Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the Conservative leader spoke a moment ago about the Government of Quebec. I was speaking about the municipalities. With the leadership of the Quebec government, we signed an agreement to build 8,000 affordable housing units in the coming months. During his term as minister responsible for housing, the Conservative leader created six affordable housing units, and yet he called Quebec’…
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague the Minister of Housing has already talked about the 8,000 affordable housing units that Quebec municipalities will build in the coming months and years. We already know about the six affordable housing units that the Conservative leader built during his time as housing minister. What my colleague may not know is that in his own riding, the Charles IV housing project alon…
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Mr. Speaker, the next budget is coming and the member already knows that it will contain additional housing measures. What he should also know is that, just a few months ago, we signed a $1.8-billion agreement with the Government of Quebec that will provide, all at once, the largest number of new housing units in the history of Quebec. This is an extraordinary event resulting from an extraordinary…
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Mr. Speaker, obviously, next week's budget is going to build even more housing. Consider these two numbers: six and 8,000. They are clear. During his reign as minister responsible for housing, the Conservative Leader created six affordable housing units in the entire country. In recent months, we signed an agreement with the Quebec government for a total of $1.8 billion that will build 8,000 affor…
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague is quite right to call attention to the cost and affordability of housing, including in the Quebec City area. That is why it is so surprising that the Conservatives oppose our investments in affordable housing, including social housing in the Quebec City area. First, they may have noticed that we announced just a few weeks ago that we are going to meet affordable housing …
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Mr. Speaker, our colleague is right. The six affordable housing units built by the opposition leader were indeed affordable. Over the past few years, we have built hundreds of thousands of affordable housing units. The construction of another 750,000 units will be accelerated over the coming years. In Quebec alone, 8,000 affordable housing units will be built in the coming months under an historic…
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Mr. Speaker, if my colleague is looking for photo ops, I invite him to come with me to visit the housing project in his riding called Le Monterosso. He has not been seen in the last few weeks, since the project was announced. That was mentioned during the press conference with mayor Bruno Marchand. The member seems to be forgetting that hundreds of housing units have been built in his own riding, …
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Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to hear the member talk about collaboration and housing. That is exactly what we have seen in recent weeks with the extraordinary $1.8‑billion agreement to support housing projects in Quebec. In fact, it is the biggest single investment ever made in housing in Quebec in the province's entire history. That is why we are so proud of the result, but we know there is eve…
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Madam Speaker, the Canada carbon rebate is putting more money in the pockets of eight out of 10 families. That is because carbon tax revenue is given back to Canadians. Big polluters pay more. That is why middle-class and lower-income families get more money. Eight out of 10 families have more money in their pockets thanks to the carbon tax. What the Conservatives want to do is reward big polluter…
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Madam Speaker, the first thing we did when we came to power was lower taxes for the middle class. The first thing the Conservatives did was vote against that. The second thing we did was bring in the Canada child benefit. The second thing they did was vote against the Canada child benefit. Now, if my colleague wants to know more for his riding, I invite him to invite me, or to invite other people,…
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Yes, Madam Speaker, Canadians and Quebeckers are having a hard time paying the bills. That is why it is so surprising that the Conservative Party is against the Canada child benefit, which has reduced child poverty in my colleague's riding by 40%. It is against the dental care program, which is helping about 7,000 seniors in my colleague's riding. It is surprising that the Conservatives are being …
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Madam Speaker, on Wednesday, March 20, 7,850 families in my colleague's riding received a Canada child benefit payment. On average, families in his riding receive about $500 a month. That benefit has reduced poverty for families and parents in his riding by 40%. In 2024, however, the Conservative leader continues to oppose the Canada child benefit.
