Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, he says that today is a historic day for affordability. However, his GST credit is not going to lower the price of a single grocery item. That is not what making prices affordable is about. Making prices affordable is about lowering grocery prices. What they are going to do, and we agree on this point, is issue a coupon that amounts to the equivalent of $10 off a $300 family grocery b…
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Mr. Speaker, three years ago, the current Minister of Finance made a firm and enthusiastic commitment to stabilize food prices. As it turns out, it was all a big show that did not amount to much. Today, the cost of groceries continues to rise, and the current Prime Minister said that he could be judged on grocery prices. Well, he has failed. Canada has the worst food inflation in the G7. Prices ar…
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Mr. Speaker, I was quoting the Leader of the Opposition who was reiterating what the Prime Minister said, and that is that a country that cannot feed itself has few options. Well, food inflation has doubled under his watch, and it is the worst in the G7. Groceries will cost the average family an almost unimaginable $17,600 this year. That is after-tax money. As a result, today's motion is absolute…
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Mr. Speaker, every week, when I go grocery shopping with my wife, people talk to me about prices. Every time, I am told that it has become so expensive to buy beef for the family that they have to choose something else. Almost every time, I see someone put something back on the shelf because they cannot afford it. We are seeing more and more acts of generosity from Canadians. Some will offer to pa…
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Mr. Speaker, I almost agreed with my colleague, but not quite. We will not go that far, but it is clear that the grocery giants must do more to lower food inflation. It is not right that profits of this magnitude are being distributed among the grocery giants while people cannot pay their grocery bills.
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Mr. Speaker, if the carbon tax had not been abolished, food inflation would be even worse in this country. Indeed, there are other factors that need to be addressed. I mentioned earlier that the current Minister of Finance and National Revenue, while in another position, met with the heads of the major grocery companies. What was the result? Absolutely nothing. We need to tackle the issue of compe…
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Mr. Speaker, honestly, I am not sure what that means, but that is certainly not how the Conservatives decided to support that measure. Of course, we are going to support a measure that will give Canadians a little money to deal with a decade of inflation, a decade of rising prices, the worst inflation we have ever seen, the worst inflation in the G7. Of course, Canadians will be grateful to receiv…
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moved: That, given that the finance minister promised in October 2023 that food prices would stabilize "soon" and that the Prime Minister stated in May 2025 that he would be judged by the prices at the grocery store, and that, (i) Canadians face the highest food inflation in the G7, (ii) food inflation is twice as high as it was when the Prime Minister took office, (iii) food inflation in Canada i…
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has been in office for almost a year now, and despite his lofty rhetoric, fewer and fewer Quebeckers have enough money to pay rent. As a matter of fact, 20% of Quebeckers admitted having managed to pay their monthly rent on time at least once. In central Quebec, my region, it is nearly 30%. In Montreal, it is one in four renters. The Prime Minister promised to get t…
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Mr. Speaker, allow me a little chuckle. This Minister of Finance was quoted in an article in 2023. It states, “Champagne says these 5 new measures will stabilize food prices ‘soon’.”
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Mr. Speaker, I was talking about the price of champagne. This minister said that prices would stabilize. Why did he fail to mention that, for him, stabilizing prices meant that they would become increasingly more expensive until they were double what they are in the United States? This is the most expensive food inflation in the G7. Why do these people never put their money where their mouth is?
