Government Orders
Madam Speaker, as we know, Bill C-59 is an omnibus bill that is nearly 550 pages long. It contains 60 different measures, about half of which are tax measures, and it amends or creates 31 acts and regulations. We studied this bill at length in committee. We raised various issues, and I think we managed to partially improve it. In my opinion, we made improvements in three areas. The first good thin…
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Madam Speaker, again, I want to acknowledge all the work done by my hon. colleague, the member for Vancouver Kingsway, on the Standing Committee on Finance. I was seriously impressed. During the study of this omnibus bill, he had obviously studied it thoroughly and presented several constructive amendments, the vast majority of which were adopted. That is the strength of a Parliament and a committ…
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Madam Speaker, at the end of my response, I will answer the crucial question of for or against. I understand that all my colleagues here are wondering about this. Given there is so much interest, I will keep the members in suspense. In committee, we manage to work collegially with my colleague from Vancouver Kingsway, but in my speech I also highlighted the important work and collaboration of the …
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Madam Speaker, I was not expecting such a lively debate tonight. I thank the hon. member for Vancouver Kingsway for his speech, and I congratulate him on the six amendments that he was able to get passed in committee. He touched on them briefly. I would like him to tell us more about that, but I will ask my question. There have been a lot of changes and improvements to the Competition Act, some of…
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Madam Speaker, in Bill C-59, there is a $17.8-billion tax credit that will help oil companies reduce their use of natural gas by financing the installation of small nuclear power plants to extract bitumen from the tar sands. The gas would then be exported to Asia, including from the LNG terminal in British Columbia. Does the member believe that this is an environmental plan to reduce our greenhous…
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Mr. Speaker, I am fortunate to work with my hon. colleague on the Standing Committee on Finance. He always has a thorough knowledge of the issues and makes constructive suggestions. I want to ask him about the amendment to the Competition Act. He referred to it in his speech. For years, the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry has been announcing a comprehensive reform. However, the reform…
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Madam Speaker, I want to make a comment. I thank the hon. member for Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan for the question of privilege that he raised. I commend the Speaker on his ruling and I welcome the motion that is being debated here. As the hon. member said, 18 elected members of Parliament, himself included, were targeted by foreign powers because they are elected members of the House. Foreign …
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for her very moving speech. Obviously, we welcome the Speaker's ruling, we support the motion and we hope that the committee will be able to address this important issue as soon as possible. Foreign powers are attacking elected members of the House. In so doing, they are attacking democracy. This is very serious. We must protect democracy, take care of it and a…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for his speech. I am truly sorry to learn that he, along with 17 other colleagues, was the target of attacks carried out by foreign powers. To me, that is unacceptable. As for the democratic system, we must fight to preserve it. Obviously we are in favour of the motion, and things need to change. My question for my colleague is the following. The parliamentary secre…
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Mr. Speaker, I ask for the consent of the House to have my vote on the amendment be counted as a yes.
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I thank the hon. member for New Westminster—Burnaby. Unfortunately, his time is up. We will move on to questions and comments. The hon. parliamentary secretary to the government House leader.
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The hon. member for Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier is rising on a point of order.
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I would ask for a bit of decorum in the House. I thank the hon. member for his point of order. Obviously, there is a difference between using that unflattering term to characterize a policy or a decision and using it to describe a person. That is how the Chair has interpreted the Standing Orders. I therefore invite the hon. member for New Westminster—Burnaby to continue his speech. The hon. member…
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The hon. member for Calgary Centre is rising on a point of order.
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I thank the hon. member for Calgary Centre for his intervention. However, that is a matter for debate. I invite the hon. member for New Westminster—Burnaby to continue his speech.
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The hon. member for Calgary Forest Lawn on a point of order.
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The hon. NDP House leader knows the rules of the House. He cannot say who is present in the House and who is not. He has a few seconds left to finish his answer.
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Questions and comments, the hon. member for Nepean.