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Mr. Speaker, the member said, or did not say, that fraudulent billing is totally unacceptable. That is why it was so important that yesterday we released the information. Thanks to better data since the pandemic, and thanks to having a better ability to analyze and use that data, we are now able to proceed much more quickly and much more efficiently with identifying and prosecuting cases of fraudu…
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Mr. Speaker, as many ministers, including the CBSA minister, have often said, what happened during COVID-19 regarding the application was unacceptable, despite the fact that it was at a moment when it was important for public servants to be efficient and act quickly. Unfortunately, some of the rules were not followed. There is more work to do, although much of the work that the Auditor General ask…
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Mr. Speaker, I am so pleased to hear our colleague talk about dental insurance, the new Canadian dental care plan, for which over 1.4 million seniors have already applied and been approved. Over one-third of those 1.4 million seniors are Quebeckers. I hope our colleagues from Ontario are not hearing this, but more Quebec seniors have been approved than seniors in Ontario. It is all happening becau…
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Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to hear that question. I want to acknowledge the remarkable work done by the Auditor General. She indicated her support for the RCMP's operations several weeks ago. That is not new. She has stated this publicly many times. We could help the member find the places where she did that. She clearly said that she was already in contact with the RCMP to ensure that everyon…
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Mr. Speaker, we know how good the Conservative Party is in providing slogans and doing all those sorts of things. However, it is a bit strange to say that this is breaking news because it has been known for many weeks now that the RCMP and the Auditor General have been working really well together, and they will keep working together really well. That is what their jobs are about.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to begin by congratulating my colleague, whom I like a lot, on his ability to repeat his leader's slogans. The Conservatives are working hard on that. What they are less good at is following the news. For weeks now the Auditor General has been working with many other organizations, including the RCMP, to shed light on the disturbing observations she raised in her report j…
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Mr. Speaker, we have already answered this question multiple times. However, there is one question which has still not been answered. Given the Leader of the Opposition's policy of intimidation, insults and name-calling, will my colleague from Charlesbourg—Haute‑Saint‑Charles agree to join my colleague from Louis-Saint-Laurent for a meeting next week with the Quebec City municipal council to tell …
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Mr. Speaker, a little less than four years ago, Canada was going into the worst health crisis since 1919 and the worst economic crisis since 1929-30. We had to close the border at the request of then President Trump. We had to deal with $1 billion a day in economic costs and with the hundreds of people who were dying every week in long-term care facilities in Quebec and across the country. We had …
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Mr. Speaker, again, this question has received multiple answers, including from our colleague, the Minister of Public Safety. If the Conservatives are trying to find new questions to ask, I suggest asking these. Why, for instance, during the eight years of our government, have we built 10 times more homes than during the 10 years of the Conservative government? Why has poverty fallen by half in Ca…
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Mr. Speaker, I basically answered that question before. What I would add, however, is the importance and value of the Auditor General's work. She deserves not only our thanks, but also our encouragement in performing her work. She plays an essential role in our democracy, because Parliament and parliamentarians rely on her efforts to force governments to do the right thing and ensure that all publ…
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Mr. Speaker, it is no surprise that you are confused, since my very experienced colleague seems to be having a little trouble finding the right person to answer the right question. However, I have a question for my colleague from the Quebec City area. We know that people in the Quebec City area do not care for the politics of hate, harassment and insult. Will he come to the city council meeting ne…
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague is asking a very good question. She probably knows and remembers that we recently went through a pandemic, the worst pandemic since 1919, combined with the worst economic crisis since 1930. She knows that public servants had two main directives or instructions. The first was to act quickly and effectively to save hundreds of thousands of lives and millions of jobs, and th…
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Mr. Speaker, indeed, I do not feel I can properly answer questions directed to the Bloc Québécois. I am sure our hon. colleague, the House leader of the Conservative Party, knows to whom he should be directing his questions and will find the appropriate setting to do so. That being said, my responsibility and that of the government during the pandemic was to strive to protect the health and safety…
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Mr. Speaker, this question has already received multiple answers. The fact that it is coming from the former speaker of the House is obviously a bit strange. He would know that, if he needs to ask questions of the NDP, we are not, on this side, the right people to answer those questions. I would invite our hon. colleague to ask the right people.
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Mr. Speaker, once again, we appreciate the question, which has already been answered several times. I would add this: If my Conservative colleagues are running out of ideas, they could ask why Canada had the highest vaccination rate of all comparable countries; why Canada emerged with one of the strongest economies in the G7; why Canada has added more than one million new jobs since the COVID-19 p…
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Mr. Speaker, that question has already been answered several times. We once again thank the Auditor General of Canada for her important report and her solid recommendations regarding the review of the ArriveCAN app. The findings are troubling. The good news is that most of those recommendations have already been implemented. We will continue to do that for as long as it takes.
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Madam Speaker, this question has already been answered a number of times over the past few days, and again today. The answer is the same. The Auditor General deserves our appreciation. She has done solid and important work over the past few months, leading to the tabling of a troubling report on Monday. The good news is that many of her recommendations were implemented some time ago now. However, …
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Madam Speaker, not only should we be thanking the Auditor General for her work, but we also need to read her report very carefully. The misinformation we are hearing from the other side of the House is unfortunately not helpful and can even be counterproductive. The Auditor General must continue with the serious work she does. We thank her for everything she has done so far, and we are counting on…
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Madam Speaker, the member is quite right to talk about cost of protecting the health and safety of Canadians, including during a pandemic that cost tens of thousands of people their lives, including hundreds in his own riding. Millions of people lost their jobs, and we had to protect the integrity of our borders. Despite how urgent and important this situation was, the Auditor General of Canada cl…
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Madam Speaker, as I have said before, there is no obstruction here. On the contrary, the Auditor General must have all the documents she needs to do her job, because the Auditor General's work is critical to the integrity of our democratic and parliamentary system. That is why she was given access to all necessary documents over the past few months, and why she is able, as she clearly stated, to p…
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Madam Speaker, it is a little disturbing to hear the Conservative MPs question the integrity of the Auditor General. The Auditor General has said very clearly over the past few days that she was not only willing and able to work with the RCMP, but she was already doing so and providing the RCMP with all the information it wants.
