nations, the industry and the people, unfortunately, with the Liberal policy, we have heard the Prime Minister saying that we need to phase it out. We have heard the Prime Minister say that it is not going down as …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, yes, it is written in our motion that climate change is real, so we have to address it. I think he will support our motion because it is written in black and white in this resolution. If he votes against it, unfortunately we will not recognize that and shame on him, but we will see what his vote will be. Based on that, I want to be very clear: Yes, it is written in black and white i…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, on Monday, the Liberal government, with the help of the Bloc Québécois, decided to shut down the parliamentary investigation into the allegations of sexual misconduct against General Vance. Ultimately, no one took responsibility and no one apologized. We will not be able to get to the bottom of this matter, which is shameful, yes, but more importantly, it is an insult to the women who…
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Mr. Speaker, of course the Minister of National Defence testified. There were other people it would have been worth hearing from. Unfortunately, the Liberals, with the help of the Bloc Québécois, stopped us from getting to the bottom of this matter. We know that the government has some serious ethics problems. It is no coincidence that the Ethics Commissioner found the Prime Minister guilty on two…
Read full speech →Business of the House
Mr. Speaker, as it is Thursday, I will ask the traditional question to the government about what will be happening in the next few days. As members know, we are in a real stretch now, working here in the House of Commons for 10 weeks out of the next 11 weeks. We are very pleased to serve our people, our constituents in our ridings, here in the House of Commons. It is with great honour, privilege a…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the two Canadian female soldiers who filed sexual misconduct complaints against the chief of the defence staff were exceptionally courageous. What we saw Monday from the Liberal Party and the Bloc Québécois was anything but courageous. At the defence committee, the Liberal Party and the Bloc Québécois colluded to shut down, cancel and extinguish a parliamentary committee that was stud…
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Mr. Speaker, to take action, you need all of the facts and everyone who has something to say must be able to speak. This is not the first time at the Liberal members and their buddies in the Bloc Québécois have joined forces to prevent parliamentarians from doing their jobs. Last year, the Bloc and the Liberal Party joined forces to prevent the Ethics Commissioner from testifying about his report,…
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Mr. Speaker, Canada is being hit hard by the third wave, more so than other countries, all because of the Liberal government's inertia when it came time to negotiate vaccine procurement. Barely 2% of Canadians have received their second dose to date, compared to 11% in England and 20% in the United States. Ten times as many Americans as Canadians have been vaccinated and five times as many British…
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Mr. Speaker, speaking of efforts, I thank the minister for speaking French and I congratulate her for her efforts. However, the problem is that Canadians find the facts very troubling. New COVID-19 cases are levelling off in the United States, but they have tripled in the last month in Canada. That is completely unacceptable. The best solution, but not the only one, is vaccination. This requires a…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to communication between the Office of the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, the Privy Council Office or the Office of the Prime Minister and the Office of the Clerk of the House of Commons between noon on February 17, 2021, and 4:00 p.m. on February 18, 2021: what are the details of all such communication, including the (i) date and time, (ii) type of communication (em…
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Madam Speaker, to be mindful and, more importantly, credible, one needs to be consistent. However, what happened is that the government said one thing and then the opposite in a very short time. On Wednesday, the procurement minister told the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates that the government did not expect any interruption in the deliveries from Europe. However, yesterd…
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Madam Speaker, there is our answer. The Thursday minister is correct, not the Wednesday minister. The fact of the matter is that when there are vaccine supply problems, fewer Canadians get vaccinated, which further delays the reopening of the economy. That is why this issue is so important. The government did not negotiate assurances with the suppliers and that is why Canada is lagging behind. Doe…
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Madam Speaker, the Auditor General issued a scathing report yesterday. She said she was discouraged by how the government handled matters pertaining to the border a year ago. What matters most to Canadians right now is vaccine supply. We know that India has cut off the supply. We know that the European Union has tightened measures. Canada needs vaccines. What is the government's plan? More importa…
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Mr. Speaker, the chief of the defence staff of our armed forces is facing allegations of sexual misconduct involving a female member of the Canadian military, which is very troubling. That is why it is important to get to the bottom of this and determine who in the government knew what and when. One key figure in this matter who has not yet testified is the former chief of staff to the Minister of…
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Mr. Speaker, “very serious”, “mistreat”, “intimidate”: Is the minister aware of the nonsense he just spouted? We have to get to the bottom of this. This person, the former chief of staff, is at the heart of the government, the army and the Prime Minister's Office. That person has to say what she knows. That is why we want her to appear. Will the government allow this person to testify before a par…
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Mr. Speaker, I am well aware that this is a new situation and that there are technical difficulties. For my part, however, I heard the minister's response just fine. There was a delay of a fraction of a second between the response and the video, but I think everyone understood what the minister said. They may not have understood what he meant, but they were certainly able to hear him.
