Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, as our colleague likely knows, education falls under provincial jurisdiction. If he wants to talk about education and how to protect children in the Quebec school system, then he should talk to the Government of Quebec. The House of Commons is not really the proper forum for talking about such issues.
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Mr. Speaker, knowing how to count helps. One, two, three, four, five, six affordable housing units; that is all the Conservative leader built across the country during his entire career as minister responsible for housing. There are 8,000 affordable housing units being built right now in Quebec thanks to the $2-billion agreement we have with the Quebec government. Several hundred of those affordab…
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Mr. Speaker, the question was indeed irrelevant, but here is one that is relevant. Why does the member not speak for himself? Why does he not speak for his constituents and for the other Conservative members from Quebec? The Conservative leader claims that the affordable housing being built in his riding and in other Conservative ridings does not exist. He says that housing projects do not exist, …
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Mr. Speaker, unity and connection are exactly what the Canadian federation encourages. That is why in Canada, including Quebec, we are proud to be part of a united country that defends the right and freedom of each and every person to do what they think is best for them. Once again, the Quebec government has jurisdiction over education. I invite our colleague to ask good questions not here, but at…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Ottawa—Vanier for her excellent question. Indeed, the Conservative leader is very inconsistent. He says he wants to cut taxes, yet he voted against the tax break last week. He says he is against the Canadian dental care plan, which helps three million Canadians. The dental plan clearly exists, yet he says it does not. He is against social housing because he s…
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for raising an issue that brings the House together. We all have the right, and I would even say the responsibility, to support all the initiatives that we can, as the Canadian government, in order to encourage inclusivity and growth in a great country where diversity has been our strength and pride for many years. We are working with the Quebec gove…
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Mr. Speaker, on the contrary, we love accountability and that is why we thank the Auditor General for all of her work. She did a solid job, and it is important to acknowledge that this morning. It is also important to acknowledge that when the pandemic hit, the only thing the Conservatives wanted to do, according to the Leader of the Opposition, was cut corporate taxes in the hope that corporation…
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Mr. Speaker, as our colleague is well aware, our relationship with the United States is our most important relationship of all in terms of security and the economy. We have been working very well together for years, for decades. That is also what we have done over the past several years. My colleague knows full well that, just 18 months ago, we signed a new safe third country agreement that the Un…
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Mr. Speaker, our colleague is talking about control, jurisdiction and confidence. I just answered his question a few moments ago. One thing that is within his control is asking for his security clearance to protect himself from his own blatant incompetence. He is incapable of protecting himself and his own MPs. That creates a confidence issue. The confidence of Parliament and the confidence of Can…
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Mr. Speaker, our colleague is well aware that the relationship with the United States is the most important relationship that we have when it comes to economic and border security. That is why, for many decades now, we have been working actively and constructively with the Americans. That is what we have done in recent years, particularly with President-elect Trump's previous administration. The P…
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Mr. Speaker, let us talk about incompetence. The Conservative leader built not one, two, three, four or five, but six affordable housing units across the whole country during his entire mandate. That is the definition of incompetence. Today, there are hundreds of affordable housing units being built, including some in our colleague's riding. The bad news is that not only does the Conservative lead…
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Mr. Speaker, let us talk about what is sad and what is responsible. It is indeed very sad that our Conservative colleagues from Quebec have been muzzled by their leader. They are not allowed to come visit the hundreds of affordable housing units that we are building in their ridings. They are being hidden by their Conservative leader. That is irresponsible. These MPs are unable to defend their com…
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Mr. Speaker, is my colleague familiar with Guillaume-Couture Boulevard in her riding? Through a housing project on Guillaume-Couture Boulevard, 100 affordable housing units are now being built for seniors. My colleague talks about incompetence. The incompetent one is her Conservative leader, who claims that these affordable housing units, the Unitaînés project's 100 affordable housing units for se…
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Mr. Speaker, I have two points I would like to make. First, no federal government has done more for seniors than the Liberal government has done since 2015. That is one reason why the poverty rate among seniors has dropped by 20% since 2015. Second, if we had listened to the Conservatives, who, unfortunately, are often supported by the Bloc, we would not have brought the age of eligibility for old…
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Mr. Speaker, the real scandal would of course be if an opposition party like the Conservative Party or the Bloc Québécois had opposed the Canadian dental care plan, because over 13,000 seniors in my colleague's riding have received a Canadian dental care plan card over the past few months, and thousands of them have been able to see a hygienist, denturist and dentist, often for the first time in y…
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Mr. Speaker, it is a real shame to hear so many falsehoods uttered in so little time in the House. It is a real shame that the Conservatives are investing so much of their energy in falsehoods that lead the House astray, skew opinion and distract the House from what really matters, which is working for Quebeckers and Canadians. One thing we still do not have an answer to is why the Conservative le…
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Mr. Speaker, the minister has already answered this question multiple times. However, there is one question we have not yet received an answer to. Why is the Conservative leader refusing to get his security clearance in order to protect himself and his MPs and future candidates in the next election? What does the Conservative leader have to hide? What is behind his refusal to be briefed on the ris…