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Mr. Speaker, I just want to set the record straight. My colleague spoke about hunting rifles. The Bloc Québécois has never been in favour of the list, which did not make any sense. We were the first to speak out against that. I would like to remind the House and my colleague that, when it comes to firearms, the Bloc Québécois's position is by far the most responsible one, at least in my opinion. W…
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Mr. Speaker, yesterday, the National Assembly unanimously adopted a historic motion: ...it denounces the refusal of the New Democratic Party, the Conservative Party of Canada and the Liberal Party of Canada to uphold the principle of respect for Quebec's jurisdictions and to grant Quebec the right to opt out with full compensation... This is the first time that the National Assembly has unanimousl…
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Mr. Speaker, a unanimous motion by the National Assembly of Quebec is historic. Canada's Liberals have been denounced by their Liberal allies in Quebec. The NDP has been denounced by Québec solidaire. The Conservatives have not been denounced by their ally Éric Duhaime because he has no members. Quebeckers do not vote Conservative. However, the Conservatives were also unanimously condemned by the …
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Mr. Speaker, whether it be in health care, housing, or other areas, in this budget, the federal government wants to dictate to Quebeckers how to run Quebec. By refusing to amend the budget, the Liberal Party, the Conservative Party and the NDP, the three parties, have proven that they want to exert control over Quebec. However, the unanimous response from the Quebec National Assembly yesterday was…
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Is that agreed?
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Madam Speaker, in their budget, the Liberals like to illustrate their measures with tangible examples of fictitious citizens. Let us give them a dose of their own medicine so that they can understand what seniors are going through. Rose is 72 and is hard hit by inflation. She cannot afford groceries anymore and cannot drive places because of the price of gas. Her taxes skyrocketed after the latest…
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Madam Speaker, there is not a penny more for seniors in the budget. Let us talk about housing. Imagine a Quebecker who is looking for a one-bedroom apartment in July but cannot afford the $1,600 in rent. He does not have access to affordable housing because the federal government has invested only 6% of the money in Quebec. He sees in the budget that the federal government is putting off 96% of it…
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Is the House ready for the question?
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The question is on the motion. If a member participating in person wishes that the motion be carried or carried on division, or if a member of a recognized party participating in person wishes to request a recorded division, I would invite them to rise and indicate it to the Chair.
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Pursuant to Standing Order 45, the recorded division stands deferred until Monday, April 29, at the expiry of the time provided for Oral Questions. The hon. Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the House of Commons.
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Is it agreed?
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Madam Speaker, with its latest budget, the federal government has launched an unprecedented attack against Quebec and the provinces' powers. We saw it coming with the striptease leading up to the budget, when the Prime Minister, worthy successor of Pierre Elliott Trudeau, proclaimed that Canadians did not care about jurisdictional matters. Although the federal government has always tried to centra…
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleagues for actively listening to my speech—
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Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned, the erosion of Quebec's autonomy, and of Quebeckers' ability to make their own choices, is a strong trend. I quoted the Institute for Research on Public Policy, a Canada-wide research group based in Ottawa, which found last June that “the present trend is toward a more directive use of the spending power”, and that “the degree of federal-provincial collaboration in def…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Nepean for his multi-pronged question. First, we recognize that the federal debt-to-GDP ratio is among the best, except that goes back to what the Parliamentary Budget Officer said. Members will recall that, in the 1990s, the federal government solved its debt problem by increasing the fiscal imbalance, or in other words, by reducing transfers to the provinces. …
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Mr. Speaker, first of all, it will be up to Quebeckers to decide who represents them in the next election, as they have done in every other election. That is how it works. We set a very clear criterion to determine whether we vote with or against the government: When it is good for Quebec, we vote in favour, and when it is not good for Quebec, we vote against. It is that simple. Between the two, t…
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Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my new colleague on the Standing Committee on Finance. It will be a pleasure to work with him, I am sure. Obviously, there are many major health care needs. Yes, I would like to know that everyone who needs medication can get it. Quebec has a partial prescription drug insurance plan; it has limited coverage for people who do not have access to private insurance…
