Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for raising that important issue. I think all of my colleagues in the House of Commons would agree. We are getting a lot of calls from families that have had their child benefit cut, probably because they received CERB payments that the Canada Revenue Agency wants to claw back. No arrangements seem to have been taken into account. This approach can really l…
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Madam Speaker, I too would like to thank the chair of the Standing Committee on Finance, with whom I have the great pleasure of working. I thank him for his speech. It is important to have a better way of dealing with all cybersecurity issues. Like the Conservative member who raised the issue, we have concerns that this bill gives the government a great deal of power to do this through regulations…
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question. Obviously, I will let the Conservative Party explain its reasons. To answer the question on inflation, there are a number of elements. We can think, in particular, of social housing, which should be better funded. In the budget being tabled by the minister next Tuesday, we hope to see significant funding allocated to social housing to ensure ch…
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Madam Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the hon. member for Abitibi—Témiscamingue. As members know, unlike sales tax, which represents a percentage of the value of a product, the excise tax on alcohol is a fixed amount by volume as set out in the Excise Tax Act. Traditionally, that amount was occasionally reviewed and adjusted to inflation through an amendment to the act. However, since 2017…
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Madam Speaker, historically speaking, we have seen that the excise tax on alcohol is quite high, in general. In the early 2000s, the Bloc made a proposal to encourage new players like local craft producers and microbreweries. The idea was to reduce this tax by 10 and then increase it progressively as the microbrewery grew, increasing its sales and production. It would pay 20% of the tax, then 30% …
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Madam Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague from New Westminster—Burnaby for his question and suggestion. As I said in my speech, we got that proposal adopted some time ago. I also believe that, when I served with the hon. member on the Standing Committee on Finance, those were the kinds of measures that we adopted and then asked the government to look at and implement. Those measures sought to promo…
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Madam Speaker, I thank the hon. minister for his bill and his speech this afternoon. Recently we heard news out of the United States about a major train derailment in Ohio. The train was carrying toxic chemicals. Not too long ago, there was a train accident in Greece that caused many deaths. Back home in Quebec, we remember July 6, 2013, when 47 people perished following the derailment of a 72-tan…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, before I begin my speech, I want to commend the hon. parliamentary secretary for giving so much of his speech in French. That takes effort and the results speak for themselves. I want to congratulate him on that. This bill “amends the Criminal Code to specify what constitutes exploitation for the purpose of establishing whether a person has committed the offence of trafficking in pe…
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Madam Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for his speech. The Bloc Québécois supports the bill in principle, but we have some concerns. The various proposed measures may end up creating a disproportionate administrative burden for small ports. According to my colleague, how might we amend this bill in committee to ensure that the administrative burden is not excessive for small ports?
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, first of all, I want to say that I cannot believe the Liberal government's stance on this bill and how weak the arguments are. I find it unacceptable. What a joke. I am pleased to speak this afternoon to Bill C‑289, introduced by my friend and colleague on the Standing Committee on Finance, the member for Simcoe North. As my colleague from Rivière‑du‑Nord said last October, the Bloc…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his very good speech and all of the constructive work that he does on the Standing Committee on Finance. He is a really valuable member of the House. The Bloc Québécois applauds this bill, but we do not think that it goes far enough. National security is important, but we are asking the government to go further and to address the issue of economic security so …
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Mr. Speaker, what I was saying is that with the pandemic, we saw the fragility of global supply chains. Honestly, I expected the government to come up with strategies quickly to help the industries in the Canadian economy overcome this problem. To my knowledge, nothing or practically nothing has been done to help these companies. Does my hon. colleague believe that Bill C‑34 addresses that a littl…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his speech. With the pandemic, we saw how fragile the global economy is when it comes to supply chains. I really expected the government to propose quicker, more constructive solutions than what it is proposing, which is almost nothing at all. According to my colleague, will Bill C‑34 help to address the supply chain issue? If not, what does the government—
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Vancouver Centre for her bill. Bill C‑295 seeks to amend the Criminal Code to create an offence for long-term care facilities, their owners and their managers to fail to provide necessaries of life to residents of the facilities. Furthermore, it would allow the court to make an order prohibiting the owners and the managers of such facilities from being, through …
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Mr. Speaker, according to the latest data released, last year, there were 1,255 foreign investment projects totalling $87 billion. Only eight of those projects were reviewed. With this bill, that number would increase to 24, which is barely 2% of foreign investment projects. Does my colleague think that is enough?
