Government Orders
Madam Speaker, the government members are talking about a tax for the super-rich. In 2015, shortly after being elected, this government offered what it politely called a tax cut for the middle class. In reality, Canadians whose taxable income was between $90,000 and $230,000 are the ones who benefited. Can my colleague tell me whether we can still trust the Liberal Party when it comes to taking ca…
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Madam Speaker, as I listen to my Conservative colleagues, something is bugging me. They are saying that their constituents like low gas prices, but the oil companies like high gas prices, because the cost structure of these companies means that they are only profitable when the price of oil goes up. Could my colleague please clarify the following: Do Albertans like expensive oil or cheap oil?
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Madam Speaker, the last two government members who spoke talked to us about the monetary policy framework and tried to reassure us by telling us that there are still two years of higher inflation ahead before it goes back down to 2%. Let me do the math for my colleague. If we include energy and food, inflation was 6% last year. If that percentage stays the same this year and the next before going …
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Madam Speaker, I have said this before. Taxing different businesses fairly means subjecting them to similar tax treatment. Right now, banks are not subject to similar tax treatment. That is what we need to change in the field of banking services. Some Conservatives could use a course in economics, and I am prepared to give one in the lobby. Not all taxes are passed directly on to consumers. It dep…
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Madam Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for his speech. He did a good job outlining the cost of the paperwork that would result from this new tax increase. How many public servants does he think it will take to change a five to an eight on a tax return?
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague gave a brilliant speech about the federal government's proposed interference into provincial jurisdictions. Not only would this create a precedent, but it also seems as though the way the tax is designed, how it will be applied and collected, will not do much to help with the housing shortage. I have to wonder whether the federal government should be using other methods, …
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Mr. Speaker, what I find funny is that the Liberals are telling us that it was in their platform. I am stunned that they have not read their own platform, because I can assure them that we would have noticed. Nothing is more permanent than a temporary little tax. This will have long-lasting effects and will likely be expanded. We should all be as concerned as my colleague from Joliette.
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Mr. Speaker, earlier, my colleague from Joliette said that an amendment proposed by the Bloc Québécois to Bill C-8 was rejected. What does my colleague from Cowichan—Malahat—Langford think of our proposal that the federal government consult the provinces before infringing on areas under their exclusive jurisdiction? The Bloc Québécois is very concerned about housing. We have made a lot of suggesti…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague who so ably talked about the federal immunization campaign. I notice that the federal government is far from being immunized against encroachments into areas of provincial taxation. Under the Constitution, taxation was originally the direct jurisdiction of the provinces, and the only area of taxation for which jurisdiction and the spirit of the Constitution are st…
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Mr. Speaker, it is always a pleasure to see you, especially since we will be closing out the week together. Thank you for recognizing me. Today, we are debating Bill C-8, which contains a number of budget measures, which we support for the most part. The Bloc Québécois is a party that proposes and supports measures that are in Quebec's interest. This bill includes several standard elements and fun…
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Mr. Speaker, my constituents and I certainly are worried about the price of gas and the price of many other things. This is further proof that we must accelerate the energy transition. Naturally, someone who has no need for gas or whose gas consumption is decreasing is less affected by this price increase. Unfortunately, the price of oil is being affected by geopolitics and the war in Ukraine. How…
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Mr. Speaker, I agree with my colleague that more health care funding is needed. I think that the government needs to unconditionally increase health transfers to cover 35% of system costs. I do want to make a small correction. I am very concerned about the federal government interfering in provincial jurisdictions and, in many respects, I do not agree with the NDP's proposed funding method, which …
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Mr. Speaker, I really enjoyed reading my hon. colleague's bill. It is very interesting. The intention is sincere, and it could be impactful. Kudos to my colleague, and I thank him. This bill talks about concentration in the economy and the importance of diversifying the economy. As we know, having an extremely concentrated economy primarily in the provinces that produce very polluting resources ha…
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Madam Speaker, from what I understand, the Conservative motion is suggesting that we can resolve a dependence problem by creating a new dependence. That seems about as logical as having a Liberal lead the Conservatives. To me, the government's position is less clear. To date, the government has invested $20 billion of public funding into a pipeline that even the private sector did not want. Can th…
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Madam Speaker, in listening to my colleague's speech, I noticed that the Conservative talking point today is that energy policy is part of foreign policy. I see it another way: Are the Conservatives not using foreign policy to benefit their oil?