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister, sitting just a few feet away from me, has made this personal. He told Canadians that they should judge him by the price of groceries. No matter what excuses all the other Liberals come up with today, the Prime Minister was the one who set the bar on how to judge him. Not only has he failed miserably, but next year's grocery bill is going to cost the average family …
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Mr. Speaker, I am thinking of the consultants, the bureaucracy, the corporate welfare. Not a single one of those members is standing up to defend the words of the Prime Minister, who told Canadians they would judge him on the cost of groceries. Those were his words. Now 36% of Quebeckers are experiencing food insecurity. The food banks in Quebec are receiving three million visits a month. The Prim…
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Mr. Speaker, we know today that Canadians are concerned about rising food prices after 10 years of Liberal governance, but they do not see the chaos that is happening right here in the House of Commons, and in parliamentary committees in particular. Ministers are not showing up. Committees are cancelled at the last minute. We saw it again today—
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Mr. Speaker, not only are the Liberals setting conditions, they are also creating health care programs. They are putting in place health programs. Unfortunately, since they have a credit card with no limit, we are now paying $55 billion a year in interest on the debt. Do my colleagues know what that $55 billion represents? It represents more than the health transfer to the provinces. The Liberals …
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Madam Speaker, the holidays are just around the corner, so I would like to take this opportunity to reiterate that it is always an honour for me to rise in the House on behalf of the people of Mégantic—L'Érable—Lotbinière, whom I am very proud of, especially after a passionate speech like the one from my colleague. It is clear that members who come from a rural area are close to the community. We …
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Mr. Speaker, it seems to touch a nerve when we quote the words of their own Prime Minister. Those are not my words. It was the Prime Minister who told Canadians to judge him on the cost of groceries. The verdict is in: Groceries will cost an additional $1,000 per family next year. They will cost $17,600 a year, or $338 a week. That is double what it was 10 years ago. The Prime Minister has been ju…
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Mr. Speaker, I know that the member for Winnipeg North has a lot of experience, but he kind of lives in the past. He seems to have forgotten the past 10 years, when he was led by Justin Trudeau. In 2022, under that government, the inflation rate was 6.8%. If we add up all these inflation rates, we end up today with a Canada food price report that says that people will be paying $340 a week on groc…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question. That is because Bill C-15 is a smokescreen. There is nothing in it for real people, for people from rural communities or for people who are unable to pay their bills at the end of the month. That is why Bill C-15 is a bad bill and a big deficit bill. We will not and cannot support this bill.
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Mr. Speaker, as I was saying earlier, Canadians are very concerned about the cost of food. After 10 years under this Liberal government, people have seen the cost of food double. It now costs $340 per week compared to less than half that 10 years ago. Meanwhile, people are not paying attention to what is happening on the Hill, but they should be. Why? Because the Liberal government is causing chao…
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Mr. Speaker, this Prime Minister, who has accomplished nothing since he took office, said something very important to Canadians when his cabinet was being sworn in. He said that Canadians could judge him by the price of groceries. Well, judgment day is here. Next year's food costs are going to rise to unprecedented levels, to use his own words. Families were spending an average of $159 a week when…
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Mr. Speaker, I spoke on this same point of order last week to ask you to allow one of our members to continue asking his question, because he had 15 seconds left in his time and he was about to get to his question on government business. I think that my Bloc Québécois colleague's argument is entirely justified. However, I find the gratuitous attack just launched by the government House leader, whi…
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Mr. Speaker, while the Prime Minister shelters his personal profits in Bermuda without paying taxes, he is forcing the Canadian middle class to pay hidden taxes every time they buy groceries. The Observatoire québécois des inégalités reports that 20% of workers are experiencing food insecurity. That figure has doubled in four years. Even people with a job can no longer afford food and rent. Why is…
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Mr. Speaker, I will give an example of what 10 years of Liberal governance is doing. Thousands of Quebeckers are choosing to eat less in order to keep a roof over their heads. The Observatoire québécois des inégalités also reported today that food insecurity has nearly doubled in four years under this Liberal government. This is affecting one in three renters. Severe food insecurity has jumped 63%…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I am rising to respond to the point of order raised on Friday by the deputy government House leader regarding the second report of the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security in relation to Bill C‑12, an act that deals with, among other things, “the integrity of the Canadian immigration system”. In brief, the deputy government House Leader has asked that several comm…
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Madam Speaker, I just heard the remarks of the deputy House leader of the government. I note that she is saying that she is rejecting amendments that were adopted by the majority of committee members. I would like to reserve our comments for later. We will have arguments to make with respect to that statement.
