Government Orders
Madam Speaker, it is not complicated. We have been in a housing crisis for several years now. Housing prices have skyrocketed, and people no longer have access to home ownership. There are not enough condos, apartments or houses. More importantly, there is a huge shortage of social housing. The most vulnerable people are making immense sacrifices to find housing, often in unacceptable conditions. …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his comment and question. In the most recent budget, the government committed to keep the deficit at just $78 billion this year. That is double Justin Trudeau's deficits and makes him look positively frugal. The government is saying that it is going to make cuts to the public service, that it is going to cut 40,000 jobs, which is huge. We are still waiting a…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, the need is great. There is a crisis, so yes, urgent action is needed. We are asking the federal government and the Quebec government to come to an agreement. They signed an MOU. They seem to be in agreement. I want to make sure that the areas of jurisdiction are respected. Why? It is because we want the federal government to do a good job in its own areas of jurisdiction, which it …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague and friend for her question. This is an ongoing issue. We have seen it. In this case, we are talking about Build Canada Homes. What will the delays be? The government must take quick action, in collaboration with Quebec through a memorandum of understanding, so that every dollar voted in the budget gets out the door as quickly as possible. We know that the cost …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his insightful comments. The government's intention is to create a new structure to reduce red tape and bureaucracy and to consolidate services that were scattered across various departments and agencies. Like my colleague, I am cautious. Will the government really succeed in simplifying the process and reducing bureaucracy? That remains to be seen. Given th…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague and friend for his speech that revolved around social justice and responsibility. In his speech, he spoke about the Canadian federal government's backtracking in recent years in terms of protecting human rights. In his response to the parliamentary secretary, he provided the example of Jimmy Lai. Can my colleague provide us with other examples of this backtracki…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, the motion calls on the government to “bar non-citizens convicted of serious crimes from making refugee claims”. However, it seems to overlook the existence of political refugees, people falsely accused of committing criminal acts by corrupt authoritarian regimes. If adopted as is, the motion would prevent someone like Raif Badawi from joining his family in Canada. That is why the Imm…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I am increasingly concerned about the parliamentary secretary's growing anger. I have had the honour of serving with him for just over a decade. Instead of talking about the motion, he is saying that the government is unable to move its legislative agenda forward as it would like. He is talking as though the government has a majority, when, as we know, this is a minority government. T…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask my hon. colleague whether he thinks that political refugees who have been convicted in their country should be excluded from the motion.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, obviously, the Bloc Québécois strongly supports this measure. It will help those who need it. I have two questions for my colleague. First, this measure will cost nearly $12 billion over six years, and the first payment will cost $3.1 billion. Why did the government not think to include this in the budget it tabled just three months ago? We want to have a clear picture of public finan…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, of course, we support this measure, which targets the people who need it most. However, I have two questions. First, why not make the payment monthly? Receiving the payment every three months could cause some people to accumulate credit card debt for three months, and they would have to pay interest on that. If they received a cheque every month, that could reduce the interest they pa…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I have two questions for the member. The government is proposing a measure that we welcome and support because it will really help people, but it is going to cost a lot of money. Why did the government not include that measure in the budget that was tabled just a few months ago so that we could see the overall fiscal plan? We were already talking about a $78-billion deficit. This meas…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, my question is this: When the government implements measures like this one to reduce the tax burden, does my colleague prefer measures that target people with lower incomes, meaning those who need it most, or does he prefer measures that help everyone, such as the tax cut that was announced in Bill C-5 and included in the budget? Speaking of which, what does my colleague think about t…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Mirabel for his eloquent speech. He addressed a number of topics related to the bill. I would like to hear his thoughts on a few things. First, he pointed out that we are in a kind of oligopoly when it comes to food retailers. He noted that their numbers have declined over the past few decades. How is that putting pressure on people's grocery bills? Second, t…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his speech. I would also like to thank him for sponsoring this bill. As we know, people who work in health services and as first responders do essential work. As we see in the media, they are increasingly facing acts of violence. I have a lot of family members who are paramedics, and they have talked to me about this. My friend Louis-Olivier Roussin, the ope…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I am quite surprised by the response that was just given. Rather than competing to see who is the best cheerleader for the oil industry, we should be considering the wide variety of measures that