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Madam Speaker, I am very pleased to answer this question, which we have heard before and to which we have provided appropriate answers already. I am pleased to remind everyone that the Auditor General not only had the job, but the very important job of tabling a report on Monday, which we have looked at and are obviously very troubled by the findings in that report. We have taken into account all …
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Madam Speaker, the member is completely right in pointing to the important work of the Auditor General. She did work very hard over the last few months, which is what we expect of her and her office. She tabled an important report on Monday. As she has said repeatedly, she is also completely willing and able to work with all other partners and institutions across the government, including with the…
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Madam Speaker, we are sure that the opposition member is not also suggesting that the RCMP is incapable of doing its work. The RCMP and the Auditor General operate at arm's length from the government; they can work very well together without any political or partisan influence.
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Madam Speaker, there are two points that I believe have already been explained well, yet are important to reiterate. Just a few months ago, Canada experienced the worst pandemic in a century, the worst economic crisis since the 1930s. The public service had to respond quickly and effectively to save the lives of thousands of Canadians; costs were in the billions of dollars per week. Unfortunately,…
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Madam Speaker, our colleague is quite right in pointing out the essential work of the Auditor General. We need the Auditor General to do the kind of investigation that she was able to do over the past few months in co-operation with CBSA officials. She did her work. She tabled her report on Monday. Her findings are shocking and alarming. Her recommendations must be taken into account. Most of her …
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Madam Speaker, the key word in the Auditor General's report is “documentation”. That documentation was flawed, incomplete, improperly stored and unsharable. Indeed, it forms the central focus of the Auditor General's findings, and that is why we are continuing to move forward with the work that now needs to be done.
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Madam Speaker, I thank our colleague for the question. Every day, the Canada Border Services Agency plays an essential role in facilitating and allowing the flow of hundreds of thousands of travellers and billions of dollars in goods. This was even more important during the pandemic, when Canadians were relying on the arrival of vital drugs, personal protective equipment, and equipment parts that …
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Madam Speaker, the member is correct when he points to the ability and expertise of the RCMP, the Auditor General and other institutions to work together. They know how to do their jobs. They do not need political processes and politicians to do their jobs. The RCMP, the Auditor General and all of the other independent organizations on which Canadians have the fortune to depend know what to do.
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Madam Speaker, the member is totally right to point to how important the work the Auditor General does is every day. She and her office are fundamental to the operations of our democracy. They are there to help and sometimes to challenge the government in doing the right thing. That is why we are so grateful for her report on Monday. We have already said that we have taken into account all the rec…
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Madam Speaker, the member points to the work of the Auditor General. She has already said in public that she is not only able but very willing to work with the RCMP and any other institution in the government that would like to use her important findings on Monday. The member may want to speak to the Auditor General to understand how she does that. That is for him to decide, but we on this side of…
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Madam Speaker, again, I think no one in this House should attempt to display a lack of confidence in the ability of the Auditor General to do her job. I am sure we are all united in supporting the importance and the value of what she does. She needs no advice on the part of politicians. She has full expertise. If they want to provide her with their particular advice, they know how to reach out to …
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Madam Speaker, the member points to the valuable public service, and he is entirely right; public servants worked extremely hard during the pandemic to protect the health and safety of millions of Canadians and millions of jobs. That being said, it is not an excuse for a very few of them in the CBSA not to have done their job appropriately. On Monday, the Auditor General was very clear as to why t…
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Madam Speaker, we are very pleased, obviously, to hear the member clearly state that he has full confidence in the abilities of the Auditor General to keep doing her job, including supporting the RCMP when that is demanded by the RCMP.
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Mr. Speaker, our colleague is right to highlight the important work of the Auditor General, who tabled a scathing report on Monday. We are grateful for that. Many of her recommendations are already in place. Others will be carried out over the next few weeks. As she has said, all this information is transparent and has been shared, including with the RCMP.
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Mr. Speaker, after having thanked and lauded the work of the Auditor General, our colleague would certainly not want to pretend that she is not able to do her job. Her integrity and independence are essential to the work of the government. We are grateful for what she does and for what she will be able to continue doing.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank our colleague for reminding us, albeit rather discreetly, of the very difficult circumstances we experienced just a few years ago during the biggest pandemic since 1919, at a time when millions of jobs and billions of dollars in economic costs were at stake. We had to act quickly and decisively. Those were the operative words for the public service. That being said, that is no…
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague stressed the importance of the Auditor General's work, and rightly so. The good news is that she tabled a report on Monday with some troubling findings and solid recommendations that we are now implementing or continuing to implement. The member says she is hiding under a rug. That is not true. The Auditor General is in contact with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and a…
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