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Mr. Speaker, as tradition would have it, it is time for the Thursday question. I would like my ministerial counterpart to tell us what is coming up in Parliament over the next few days. We know that the budget will be tabled on April 19. However, can he tell what is happening after the two weeks we are spending in our ridings?
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Mr. Speaker, since the beginning of the pandemic, we have been hoping for a vaccine and supporting vaccination efforts for all Canadians who want one. This is why today we are once again concerned about what is happening in other countries. India just announced that the AstraZeneca vaccine will no longer be exported. A responsible prime minister would have seen that coming and started preparing, b…
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Mr. Speaker, the best way to reassure Canadians is to give them the straight goods, which the Prime Minister has failed to do. Remember that in December, he was so proud to say that the vaccines were coming. In January, we went 10 days without vaccines, and he could not explain why. Today, it is India. A few hours ago, the European Union announced stricter export measures for vaccines. Beyond the …
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Mr. Speaker, if you seek it, you will find unanimous consent for tabling the following document. It is an email from Daniel Jean regarding the Minister of National Defence. Since the leader of the official opposition mentioned it, I am sure that all parliamentarians will be happy to read it once it is tabled.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to remind everyone that health and safety standards are very important in the House and that people must always sit two metres apart. Although we were very pleased to see three government members in the House today, everybody must keep two metres apart.
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Mr. Speaker, with respect to this point of order, which is quite pertinent and important, I invite my colleague from Richmond—Arthabaska to repeat at least the last minute of his speech because it is an important issue, especially since we are discussing the two official languages. The interpreters should hear exactly what he said. I therefore invite my colleague from Richmond—Arthabaska to repeat…
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Mr. Speaker, when someone is accused of misconduct, there is usually an investigation. At the very least, caution is advised in dealing with that person during the investigation. I am obviously talking about General Vance. When the Prime Minister's Office learned that there was an investigation, what did cabinet and the Prime Minister do? They gave him a $50,000 raise. How does this self-proclaime…
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Mr. Speaker, here are the facts. First, the Prime Minister recently said that he was not aware of the allegations of misconduct. His story changed, since he admitted a few days later that his office had been aware, but that does not make a difference. The Prime Minister's Office was aware of allegations of sexual misconduct against General Vance, and the Prime Minister, with the support of cabinet…
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Mr. Speaker, I rise today on a point of order regarding the COVID-19 safety protocols. I have two specific questions for you. In a report submitted to the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs dated June 30, 2020, entitled “Options for In-person Voting”, the recommended number of members who can safely attend sittings of the House is 86. As you are well aware, we, all parliamentarians,…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Madam Speaker, Jocelyn Paul has just been promoted to lieutenant-general in the Canadian army. Jocelyn, whom I have known since we were teens, is a member of the Huron-Wendat nation of Wendake. He is proud of his roots and of his nation. Throughout his 35-year military career, he has carried out his duties with honour and dignity. I got hundreds of comments on my Facebook page this week from peopl…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, our Canadian military is embroiled in yet another troubling situation. Yesterday, the CBC released the testimony of a retired military sexual assault investigator who says that Canadian army officers interfere with investigations into sexual assault cases. Worse still, we have learned that while civilian courts have a conviction rate of 42%, in the army only 14% of cases end in conv…
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Madam Speaker, if the government were really as serious as the member claimed, it would not have appointed someone who had to resign a few weeks later because they are currently under investigation. That is so typical of the Liberal government. This week, on La Joute, a television program on TVA, Jean-Marc Lanthier, a retired lieutenant-general, had some very harsh words to say about the prevailin…
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Madam Speaker, I was astounded to hear the member say the time for patience has passed. Need I remind everyone that the Minister of National Defence knew there was a problem for three years but did nothing about it? The Prime Minister said he knew nothing about it for three years, then he said his cabinet knew about it, but he did nothing. When retired lieutenant-generals say something is not righ…