can be implemented to reduce inflation. My Liberal colleague shared a few of them, and I will share some others. What does my hon. colleague have to say about the labour shortage in the food …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask my colleague a question about food production costs and the labour shortage in the agri-food sector. What is his government proposing to address this shortage? There is also the issue of climate change, which is causing floods, droughts and wildfires, all of which have a direct impact on food production in this country. The government recently backtracked on many o…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, going by the calendar on the Table, I see that it is February 3, but it sure feels like February 2, Groundhog Day, because this is yet another Conservative opposition day dedicated to talking about the carbon tax, even though the government eliminated the consumer portion. The motion also deals with groceries, so I would like to ask my colleague about two things. The government introd…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, a few decades ago, we had 13 grocery chains and now we are down to three. That number goes up to five if we include Walmart and Costco. In other words, we are dealing with an oligopoly. In the last Parliament, the government enhanced the powers of the Competition Bureau, not necessarily to bring more players into the sector, but to prevent future mergers or acquisitions. The Governor …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I congratulate my colleague and friend on his very interesting speech. He always shares such insightful thoughts with us in the House. We are in favour in principle of having an agreement with Indonesia. We must continue to diversify markets, but, as he said, the United States is still our main partner, so we will have to continue to negotiate and trade with it. I want to ask my colle…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I thank and congratulate my colleague and friend for his speech. He is truly an expert on matters of international trade. He has depth and a strong, confident philosophy. A few hours ago, the Liberals and a majority of the Conservatives voted against a Bloc Québécois bill on the prior review of treaties by Parliament. He touched on this in his speech, but I would like to ask him the f…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Mr. Speaker, first of all, I want to reiterate how sensitive my party and I are to violence against women and their children. We must work tirelessly to ensure that all women and children can thrive in a safe environment at all times. A woman was killed in the north of my riding recently and I am quite shaken up by it. This has to stop. The bill under consideration seeks to remove parental alienat…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, first, I wish to inform the House that I am going to be splitting my time with my colleague and friend, the member from Repentigny. Were it not for the calendar on the clerks' table, I would have thought that today was February 2, Groundhog Day. Why? Because today is a Conservative opposition day and, as they have done a hundred times before, they are proposing cutting environmental…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, obviously, that aspect is appalling and unacceptable. These are just more examples of backsliding in environmental action. What I find even more appalling is the current government's backtracking on all the measures that Justin Trudeau's government had put in place over the past 10 years to protect the environment. Why is this government backtracking so much? Also, why did my hon. c…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, it is very disturbing indeed. What this shows is that we are in a petro-state. I spoke of a cheerleading competition. It offends me to hear talk of Canadian sovereignty when the oil sands industry is owned by foreign interests, most of them American. Are these really sovereignty-enhancing policies? As for the environment, I would like to remind the House that the current member for …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, this is the kind of measure that I feel is very effective in helping to combat poverty and address inflation among those who need it most. It is a very effective, direct measure that will truly help people. It proves that we are capable of agreeing with the government on some issues. However, I am disappointed that the minority government is not seeking support from another party in…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, first, I would like to congratulate my colleague and friend for his incredible demonstration of how the Liberal Party's backtracking on environmental measures shows that we have two parties that are two sides of the same coin. Almost everything that today's motion calls for has already been done by the current Liberal government or is in the process of being done. I would like to as…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, according to the World Bank's data, there are 73 carbon pricing mechanisms in 53 countries. Out of all these mechanisms and countries, only one has been walked back, and it was done by the current government. We also see that the current Prime Minister and the new government have scrapped almost all of the environmental protection measures that Justin Trudeau's government had adopted …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I would remind my colleague that the European Union adopted a carbon border adjustment mechanism in 2023, which took effect on January 1 of this year. The United Kingdom has passed similar legislation that will apply as of January 1, 2027. The concern here is that, if Canada were to eliminate its carbon pricing, Canadian exports to Europe would be subject to tariffs to compensate for …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his very detailed speech. I would like him to elaborate on one point he raised. If an innovation—
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, my understanding is that, if a company gets a grant to develop an innovation and then sells that innovation to foreign interests, the company has to pay back a portion of the grant. I would like my colleague to elaborate on that. To his knowledge, which countries already apply the kind of measure he referred to in his speech?