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his speech. We know foreign investment is important in a globalized economy. In 2001, which was before China became a member of the World Trade Organization, Jacques Parizeau wrote, “We do not condemn the rising tide; we build levees to protect ourselves.” Unfortunately, weakening the Investment Canada Act has caused those levees to break. We agree that Bill C…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his speech. I think we both agree that this bill needs to be improved. However, in my opinion, given the overly limited interpretation by law clerks in committee, any amendments that can be made are too often limited. The Bloc Québécois believes that the government should introduce another bill to better control foreign investments in general, particularly wit…
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague raised some very troubling points in his speech. There seems to be a trend. Year after year, the number of foreign investments made in Canada goes up, as does their value. According to the latest available data, there were 1,255 applications for a total of $87 billion. Only eight of those applications were reviewed. This bill would bump the number of applications reviewed…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague who also sits on the Standing Committee on Finance. I would first like to comment on the point of order. I want to quote a line from a French movie, a Christmas classic: “I am not blaming you, Pierre”. This bill is a step in the right direction, but it does not go far enough. That is how I see it. I would like to ask my colleague to explain once more what the gove…
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my hon. colleague with whom I have the pleasure of working on the Standing Committee on Finance. It is truly a pleasure to work with him. I thank him for his speech. He raised a number of very troubling issues. I want to refer to the annual report from the department's investment division, which was tabled in Parliament last October. In the preceding year, there were 1…
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for her speech. I am sorry, Madam Speaker, but I can hear the NDP heckling. This is their day—
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Madam Speaker, the federal government just announced health transfers to the provinces. It is giving them one-sixth of what they asked for. I would like to ask my colleague if she thinks the amount announced by the federal government is enough to fix the provinces' health care systems. If so, why were Quebec and the provinces asking for so much?
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, I was talking about banknotes. I really think it is time for a change. Canada is going to have to replace its currency in any case. When the time comes to get new bills, does anyone really want to see King Charles on the banknotes? It is not up to the Bloc Québécois to choose Canada's symbols, but we find it hard to believe that Canada cannot come up with something better after 150 …
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Madam Speaker, we in the Bloc Québécois are still reeling from the sale of Rona to the American company Lowe's and all the negative consequences that followed. In my hon. colleague's opinion, if Bill C-34 passes as is, will the interests of our economy be better protected with respect to potential transactions?
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Madam Speaker, yesterday Australia announced that it was removing the British monarchy from its banknotes. Charles III will be replaced by indigenous art. That is a modern and democratic example that Canada should follow. Banknotes are a subtle way for countries to present themselves to the world. Australia has chosen to honour its own culture and its own people. Canada continues to honour a forei…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, our community of Joliette has been in mourning since we learned of the passing of René Laurin. René Laurin was mayor of Joliette from 2001 to 2013, as well as the director general of the school board and a municipal councillor. To me he stands out as the first Bloc Québécois MP from the riding of Joliette from 1993 to 2000. Quebec finally had a voice in Ottawa, and in Joliette that vo…
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his interesting speech. The Bloc Québécois supports Bill C‑9, just as he does. The legal community has called for it and we commend this bill. I would like to ask my colleague about the judicial appointment process. We know about the “Liberalist” scandal of the past few years. The government used its party's membership list to appoint judges. The government …
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Mr. Speaker, the Bloc Québécois agrees to apply the vote and will be voting in favour of the motion.
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Mr. Speaker, it is with great enthusiasm that we agree to apply the results of the previous vote, and the members of the Bloc Québécois will be voting in favour of the motion.
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Madam Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for his speech, and I especially thank him for giving the first part in French. We are happy to hear the language of Molière in the House. The inflation crisis is impacting everyone, but it obviously impacts low-income individuals more, and low-income pensioners especially, because their income is rarely or not fully indexed. The Bloc Québécois called on…
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Mr. Speaker, the Bloc Québécois members unanimously agree to apply the results of the previous vote to this vote, with Bloc members voting in favour of the motion.