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Mr. Speaker, once again, the member is cobbling together all sorts of falsehoods in an attempt to make this story make sense. The minister has repeatedly responded to these questions and false allegations. What we still do not know is how the member who just asked the question is going to protect himself from foreign interference in the next election if the Conservative leader refuses to get his s…
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Mr. Speaker, our colleague from Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles seems to be having a hard time expressing himself today. There is something we would like his thoughts on, and that is the narrative of his Conservative leader, who claims that the agreement we have with the Government of Quebec seeking to build 8,000 social housing units is not currently allowing any social housing to be built. Ther…
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Mr. Speaker, the minister has already responded to this slew of falsehoods. What we still have not heard is the opinion of the Conservative MP for Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles. The Monterosso project is in his riding. Dozens of affordable housing units are being built thanks to the agreement we signed with the Quebec government exactly one year ago. However, his Conservative leader says these …
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Mr. Speaker, the good news is, this morning, we announced an additional $92 million for the historic agreement with the Government of Quebec, which is now building 3,000 new affordable housing units. This is a big problem for the Conservative leader, who says those homes do not exist. Where is the Conservative leader going to hide his members for Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, Chico…
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Mr. Speaker, I have two things to say. The first is that what the member just said is false. The second is that the minister has explained himself several times. What we have not heard today is the reason why, after several hundred days, the Conservative leader is still refusing to get his security clearance, not only to protect himself but also to protect his members. His only priority is to trig…
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Mr. Speaker, our colleague is well aware that, in the House, members have to choose the right words to express things properly. If he would like to learn more about indigenous procurement, which is very important to the Canadian government, then he should ask respectfully and I will be more than happy to meet with him to explain how it works.
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Mr. Speaker, our colleague is absolutely right that it is important to support the middle class and all those working hard to join it. That is why it is so sad to see the Conservatives vote against the Canadian dental care plan, which the NDP also worked very hard to bring in. One million Quebeckers now have their Canadian dental care plan card. We are looking forward to moving forward in 2025 to …
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Mr. Speaker, first, let us talk about investment. In my colleague's riding, investments were made for affordable housing units that are currently under construction. The Conservative leader raised doubts about funding for more than 200 such units last week because he wants to cancel the agreement with the Government of Quebec. Second, let us talk about important things, too. Will my colleague ask …
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Mr. Speaker, the worst way to defend supply management is to join forces with the Conservative Party and form an alliance with it. It is the Conservatives who continue to oppose supply management and always will. They could not support us when we defended supply management when dealing with the Americans. Unfortunately, the Bloc Québécois is currently forming an alliance with them.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to make three points. The first, which my colleague knows, is that the Conservative leader built a total of six affordable housing units across the country during his entire term in office. The second point is that, a week ago, the Conservative leader announced that he would cancel a $900-million agreement with the Quebec government that is about to launch the construction of 8…
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Mr. Speaker, it is astounding to hear Conservative members talk about the importance of taking care of children when the Leader of the Opposition says that supporting the Breakfast Club, La Cantine pour tous and elementary school teachers in my colleague's riding is nothing but bureaucracy. How can my Conservative colleagues from Quebec sit there while their Conservative leader insults the Breakfa…
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Mr. Speaker, it is Halloween, and the Conservative leader is an amazing magician. He told Radio‑Canada that the Canadian dental care plan does not exist. He made 800,000 seniors' Canadian dental care plan cards disappear in Quebec alone. He says it does not exist, so he cannot say why he is against the Canadian dental care plan when 20,000 seniors in the riding of our Conservative colleague from B…
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague is right. He mentioned hurting farmers. That is exactly what the Bloc Québécois is doing by aligning itself with the Conservatives. If any party in the House is against supply management, it is the Conservative Party. The Bloc Québécois will now have to explain to people, including farmers, why it is entering into an alliance with the Conservatives and saying that the onl…
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Mr. Speaker, let us talk about three realities. First, the economic reality is that interest rates are falling, inflation rates are falling and the unemployment rate is falling. Now let us talk about the reality that the Leader of the Opposition still does not understand this Halloween, specifically, that the Canada dental care plan exists. It did not magically disappear. The third reality is that…
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Mr. Speaker, I have a lot of respect for my esteemed colleague, and he can make up all the numbers he wants, but they still will not add up, not even on Halloween. What he can do, however, is ask his colleague and seatmate, the member for Brantford—Brant, to rise in the House at least once to apologize for the anti-francophone comments he made last week.
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Mr. Speaker, is the Conservative leader looking for some good news? Interest rates are down, inflation is down, and unemployment is down. Today is Halloween, and the one thing scaring the kids is the Conservative leader's refusal to get his security clearance to protect Canadians and members of his caucus. When will he answer the question on the minds of kids everywhere today?