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Madam Speaker, on the same point of order, I thank my hon. colleague for his position. We welcome the fact that the government is taking this very seriously. Our member for Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon is a very good MP who is working hard to be sure that our job is done correctly. I want to thank the member and the parliamentary secretary for stating the government's position on the point of ord…
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Mr. Speaker, as per tradition, it is time for the Thursday question. We would like to know what Parliament can expect in the coming days, knowing that the schedule in March is a little strange. Last week we were in our ridings; this week we are in the House; next week we will be back in our ridings; then we will come back to the House; then we will go back to our ridings for two weeks; and then fi…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I support medical assistance in dying, and I know what I am talking about. Thirteen years ago, when I was a member of the Quebec National Assembly, I was part of the group that spent six years studying medical assistance in dying. It took six years for Quebec to come up with a policy on MAID. I voted in favour of that policy. Five years ago, I was part of the parliamentary team that b…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I think the member for Barrie was being very honest, clear and humble a couple of minutes ago when he said that he missed the previous vote because he thought his vote had been recorded. He said it in good faith and with good intentions. I feel we could seek the consent of the House to give the member for Barrie the opportunity to record his vote on the previous matter.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I believe the proposal by the member for Kingston and the Islands makes sense. I think the government will absolutely have to provide information on this. I hope the time it takes to do so will not mean it does not want Parliament to do its job. I hope that things will move forward as they should.
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, if you were to seek it, you would find unanimous consent for the following motion. I move: That, notwithstanding any standing or special order or usual practice of the House, Bill C-18, An Act to implement the Agreement on Trade Continuity between Canada and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, be deemed concurred in at the report stage; that the House continue to…
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Mr. Speaker, I am very proud and delighted to know that the Minister of Justice is paying attention to the debate. I would invite him to join us in the House to advocate even more than from where he is right now.
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Mr. Speaker, the national defence ombudsman met with the Minister of National Defence three years ago, on March 1, 2018, and told him about sexual harassment allegations against the chief of the defence staff. In committee, the minister first stated that he was not aware of the allegations, but the ombudsman quickly contradicted him. The minister even refused to look at the evidence presented. Whe…
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Mr. Speaker, there is no question that for three years the minister and the Prime Minister have been silent. For three years they have done absolutely nothing to resolve this situation. Today, what is the Prime Minister doing? He is defending his minister; and who is he blaming? He is blaming the ombudsman. What a disgraceful attitude. How can a self-proclaimed feminist treat a sexual assault case…
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Madam Speaker, millions of Canadians want to know why Canada is not able to manufacture vaccines. Yesterday, the Standing Committee on Industry heard some very interesting testimony from witnesses, including Dr. Gary Kobinger, a microbiologist at Université Laval's faculty of medicine. He said that at least two platforms, maybe three, in Canada could have been online by now, if there had been the …
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Madam Speaker, he failed to mention that that was not exactly the amount that Dr. Kobinger was looking for. The Government of Quebec had to come to this scientist's aid. It is not just scientists, but industry too, that are complaining about the federal government's inaction on vaccine production. The president and managing director of Merck Canada criticized the climate of mistrust and the absenc…
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Mr. Speaker, the parliamentary secretary said that we need to get the facts straight. Let us do just that. This morning, we learned that unfortunately, Canada is once again lagging far behind. We are now ranked 56th for vaccine doses administered. Only 3% of Canadians are currently vaccinated, and barely 8% will be by the end of March. Vaccination is the key to our economic recovery from the pande…
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Mr. Speaker, after two conclusive tests, we now have a voting app. That being said, I would remind all hon. members that every vote is important and that we must respect decorum to the highest degree regarding the mandate the people have entrusted to us in our respective ridings. Speaking of ridings, we know that next week the 338 parliamentarians will be in their riding to hear from their constit…
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