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Mr. Speaker, if this was not such a serious issue, I would almost be amused by the childishness of the Liberals and the Conservatives. Personally, I find it doubly important that the membership of the committee be unanimous, because we need this committee to be as legitimate as possible given the context. Another reason why I think that is important is that a precedent has already been set in this…
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his bill. It is important that we take a health-based approach. That is obviously the Quebec government's approach. However, we know very well that this approach cannot be funded through good intentions alone. I would like to know exactly which section of the bill proposes to increase unconditional health transfers to the provinces so that the Canada health …
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Madam Speaker, earlier I was sure I was lost. I walked into the House and then turned around and left because I was sure I had walked into a day care centre. I did come back eventually, though. We in the Bloc Québécois do not care who the chair is. The important thing is that the work begins, but especially that there is a consensus on the formation of the committee. That is the most important thi…
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague from Winnipeg North knows how much I appreciate him, and I know he feels the same way. I can understand why he was confused about the Bloc Québécois's support for the emergency measures. We supported the idea of taking the appropriate measures at the right time and in accordance with provincial and federal jurisdictions. For more than three weeks, we were suggesting solut…
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Madam Speaker, many NDP members have said that they are uncomfortable with the Emergencies Act and have even indicated that they might vote differently if there were no trucks left today. When faced with the threat that the NDP would vote according to its conscience, the Prime Minister announced that this would be a confidence vote. That means that, today, there are no more parliamentary safeguard…
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Madam Speaker, the Prime Minister, the only Liberal member who has the right to speak freely, just turned what should have been a vote of conscience into a vote of confidence. We can see from our discussions with the Liberal members that many of them are uncomfortable with these extreme measures now that the truckers are gone. Could my colleague set aside what she thinks and the speech she just ga…
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Madam Speaker, during the debates of the past few days, which I diligently attended, Liberal MPs have mentioned that the application of the Emergencies Act was necessary for the police force of Quebec, the Sûreté du Québec, to be present in Ottawa. I looked into this over the past two days, and this appears to be false. It is enough to swear them in, which has been done in the past. If the Emergen…
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Madam Speaker, I will start by commending my colleague for his political courage. The member started his speech by talking about our individual responsibilities as legislators in this evening's vote. By making this a confidence vote, the Prime Minister is doing two things. First, he is preventing members of his own caucus, like the member himself, from voting according to their conscience. Second,…
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Madam Speaker, the Liberal member who just spoke criticized the opposition by saying that if everyone had worked together, we would not find ourselves in this position today. I am astonished. I would like my colleague to tell us how many proposals and suggestions have been made in the past three weeks by the opposition parties, including the Bloc Québécois, so we would not find ourselves in this p…
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Madam Speaker, we are told that some demonstrators were planning to overthrow the government. I just had a look around outside and was able to see the state of things. I would like the member to tell me one thing: Of the zero trucks parked outside, how many are planning to overthrow the government?
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Madam Speaker, the Bloc Québécois has never sanctioned what has been happening in the streets of Ottawa. These are reprehensible acts. On behalf of the Bloc Québécois, I want to commend the law enforcement officers who have done excellent work and who finally got the resources they needed today to respond adequately. The problem is that this should have been done a long time ago. The problem is th…
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Madam Speaker, this is the first time this act has been used since 1988, since it came into force. Despite this, in response to the friend from the NDP—
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Madam Speaker, I had the honour of having the member for Kingston and the Islands as my municipal councillor and mayor when I was doing my Ph.D. at Queen's University. Every year, Kingston's Homecoming event attracts thousands of people who overturn police cars, commit crimes and turn the city upside down. Police from Toronto, Brockville, Kingston and Cornwall and mounted police are on duty. From …
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Madam Speaker, I hope you will allow me to forgo my colleague's little lesson on logic. Security experts are telling us that communication is the most important tool in such operations. For two to three weeks, we asked that a crisis task force be set up and that the minister conduct briefings. The Liberals did not make a decision about that. They do not make decisions. The Ottawa police chief told…
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Madam Speaker, we were just talking about logic. According to the convoluted logic of the member's question, when there is a protest or when someone does not like the government, regardless of the threat level, the organization involved or the government's inaction, the solution is the worst, most radical option, the very last resort. We never supported the things that went on in the street. We ne…
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Madam Speaker, my colleague spoke about the consequences of the blockades. In the world I live in, the real word, we have the Criminal Code, municipal bylaws, the highway safety code and the ability to call in other police forces. There are provisions in the Criminal Code to combat hate crimes. Is my colleague aware that all of these laws applied before the emergency declaration was made? I would …
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Madam Speaker, I will give her a chance to respond. This is the first time that this legislation has been used since it came into force in 1988. In answer to his NDP buddies earlier, the parliamentary secretary to the minister said that this did not set a precedent. My question for the member is this: How is it possible not to set a precedent when this is the first time that such draconian legisla…
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Madam Speaker, my colleagues just talked about foreign financing and made many references to the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada, or FINTRAC. There are two scenarios being advanced. The first is that FINTRAC can get the job done and that there was no need to declare a state of emergency. The second is that FINTRAC is underfunded and understaffed and that this governmen…
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Mr. Speaker, we do not see eye to eye with the Conservative Party on a lot of things, but the Bloc Québécois believes that the fundamental role of the opposition is to monitor what the government does. Slips of the tongue can be quite revealing. Earlier today, the NDP member for Esquimalt—Saanich—Sooke said something like, this act “gives us the power as a government” to take action. I would like …
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Madam Speaker, earlier the member for Lac-Saint-Louis told us that the opposition does not get it, and that the government did not control the police services, as if there was no middle ground between controlling the police services and taking action, as if the only option left was to use the emergency measures. How is it that the Ottawa chief of police asked for 1,800 RCMP officers? How is it tha…
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Madam Speaker, we agree the situation is serious. The problem is, for over two weeks, only the opposition parties recognized it as an emergency. The Prime Minister failed in his duty to use tools that were available to him before. Quebeckers and Canadians deserve better. I would like to know if the hon. minister is proud to be seated next to a last-resort Prime Minister.
