Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I want to say a big thank you to our colleague for raising the issue of housing. It is both important and timely. This morning, we announced that Canada Lands Company will build 28,000 new homes over the next five years, including 5,000 new affordable housing units, which is twice the amount that has been built in the past 30 years. This is a clear example of how municipalities, non-p…
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Mr. Speaker, first of all, the price on pollution puts more money in the pockets of people in the middle class. Second, the price on pollution reduces pollution. Third, climate change is real. We know the Conservative leader does not believe in what I just said. Would my esteemed colleague be willing to invite him to Baie‑Saint‑Paul to see the effects of climate change and meet with my former coll…
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Mr. Speaker, what is radical is the fact that my colleague from Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier went to Baie‑Saint‑Paul with me in July to witness the damage that climate change wrought on the people there. What is radical is that, even now, in 2023, the Conservative elite still adheres to the official policy that climate change does not exist. What is radical is that their proposal to remove the price o…
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for speaking so eloquently and concretely about the importance of immigration in Canada, including Quebec. I would invite her to give us some examples of cases where she feels that, for economic or even social reasons—when we talk about child care, nurses, hospitals, seniors' residences, schools, and teachers—people who come from elsewhere in Canada or from arou…
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Mr. Speaker, once again I thank my colleague for giving me an opportunity to further clarify the importance of investing in aeronautics, not only in Quebec but across the country. We know Bombardier is an outstanding partner, key to other players in the country's aeronautics space, such as General Dynamics here in Ottawa, that are making huge contributions to the technological capacity to support …
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for allowing me to speak about the importance of aeronautics in Quebec. It is a point of pride for us. In recent years, we have made significant investments not only in businesses, but also, and just as importantly, in middle-class employees, to ensure that they can continue to pay their families' bills and contribute to technological and economic development in Q…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for raising the issue of affordability and the Quebec City region. She is a brand new MP, so she may not know that her Conservative Party colleagues voted against the Canada child benefit in 2016, before her time. Tens of thousands of children and families receive a tax-free cheque every month, lifting 40% of the people in her riding out of poverty. Would she choo…
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Mr. Speaker, as a former page, I would like to congratulate you, another former page, for your appointment and to welcome the new cohort of pages. I do not think we have sufficiently saluted and thanked them for their very hard work. The former Speaker made it very clear that he alone was responsible for inviting this individual to the House and recognizing him. It was on his initiative, and no ot…
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Madam Speaker, the former Speaker made it very clear that he alone was responsible for inviting this individual to the House and recognizing him. It was his initiative, and no other parliamentarians and no other government members were involved. The former Speaker invited his own guests for Friday's address, who were determined by him and his own office. No advance notice was provided to the Prime…
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Madam Speaker, again, the former Speaker has made it very clear that he alone was responsible for inviting this individual to the House and recognizing him. It was his initiative, and no one in the House knew about it. The same day we learned of this horrendous incident that occurred in the House, the Prime Minister recognized that it was painful for Canadians and communities who were affected by …
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Madam Speaker, as my colleague is well aware, the former speaker of the House of Commons clearly indicated that he alone was responsible for inviting that person and for recognizing him in the House of Commons. It was his initiative. No other parliamentarian was involved or informed, and neither was the government. The former speaker invited his own guests for the speech on Friday. They were selec…
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Mr. Speaker, what is drastic and irresponsible is denying that climate change exists. What the Conservative elites have been doing for years now is telling the 80% of Canadians who are keeping more money in their pockets that they do not deserve to have us make their lives more affordable. What is irresponsible and unacceptable is that just two years ago, the Conservative Party was proposing a pri…
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Mr. Speaker, I would be delighted to give my colleague a briefing. I think she forgot what she heard last spring, and that is that the workers are not waiting for contracts. The shipyard has already been given contracts. Nearly 1,000 people are working at the shipyard as we speak. There will be contracts for the next 20 to 25 years and thousands more workers will be hired, not to mention the tens …
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Mr. Speaker, I am delighted to answer this question. I would like to point out that my colleague also had the chance to attend the incredible announcement we made last spring. She was able to see, as she did today, just how happy the workers, the 1,300 suppliers and all the political and economic partners in the Quebec City area were with this decision and the choice we made to help the Quebec Cit…
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Mr. Speaker, it is a very timely question. In fact, timing is important here because part of the budget is to support dental care for children in this country. It has been 19 days since we wrote to the Leader of the Opposition, the Conservative leader, and asked him what he thought about the over 1,000 children in his riding and the 1,000 children in the MP's riding. We asked why these children do…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank our colleague for his collaboration and support towards building and tabling a bill on pharmacare in the next few months. That is going to lead to greater accessibility, greater affordability and greater appropriateness of the use of drugs in this country. We look forward to reviewing his bill and to working with all members of the House toward a better drug system for all Can…
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Mr. Speaker, the member is correct. People are counting on the government to make life more affordable for seniors and for families with children, including the 300,000 children who have received the Canada dental benefit since December of last year. These are children who can now go see a dentist or hygienist and have access to proper and affordable oral health care, which we all know is essentia…
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Mr. Speaker, a few minutes ago, the Minister of Finance was talking about a juvenile attitude on the part of the official opposition leader when he refused to work on passing the budget last week. The good news is that our colleague has a juvenile population as well. In his riding, he has roughly 12,000 children who receive the Canada child benefit, which will go up in a few weeks, and nearly 600 …
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to begin by applauding our colleague's leadership. I thank her for what she said about the connection with Quebec families who have reaped the very real benefits of affordable and accessible child care for almost 25 years now. I have certainly experienced it myself. I would also like to mention the $6 billion allocated to the Government of Quebec to further improve the sy…
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Mr. Speaker, we see a lot of our Conservative colleagues from Quebec being forced to defend the Leader of the Opposition's cruel macro-economic theories. How does the Leader of the Opposition explain the cruelty of his comments when he says that global inflation was caused by low-income Canadians needing help from the Canadian government? How does he explain the cruelty of his advice to invest in …
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Mr. Speaker, I have the pleasure and honour to table, in both official languages, a report on COVID-19 rapid test procurement and distribution.