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Madam Speaker, a growing number of Canadians are wondering how they are going to pay their bills, but not the Prime Minister. His personal fortune keeps growing a little bigger every day as his decisions make his company, Brookfield, richer. For example, he went to see the U.S. President and returned empty-handed, with nothing for Canadians, yet his company signed a $80-billion nuclear deal that f…
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Madam Speaker, before becoming Prime Minister, the president of Brookfield moved his offices from Canada to New York City. Before becoming Prime Minister, the president of Brookfield created three investment funds, including one located on the second floor of a bicycle repair shop to avoid paying taxes in Canada. That is called tax avoidance. Now that he is Prime Minister, the former president of …
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague mentioned many things that should have been included in the budget. Unfortunately, we have found that this budget includes many things that benefit Brookfield, not Canadians or Quebeckers. One thing my colleague took the time to mention is the digital services tax, which has been abolished. This tax could have been used to help our traditional media outlets weather the di…
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Mr. Speaker, there is nothing imaginary about mothers not having enough money to buy the milk, cheese and meat they need to feed their children. For example, the industrial carbon tax costs them up to $1,000 a year of very real money. While they wonder how they are going to pay for their groceries, the Prime Minister is trying to engineer a costly election with a costly budget. Why does he not thi…
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Mr. Speaker, every time the Liberal government spends $1, $1 comes out of a Canadian's pocket because of higher taxes and Liberal inflation. Piling hidden taxes on families who are struggling to put food on the table is the height of Liberal hypocrisy. Yes, it is a hidden tax. Canadians are forking over $5.6 billion because of a change to food packaging rules. Instead of tabling a costly budget th…
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Madam Speaker, it is Halloween. Will the government leader stop trying to scare Canadians? What Canadians need for Christmas is an affordable budget for an affordable life. It is this government's responsibility to deliver that budget. While the government leader is making jokes, the 2024–2025 Nutritious and Affordable Food Basket Report says that products such as meat, fish, cheese and yogurt are…
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Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. If you seek it, I believe you will find the unanimous consent of the House to adopt this motion. That, in relation to its study on the development of critical minerals in Canada, three members of the Standing Committee on Natural Resources be authorized to travel to Sudbury, Ontario; Saguenay, Quebec; Montréal, Quebec; and Québec, Quebec, in the Fall of 202…
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Madam Speaker, even with a new Prime Minister, after 10 years of this Liberal government, the more things change, the more they stay the same. Liberal insider friends continue to line their pockets with millions of dollars, while hundreds of thousands of Quebeckers and Canadians are going hungry. Why is the Prime Minister giving executives at Export Development Canada, Via Rail and the Business De…
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Mr. Speaker, members on the other side of the House seem unable to grasp the reality facing ordinary Canadians. As I said, 600,000 people in Quebec are using food banks. Meanwhile, rents are doubling in every region of the province, and grocery prices just keep going up. On the weekend, Le Journal de Montréal reported that pregnant women are now cutting back on protein and vegetables. People can n…
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Mr. Speaker, the Liberals have been in power for 10 years and now more than 600,000 Quebeckers are using food banks every month, while the Prime Minister's friends are lining their pockets. Last week, the Prime Minister had the nerve to tell our young people that they need to make sacrifices, while the executives at BDC and the CMHC are getting tens of millions of dollars in bonuses. Imagine: The …
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Mr. Speaker, “Montreal ravaged by hunger” headlines La Presse. Food Banks Canada's HungerCount 2025 paints a bleak picture of the state of Canadian families' finances after 10 years of Liberal government. Across Quebec, nearly 600,000 people receive help each month from food assistance organizations. Across Canada, more than two million people a month use food banks. The trend has accelerated afte…
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Mr. Speaker, this government is not creating a bulwark against inflation. It is creating inflation. It is forcing Canadians to turn to food banks. There is a reason why Food Banks Canada's 2025 HungerCount report is called “Food Banks as a Lifeline: Canada's New Normal”. The new normal in Canada involves relying on food banks. That is the new normal under these Liberals. In fact, 20% of food bank …
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Madam Speaker, I listened carefully to my colleague's speech. I heard him mention that he is new to the House. Since this government came to power, many bills have been introduced. In my speech yesterday, I called this a pothole repair operation. It is like the government is going around trying to fix potholes all over the place. For 10 years, the Liberals created holes everywhere and caused all s…
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Madam Speaker, I think that my colleague is still a bit confused. He mixed up the Liberals and the Conservatives, and I think his statements are still a bit muddled. As I see things, it was the Liberal government that lowered the thresholds. When they were lowered from 30 to 20 and from 20 to 10 overnight, without any warning to businesses, families or workers that this was coming, that was a Libe…
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Madam Speaker, I can just say one thing: Canada will always be a country that is open to refugees who are truly in need. For refugees fleeing war and hardship, Canada will be open. However, sending a tweet inviting the whole world to come settle in Canada and then forgetting about these people is unacceptable, immoral and, dare I say, heartless.