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Madam Speaker, my colleague did say that her government would not let these events tarnish Canada's reputation. The flag that she holds so dear has now become a global symbol of the far right movement and chaos. I would like to know, given that her speech seems to have been written three weeks ago, if my hon. colleague is getting help with her agenda.
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Mr. Speaker, earlier, in criticizing the bill, the member for Perth—Wellington compared it to Groundhog Day. If memory serves, when the groundhog woke up on September 21, the composition of Parliament was the same, or almost the same, as it is today. I would like the member for Trois-Rivières, an expert in ethics issues and legitimacy, to tell us how legitimate this bill still is and whether this …
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Mr. Speaker, if I understand correctly what the minister said, the payment will be made only in July because the calculation is updated in July. If I were to accept this explanation, I would have to ask the minister why the correction was not made last July given that the Bloc Québécois finance critic pointed out the problem to the government in April 2020. Why did the government decide to trigger…
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Mr. Speaker, the Bloc Québécois recognizes the merits of Bill C‑12. We know that it is an error that will be corrected. Nevertheless, we also would have liked to propose amendments to this bill. I know that the parliamentary secretary mentioned that the bill is only five lines long. I would like to know if the parliamentary secretary is aware that the word “March” is only five letters long and cou…
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Mr. Speaker, when we suggested some improvements to the short Bill C‑12, I heard some Liberal Party members talk about how making improvements is partisan. That explains a lot. I am starting to understand them more. I can be slow to catch on, so I would appreciate it if my colleague could explain why, after seniors have endured 21 months of reduced benefits, it is partisan to ask for the payment t…
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Madam Speaker, I believe you have the wrong riding and you meant to recognize the hon. member for Trois-Rivières.
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Madam Speaker, a society is judged by the way it treats those who built it. If the motion as moved is adopted, low-income seniors will have gone an entire year without their most significant source of income. The Liberal government deserves to be harshly judged for that. To receive the guaranteed income supplement, a person needs to have worked and to be retired. The people whose GIS payments have…
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Madam Speaker, if the member was a sovereignist like me, he would know that I commented extensively on the Quebec pension plan at the Caisse de dépôt et placement. I think he is getting mixed up. If he would like to cross over to this side of the House and support sovereignty, I invite him to do so. In 2015, the members opposite boasted about reducing the retirement age from 67 to 65 years of age.…
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Madam Speaker, generally speaking, the policy is problematic in terms of transparency and understanding. It is very difficult for seniors and many other people to understand certain rules. We need to recognize that. As I said in my speech, when many intelligent people have a hard time understanding a rule, it could mean that the policy is not properly designed and needs more work. I think we shoul…
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Madam Speaker, the answer is yes, absolutely. Another member made that point earlier. It is always hard to get money from Ottawa, except for the banks. Certain government offices need to be more available to seniors and vulnerable people, rather than to Bay Street.
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Madam Speaker, we are talking about people with limited access to the Internet, but in general, I would say that it is important to take care of all seniors. As I said before, these people gave their all. They built our communities. They are active members of society. They are still involved. They deserve all the help they can get.
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Madam Speaker, as I said earlier, we met with the minister about 21 months ago to fix the guaranteed income supplement problem. Then the Liberal government decided to call an election. After the election, it decided not to recall Parliament, not to sit, essentially. Can my colleague explain that problem? Why would the government have done that? I am having a hard time understanding.
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Mr. Speaker, this debate is about Bill C-8. I am wondering if my colleague from Carleton is off topic.
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Madam Speaker, the Bloc Québécois has always been an ally of the taxpayer in the fight against tax evasion. When it comes to funding health care, I would like to point out that we heard the Minister of Health across the way tell us about the pandemic and say that suddenly there was money and commitment, but only when the solution was temporary. For a permanent solution there is never one cent. It …
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