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Mr. Speaker, as the member knows really well, we had discussions on that just a few months ago. On July 1, we put into place some of the strongest regulations ever put into place to regulate the prices of patented medicines. This is great news because we are now going to compare the cost of patented drugs in Canada to a new basket of countries. It is a better basket of countries and excludes the h…
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Mr. Speaker, as the member knows really well, we are working together. I thank them for their partnership in keeping up and supporting the hard work we have done until now in increasing accessibility, increasing affordability and increasing the appropriateness of the use of drugs across Canada. We put in place strong regulations a few months ago to bring the prices of patented medicines in Canada …
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Mr. Speaker, I am grateful for this question. We have met with a number of key stakeholders in the area, including this morning with the Canadian Cancer Society. We are grateful for all of its input. We know how tremendous the impact of vaping and smoking is in our society, including for younger Canadians and youth. That is why we have already put into place strong regulations over the last few ye…
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Mr. Speaker, earlier, a couple of us in the House asked questions of Conservative MPs, trying to see whether, in the bill, there was anything that restricted the use of firearms by hunters in Canada. They had trouble answering. Can the MP be kind to us and to them and make it more clear as to whether, in the bill, there are actually things that are restricting the use of firearms by hunters?
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Mr. Speaker, I am curious. I may not have followed everything, but I do not believe that I heard the answer to an important question. What type of firearm used by hunters is banned by this bill?
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Mr. Speaker, I am obviously interested in my colleagues' financial arguments. I find it astounding that they are blaming inflation on Canada's low- and middle-income taxpayers. The Canadian government is helping them, but blaming them for today's inflation is rather cruel. I would ask my colleague to tell us what he would say to the 400 children in his riding who received the dental benefit in rec…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from the Quebec City region for asking that question. Like me, he must know that in Quebec City, there are people in my riding and all over who save lives not only with early intervention and not only with harm reduction, but also with supervised consumption sites. If my colleague is willing, he is welcome to come visit these people. Many of them are in Quebec Cit…
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Mr. Speaker, I am very grateful for the opportunity to speak of what we are doing to increase the accessibility, affordability and appropriateness of drug use in Canada. I will mention the launch, just a few weeks ago, of the strategy for drugs for rare diseases, a half-billion-dollar investment every year for the next three years to make sure that children, in particular, and other people in need…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank our colleague for raising this important issue. He is quite right that the cost of patented medicines in Canada is too high, especially in relation to comparable countries. That is why, as he also mentioned, we enacted new regulations on July 1, 2022, that will allow us to compare our prices to the prices charged in comparator countries, excluding the U.S. and Switzerland, to …
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Mr. Speaker, first of all, I want to thank the member for Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel for her question, her leadership and her focus on the importance of protecting people's health. That is why we are so proud of her bill, Bill C‑252, which protects children from the effects of food and beverage marketing. That is why we are introducing a new food guide and improving food labelling to help people m…
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Mr. Speaker, I am obviously very pleased to receive this question. The member knows very well of the additional $200 billion we announced just a few weeks ago in support of provinces and territories in addition to the normal value of the CHT and in addition to the value of tax points, but, more important, to support workers through the crisis the member correctly identified. Those dollars are desi…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Châteauguay—Lacolle for her hard work and her important question. We all recognize the value of organ and tissue donation in protecting the health and lives of those in need of a transplant, sometimes urgently. With the co-operation of the provinces and territories, as well as multiple organizations in the field, our government initiated the organ donation an…
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Mr. Speaker, a lot of people in the House wonder what interests members of the opposition. In my opinion, there is at least one thing that should interest them. I am referring to the huge, fantastic announcement made a few weeks ago at the Davie shipyard, in the greater Quebec City area. I know that my colleagues from across Quebec, including my Conservative colleagues, will realize what a game-ch…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for making that connection and focusing on Quebeckers' needs, which are just as important as the physical health, mental health and oral health needs of all other Canadians. The Quebeckers I have been talking to for quite some time now are happy to see that between two and three million Quebeckers, families with average and modest incomes, will be able to take adv…