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for her very interesting speech. She spoke at length about the importance of working with first nations. She also acknowledged that we are on unceded territory. The Assembly of First Nations is calling on the government to withdraw from its memorandum of understanding with Alberta to build a pipeline. However, the government has said that it will consult with firs…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the gentleman who seems upset. The Liberals chose to fly solo. The people elected a minority government. The government tabled a budget without seeking the support of another party to get a majority of votes in the House. The same thing goes for Bill C-15. The other opposition parties chose to let the budget move on to the next step so as not to trigger an election,…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I want to sincerely thank my colleague from Berthier—Maskinongé, who is also my whip and my friend, for his speech. In his speech, he spoke candidly, frankly and with an open heart about how we, as parliamentarians, could work better together in the House and in committee. He concluded his speech by saying that we could create a virtuous circle by showing more respect for one another …
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I would like to pick up where my colleague from Rivière-du-Nord left off. He said that we proposed an amendment to Bill C-9 so that the religious exemption could no longer be invoked for hate speech. The Liberal Party was in favour of that amendment at one point, but that no longer seems to be the case. My colleague therefore asked the government representative a question, and she rep…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I believe the document the parliamentary secretary is referring to is House of Commons Procedure and Practice, the fourth edition of which was just published. On a more serious note, I am no longer a permanent member of the Standing Committee on Finance, but I stood in for my colleague from Mirabel today. I witnessed over two hours of filibustering, including an hour and a half from t…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, Jean-Claude Germain passed away earlier this year, leaving behind a stir of words, stories and laughter that still buzz in our ears to this day. Two weeks ago, he was given a warm and colourful tribute at the Centre du Théâtre d'aujourd'hui. Playwright, screenwriter, writer, journalist, lyricist, historian and so much more: with Germain, the labels jostled for position like actors in …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, we need to be frank and clear-eyed. Instead of tabling its budget last spring after the election, the Liberal government chose to table it this fall. Why? It simply was not ready back then. This budget clearly reveals the new Prime Minister's policy orientation: a big deficit and Conservative policies. Let us look at the facts. Two measures dominate this budget: massive military spend…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the parliamentary secretary for her question. I have the pleasure of working with her on housing needs. I would invite her to go back and read the report that the Parliamentary Budget Officer released this morning. The report says that basically, what has been presented so far regarding Build Canada Homes shows that it is an empty shell and will do nothing to mee…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague and friend from Mirabel for his remarks. This is obviously troubling and very worrisome for the health of democracy. Earlier, I pointed out that this is a minority government. Normally, a minority government tries to talk to the other parties in order to build a majority in the House and to move bills and the legislative agenda forward. What we have here is a gove…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, what I take away from the Parliamentary Budget Officer's report is that this will not meet the needs in housing. I acknowledge that the parliamentary secretary is talking about affordable housing. I would like us to talk more about social housing or non-market housing. In the past few years, we have seen that when the government introduces programs for affordable housing, the funding …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, roughly halfway through the nearly 650 pages that make up Bill C‑15, there is a hidden amendment that gives any government minister the power to exempt any company from any federal law, other than the Criminal Code, for a period of three years. Bloc Québécois members find this very disturbing. What does my hon. colleague think?
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, philanthropy is the quiet force that lifts society up. It is a living connection between liberty and fraternity, between the individual and the community. It reminds us that the greatness of a people is measured not only by its laws and institutions, but also by the generosity of its members. November 15 was a day for remembering a certain truth, that philanthropy is hope in action. T…
Read full speech →Government Orders
I would like to remind the hon. member that we cannot refer to people by name, but rather by title. The hon. member.
Read full speech →Government Orders
I would ask members to observe decorum in the House. The hon. member for Repentigny.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the hon. member for Shefford and congratulate her on her excellent speech. I would like her to tell us more about what our party, the Bloc Québécois, has put forward. I would also like her to talk about the concerns she raised in her speech in relation to the Jordan decision.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, organizations that support people experiencing homelessness have expressed concerns about the funding for the community encampment response plan. What we understand from reading the budget is that the amount allocated for 2024-26 will not be renewed and that there will be no increase in funding to help organizations. However, we know that this is a serious problem. Can the hon. parl…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, the government announced in the budget that it was eliminating the tax on web giants. That could well be included in the budget implementation bill. This tax was supposed to make up for the fact that these web giants pay no income tax. It was announced two years ago. Earlier this summer, the Prime Minister announced that he was scrapping the tax in order to secure a trade agreement …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his speech and for the eloquent answer he just gave. I want to go back to the issue of the deficit announced in the budget, which is $78 billion this year. The government is saying that this includes so much investment that it is no longer calculating the deficit the way it did in the past. When we look at the details, we see, for example, the Parliamentary …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, does the hon. member recognize that, in the budget, the government is taking away one-time health transfers and returning the transfers to Stephen Harper's level of 3% per year? It is a well-known fact that costs are increasing by 6% a year. All Quebec governments, regardless of party affiliation, have asked for a 6% escalator in transfers, and the federal government has refused. Does…
Read full speech →