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I thank the hon. member for Saint-Jean for this important point of order. I believe they got the message because the noise seems to have stopped. The hon. member for Repentigny may continue her speech.
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The hon. member for Drummond has 20 seconds for a brief response.
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Does the hon. member have the unanimous consent of the House to split his time?
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Does the hon. member have the consent of the House to split her time?
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Madam Speaker, with all due respect to my esteemed colleague, the interpretation service is unable to translate her words because of a poor audio signal.
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Is that agreed?
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Is that agreed?
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Order. The member for Saint-Jean on a point of order.
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Mr. Speaker, I have a comment for the parliamentary secretary. I would like him to ask himself some questions. Why does the Bloc Québécois feel it has to filibuster the Standing Committee on Official Languages to slow the passage of the official languages bill? Because the Liberal Party, this government, with the support of the third opposition party, opposes amendments put forward by Quebec to pr…
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Laser beams are not what they used to be, Mr. Speaker. The federal government is bringing the deadline to submit infrastructure projects forward by two years. If Quebec fails to meet the deadline, the federal government will keep $2.7 billion that is owed to our cities. It is bullying our municipalities and threatening to keep every cent that is not spent by March 31. Meanwhile, yesterday, the fed…
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Mr. Speaker, we are concerned because this is not the first time this government has stolen money that belongs to our municipalities. That is exactly what it did last June with $342 million in another infrastructure program, so, yes, we are concerned when this government threatens to keep every penny that has not been spent by March 31 of next year. When it comes to stealing money from our cities,…
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for her speech. What we are trying to do here is improve the legal system as a whole. In this particular case, the issue is connectivity. I would like my colleague to comment on the problem of judicial vacancies, internal problems at the Parole Board and, of course, the existence and use of the “Liberalist”.
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Madam Speaker, the federal government is threatening to steal $2.7 billion in infrastructure money meant for our municipalities. It is moving up Quebec's deadline to submit proposals from 2025 to next March. Miss the deadline, miss out on the cash. The Liberals changed the date unilaterally. Then they had the nerve to accuse Quebec of dragging their feet and leaving federal money on the table. For…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, I want to begin by informing the House that Quebec is currently in mourning. We just learned of the death of Jean Lapointe, a great writer, composer, performer, actor and comedian who was very involved in society. On behalf of the Bloc Québécois, I want to extend my sincere condolences to his son, Jean-Marie, to his family, friends and loved ones, and to all Quebeckers. We will reme…
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Madam Speaker, I thank and congratulate my colleague for his speech. In the fall economic statement, the Minister of Finance reneges on a commitment she made in last spring's budget, which was to limit credit card fees for merchants. In the spring budget, she told us that she would introduce legislation and the issue would be dealt with this fall. However, now it has turned into a commitment to ta…
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his speech. In his speech and during questions and comments, the student loan measure was mentioned. The Bloc Québécois supports this measure because we see that it will help students in the rest of Canada. However, I would like to remind my colleague that Quebec is not part of that program because it already has its own loans and bursaries program that work…
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Madam Speaker, I thank the parliamentary secretary for his speech. He just went over the whole inflation problem. The word “inflation” appears in the fall economic update 108 times. We know that in contrast to the previous budget, there are no new measures. It is just a rehash. It uses different rhetoric to justify the same measures. The government is rightly concerned that a recession could hit t…
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Madam Speaker, if the minister is so very aware of the situation, he should cancel his decision. The federal government does not understand the implications of moving up the deadline by two years. Its job is to announce funding and show up at the ribbon-cutting when the work is done. The fact is, there is a labour shortage in the construction industry, contractors are fully booked, and most munici…
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Madam Speaker, I congratulate my colleague on his speech. I would like to talk to him about the rhetoric coming from the party in power. In the spring budget, the government said that the supply chain issue needed to be addressed, but no measure was proposed. In the fall economic statement, it is the same thing. It talks about supply chains, but no concrete measure is proposed to deal with the iss…
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