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Madam Speaker, 56 and 83 are the number of hours that we spent in the House and that senators spent in their chamber looking at this bill. It is a great source of gratitude to see the extensive efforts that we all made and provided collectively in looking at the bill. As we know, things are changing. Canadians expect us to progress on matters that are important to them, and artists, musicians and …
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague from Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, not only for his more recent work, but for all that he has done during his career. He has put in so much effort and brought so much talent into the arts community throughout Quebec. It is a great source of encouragement and hope to know that, even though we work in different political parties in the House, we, in Quebec, are all focu…
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Madam Speaker, the member has asked me why Conservative members do not want to move forward. I am sure it is not because they would like to support the bottom lines of web giants. I suppose that is not the case. It would seem to be the case when there is so much focus on protecting their interests and the interests of artists in Canada. I am also very proud of what she said when it comes to suppor…
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Madam Speaker, it is indeed troubling. We live in a world in which we should be able to speak about facts, and in the process, reassure Canadians that this is done for the right purposes and in a manner that is supported by so many artists and artists' representatives in Canada. It is sad, as the Green Party leader also said earlier. However, as the parliamentary secretary mentioned, we can either…
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Madam Speaker, I sure the member for Kelowna—Lake Country is very proud of her riding too. That is why I sometimes speak about my riding. Although I am the Minister of Health, more important, I am a proud representative of the Quebec City area and the member of Parliament for Québec. She is right to point to the fact that we have spent, and are spending, enormous amounts of time on this bill in th…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question. First, it gives me an opportunity to acknowledge what we heard from Quebec today. People across the country believe in the importance of dental care, which is essential to overall health. Second, two to three million Quebeckers will be able to benefit from the Government of Canada's new dental insurance plan in the coming years. Lastly, all of th…
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Madam Speaker, the member who was speaking is totally right to be able to focus her attention on that.
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Madam Speaker, the member is right in pointing to the important work the Senate did. It is why a very large number of the amendments the Senate is proposing are being approved and accepted by the government. We look forward to moving forward with them. That is why, as has also been said, we are grateful for its work and the 83 hours of time it spent on the bill. It is a very important bill; the me…
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Madam Speaker, I look forward to more questions from her, as she keeps speaking as I try to answer the other person's question. It is fair and fine that this is happening. It is a right of all members of this House to speak at the appropriate time, as the Speaker just said, and I look forward to answering more questions.
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Madam Speaker, the Senate spent 83 hours of its time looking at the bill, and House of Commons committees spent 56 hours on it. As we mentioned earlier, this is the longest-ever amount of time the Senate has spent on the study of a particular bill. That is why we are so proud and so pleased about the enormous amount of work that people in the House and the other chamber did over the last months an…
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Madam Speaker, I again thank my colleague from Drummond for all he is doing and for his kind words about the artists and arts community in Quebec, including in my riding of Quebec City. The actors, screenwriters, composers, technicians, musicians, all the people who bring our culture to life in Quebec and make it vibrant have said that they support this bill and want it to move forward. With respe…
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Madam Speaker, I think we all regret that too. We would prefer to be able to move on a different path with the Conservative opposition, as has been mentioned by the Bloc and the NDP, and as the leader of the Green Party just reminded us. This is unfortunate, but that is the only path to helping Canadians and artists in our communities go forward in a challenging world. Social media, modern technol…
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Madam Speaker, the member for Courtenay—Alberni said it really well. There are challenges, pressures and stressors that cultural communities, artists, musicians and others in our communities face. We know how hard-working they are, but they are working in a different environment now in 2023 than they were in the 20th century. That is why, as he rightly says, fixing things is absolutely essential. …
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Madam Speaker, it is exactly that, keeping up with the times and looking forward to an ever-stronger and prouder community of artists, musicians and creators in our field in Canada. We are so proud of Canadian culture. We know, however, that web giants are making enormous amounts of money on the backs of Canadian artists. On this side of the House, we are certainly not preoccupied with their botto…
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Madam Speaker, let me also express my words of thanks on behalf of the minister and the government, and on behalf of all artists and members of the cultural communities across Canada. My congratulations and my thanks go to the member opposite and his party for pointing out the importance of modernizing and making more equitable the Broadcasting Act. Again, we are in the 21st century. We are not ba…
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