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question and for sharing his outlook with us. I agree with him completely. Before I talk about housing, I will speak to infrastructure. The municipalities are asking us whether Ottawa is finally going to renew the gas tax and Quebec's contribution program, or TECQ, and distribute the funds, with no strings attached, on a per capita basis. When the dollar…
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Mr. Speaker, the Liberal budget does not just mark the end of respect for jurisdictions. It also marks the end of competent policy management. Ottawa is imposing its priorities everywhere, without even knowing whether that is a good idea. It is calling for the construction of 40-storey apartment buildings next to schools in neighbourhoods where it has never set foot. It is meddling in the training…
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Mr. Speaker, we are against jurisdictional interference. If the Liberals want to be involved in Quebec politics, they should run for the Quebec Liberal Party. Otherwise, there is no shortage of work for them to do at the federal level. We want them to transfer the housing money now so we can build homes now instead of negotiating until 2025. We want them to get rid of the old age pension's two cla…
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Mr. Speaker, I want to begin by saying that I am using a House-approved stand microphone that cannot be seen on the screen. I want to congratulate and thank my colleague and friend, the member for Elmwood—Transcona. I want to recognize his commitment to the most noble reason for going into politics and that is helping people, especially members of the working class, and making their lives better. …
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Madam Speaker, I would like to thank the member for Bay of Quinte for introducing Bill C-365. As surprising as it may be, this is the first time we have had the opportunity to debate open finance in the House. Even the Standing Committee on Finance has never addressed this issue. So far, the discussion has been largely left to the experts and industry representatives. All the fine people at the De…
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We will count the members. And the count having been taken: We now have quorum. Resuming debate. The hon. member can continue his speech. He has 15 minutes remaining in his time.
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I am sorry to interrupt the hon. member. We are way over time. The hon. parliamentary secretary on a point of order.
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Madam Speaker, I would first like to ask for unanimous consent to share my time with my colleague and friend, the member for Montcalm, who is a leading expert on this subject.
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Madam Speaker, medical assistance in dying is a topic as crucial as it is sensitive. By choosing to delay debate for three years, the Liberal government is aligning itself with the Conservatives, with the blessing of the NDP, to ensure this debate will never happen again. That is highly irresponsible. The Bloc Québécois was in favour of a one-year delay, but three years pushes it to after the next…
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Madam Speaker, I would like to say two things. First, there is unanimous consensus in Quebec. All parties in the Quebec National Assembly voted to pass a law, but it has no force or effect because it is being blocked. Quebec is asking that its law be aligned with the Criminal Code so it can come into effect in Quebec alone. That is what we are asking. It is not complicated. The government tells us…
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Madam Speaker, from my perspective and that of my party, the substance of Bill C-62 is to ensure that we never discuss this again. By choosing to extend the exclusion by three years, there could well be a Conservative government, possibly a majority government, in power. I would be amazed if that government chose to follow up and move in the same direction. Let me remind my hon. colleague that Can…
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Madam Speaker, I recognize that the member voted with the Bloc Québécois for advance requests, but I deplore the fact that he was the only one from his party to do so. This demonstrates the rift that exists between Quebec and the rest of Canada on this issue. It is deplorable. I deplore the fact that the member could not convince his entire caucus to vote with us. I recognize the importance of tak…
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Madam Speaker, I request a recorded division.
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Mr. Speaker, it is always good to see you in the chair. Thank you for that. I also want to thank the hon. chief government whip for her speech and her open-mindedness on this issue. Earlier, the member for Argenteuil—La Petite-Nation mentioned the importance of having the choice to publish papers in either language, French or English. The problem is that there are very few scientific publications …
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Madam Speaker, this is a very important bill. The 2017 agreement, which was essentially negotiated by Stephen Harper's Conservative government, was mostly about extending a hand of friendship to Ukraine in the wake of the 2014 Russian invasion. As members know, the negotiations ended in the summer of 2015, just before the election, but the agreement was signed by the current government during the …
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