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Madam Speaker, before I begin my speech, I want to take a moment to thank Divya Dey, who is participating in the parliamentary internship program and who gave me the great privilege of choosing me for her first stint with a member of the House of Commons. She is a brilliant and dynamic young woman from the Greater Toronto Area who speaks excellent French and who chose a member from a rural region …
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Madam Speaker, is the House familiar with the concept of a pyromaniac firefighter? Essentially, it is when a person starts a fire and then sits by the phone waiting for a call to come in saying that there is a fire for them to go put out. The person causes problems and then tries to pretend to fix the problems that they themselves caused. The Liberals say that a new Prime Minister means a new appr…
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Mr. Speaker, this Liberal government was elected exactly 10 years ago on one specific promise, namely that it would run small deficits and return to a balanced budget during its first term. That promise was supposed to generate investment here in Canada. What remains of that promise 10 years later? The Liberal debt has doubled, and Canada has the worst economic growth per capita in the G7. Will th…
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Mr. Speaker, allow me to translate what he just said. He is talking about generational investments. These are investments that will borrow from future generations of young Canadians. For 10 years, the Liberals have been promising that their deficits are attracting more investments to Canada. The Minister of Finance is keeping all the deficit spending policies that have driven many Canadians to use…
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Mr. Speaker, the Liberals do not want to talk about the $1 trillion. That is how much money the Prime Minister promised President Trump that Canada would invest in the United States over the next five years. What did the Prime Minister get in return for that promise? He got a free meal at the White House. That is the result. Our workers are going to lose their jobs because their companies are goin…
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Mr. Speaker, we want a country where pension funds are looking to invest their money here in Canada to create jobs here in Canada, rather than doing what the Liberals are doing and sending $1 trillion to the United States over the next five years, which will cost us jobs. The Prime Minister came back empty-handed. I am not the one saying that; it is coming from The Globe and Mail, Le Devoir, Le So…
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Mr. Speaker, the wait is over. Tomorrow will be a big day for the Liberal Prime Minister. Tomorrow, the Prime Minister will finally keep his promise to “negotiate a win” for Canada. Tomorrow, tariffs on steel, aluminum, automobiles and softwood lumber will come down, because that is what the Prime Minister promised. The Prime Minister was encouraged to keep his promise to negotiate a win with the …
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Mr. Speaker, I want to talk about Liberal clarity on the economy. On the one hand, the Liberals claim that the collapse of Canada's economy, the worst performing in the G7, is due to tariffs. On the other hand, they say they have reached an excellent agreement on tariffs. What do the real numbers say? They say that the deficit has doubled, that Canada is the G7 economy with the sharpest contractio…
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Mr. Speaker, what gift do seniors get after 10 years under the Liberal regime? They get a damning report published on National Seniors Day that shows one in three seniors is financially supporting adult children or grandchildren. Sixty-seven per cent have to help their families meet their daily expenses. That is 12% more than last year. Because of higher Liberal taxes and inflation, every dollar t…
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