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Mr. Speaker, the children in my riding are smarter than the Conservative leader gives them credit for. They can count to six. Six is the number of affordable housing units the Conservative leader built, not in my riding, but across the country, during his entire term as minister responsible for housing at the time. Once again, the kids want to know whether they should be afraid of him, since he ap…
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Mr. Speaker, our colleague is looking for problems with the Liberals' approach. What we have done since 2015 to help seniors is important. We have reduced seniors poverty by roughly 20% through measures that the Bloc and the Conservatives voted against. Now, they are looking for friends. Let me warn them that having Conservatives as friends in the House of Commons is dangerous for Quebeckers. The …
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague knows full well that investigations are regularly carried out to ensure that things are being done properly at my colleague's department. However, something that my colleague has never said is whether he is in favour of the minimum target of 5% of all procurement contracts being awarded to first nations companies and business owners across the country.
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Mr. Speaker, I would say that it takes both courage and heart. My colleague is quite right to highlight the difficulties facing many families, including in my own riding. That is why having a heart means supporting programs like the national school food program, which the opposition member is quite right to support. Why, then, do the Conservative members oppose the Breakfast Club of Canada and La …
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague is talking about affordable housing. Maybe he should take some time to look up the answer that was given barely a year ago to a question asked in the House. The Conservative leader, the member's own leader, built six affordable housing units across the entire country during his entire term in office. I would encourage him to ask his leader how he got these six affordable …
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Mr. Speaker, our colleague is talking about housing and incompetence. One, two, three, four, five, six: that is the number of affordable housing units that the Conservative leader built across Canada in his entire term as minister responsible for housing. He is looking for those six affordable housing units and he cannot find them. He is trying to figure out where else he can look. Can he appropri…
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Mr. Speaker, with all due respect to my colleague, what he just said is revolting. The Prime Minister never said that. Yesterday, on several occasions, the Prime Minister said that it was unacceptable for children in Quebec to be treated in this way. He also said that it was the responsibility of the Quebec government to deal with this problem as it falls under their jurisdiction.
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Mr. Speaker, once again, I am deeply disappointed in the questionable conflations being made in these matters by my esteemed colleague. The first important thing for everyone in the House to keep in mind, including the people listening to us, is that respect for the dignity and safety of children is everyone's responsibility. As far as jurisdiction over education is concerned, it is the Government…
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Mr. Speaker, you also could have said it in French, because I am going to say something in French that my colleague has already heard several times in English. He knows perfectly well that the Auditor General is independent, that the RCMP is also independent, that both of those organizations are doing their job, and that we will always be there to help them do it.
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Mr. Speaker, what we just heard is an insult to all francophone members of the House, including the Conservative members opposite. If he wants to tell me that I do not have the right to answer a question in French in the House, he should rise and say it again.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to congratulate my colleague on asking his question in French. He could have asked it in English because in the House we are free to speak either of the two official languages. I would like to invite his colleague to apologize for asking me to answer his question in English.
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Mr. Speaker, once again, my colleague is entirely correct. Millions of Quebeckers, including newcomers, have the good fortune and privilege of learning French, integrating into Quebec, becoming a Quebecker, living up to being a Quebecker, growing up, living and flourishing in Quebec. The member is entirely correct. That is how things work in Quebec, and we are very proud of it.
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague from Louis‑Saint‑Laurent, whom I quite like, talks about ambition and numbers. He should be talking about the ambition and numbers of his Conservative leader. When he was minister responsible for housing, in his entire time in that role across the entire country he built not one, two, three, four or five, but six affordable housing units. He talks about ambition and a rec…
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague is absolutely right. This falls under the Government of Quebec's jurisdiction. Simply put, Quebec has jurisdiction over education. If my colleague wants to inform, guide or advise the Government of Quebec, he should not do so here in the House of Commons. He should do so in the National Assembly. I respectfully shared that recommendation with him yesterday.
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Mr. Speaker, my Bloc Québécois colleague, whom I hold in high regard, is trying to pick a fight. A lot of new Quebeckers come to Quebec partly because Quebec is part of Canada. A Quebecker is also a Canadian. Many newcomers in my riding say they are proud to be both Quebeckers and Canadians.
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety, has already provided a very good answer to that question. However, there is one question that we still do not have an answer for. A few moments ago, my colleague talked about children who are going hungry, but his riding is home to many organizations that are fighting to ensure that children go to school in th…
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Mr. Speaker, unfortunately, the Bloc Québécois sometimes confuses the responsibilities of the Government of Quebec with those of the Government of Canada. We are not responsible for education. Perhaps the Bloc Québécois wishes things were different, but education is not a federal government responsibility. My colleague might want to run for a seat in the Quebec National Assembly.
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