Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, allow me to share Mike's story. Mike makes $22 an hour, and governments take 30% of his salary from every paycheque. He wrote to me saying that he could not afford to feed himself properly and that his local food bank made him feel like he should not need their help. That is the reality for many folks today, with food prices up by more than 10%. Instead of making things worse for Mike…
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Madam Speaker, a question immediately came to mind when I was listening to the speech by the health minister, the same minister who refused to have any discussions with the provinces about health costs and what to do about health care. Did the minister consult the province of Quebec, the government of Quebec and, above all, the health minister of Quebec about establishing its dental care program f…
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Mr. Speaker, 600,000 Quebeckers are using food banks because they cannot afford to feed themselves. More and more of them are working folk. Rising costs are driving inflation, and workers cannot make ends meet. Groceries alone have gone up by more than 10%. Will the Prime Minister commit to leaving more money in people's pockets by immediately putting an end to these new tax increases?
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Mr. Speaker, let me explain to my colleague what “making ends meet” means. Back in the day, “making ends meet” meant harvesting enough to survive until the next harvest. Nowadays, “making ends meet” means surviving from paycheque to paycheque. Unfortunately, fewer and fewer Canadians are able to make ends meet now because everything costs more: interest rates, food, gas, rent and taxes. Instead of…
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Mr. Speaker, no one is listening anymore because no one believes this will change anything now. The Minister of Public Safety has no problem misleading Canadians to justify political decisions. The former minister of public safety has no problem interfering in a police inquiry into a tragedy to use that information for political purposes. According to RCMP Superintendent Darren Campbell, the RCMP …
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Mr. Speaker, promises and more promises, but never any results: That is the hallmark of the Liberal government. The minister knew for months that Passport Canada was headed for disaster, and yet what did she do? She went full steam ahead anyway. People were told yesterday that they could wait in line to get a number, so they would be able to get a passport. People waited in line all night in the r…
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Mr. Speaker, let us just think about this for one second: This government is so out of touch that it cannot even provide basic services to the public. It waited until today to start talking to people who are waiting outside. The minister assured us that the government has installed toilets outside, which does not bode well for the rest of the summer. We anticipate that this is going to be a very l…
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Mr. Speaker, answers like that one clearly show that the cost of living is not the only thing going up because of inflation. Liberal incompetence has also increased dramatically. Canadians currently waiting in line at passport offices are talking about mismanagement, complacency, crisis and a lack of compassion. Those are their words, not mine. The reality is that people are waiting for days for a…
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Mr. Speaker, the figures speak for themselves. Inflation is at 7.7%, its highest level in 40 years. The grandiose speech by the Minister of Finance to the elite in Toronto last week was all smoke and mirrors. There was absolutely nothing in there to address inflation in this country. Even President Joe Biden temporarily lowered taxes to give Americans a bit of a break. It is well known that the Li…
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Mr. Speaker, the only one here making it harder for Canadians to travel is the Prime Minister himself. The only thing preventing Canadians from having access to a document as important as the passport is the Prime Minister's incompetence. The passport situation is a national crisis. According to columnist Mario Dumont, who spent the night at the Guy‑Favreau complex to get a passport for his daught…
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Mr. Speaker, I am truly honoured to rise today to say a few words in the House about our leader, the leader of the Conservative Party of Canada and leader of the official opposition. The Winnipeg Free Press has described her as “Arguably one of the hardest-working MPs in Canada”. Without a doubt, she is one of the hardest-working MPs in Canada. That is exactly why the member for Portage—Lisgar suc…
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Mr. Speaker, we have been getting the same answer for three weeks, yet absolutely nothing has been done. Canada normally processed 90,000 passports a week before COVID‑19. Now it cannot manage to process 48,000 a week. What is the problem? Everything this Prime Minister touches goes wrong. All he has to say in response to the passport issue are the same talking points he was giving us two or three…
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Mr. Speaker, we are still waiting for those results. Let me summarize the Liberal response to the cost of living. Last week, the Minister of Finance announced with great fanfare that she would do nothing. Everything is more expensive because of the cost of gas. The Minister of Environment and Climate Change is happy. Canadians are camping out in front of passport offices. The minister failed to an…
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Mr. Speaker, the problem is the government's chaotic management. Regarding COVID‑19, the Minister of Health was slow at every step. Regarding passports, the minister did not know that Canadians would want to travel after COVID‑19. Regarding immigration, the minister asked Ukrainians to make an appointment online. Regarding international affairs, the minister has no problem with people attending a …
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Mr. Speaker, another example of Liberal incompetence is the mismanagement of the Pinocchio affair. Two senior ministers contradicted the Minister of Public Safety in committee by testifying that no police force specifically asked for the Emergencies Act to be invoked. The President of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada and Minister of Emergency Preparedness said, and I quote, “I'm not aware of a…
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Mr. Speaker, never in the history of this country have the people been so poorly served by a government. Everything the Liberals touch goes wrong, and Canadians are paying the price. If they want a passport, they have to stand in line. If they want to travel by plane, they have to stand in line. If they travel to the United States without a smart phone, they still have to have ArriveCAN. If they h…
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Mr. Speaker, now the truth is starting to come out. Today, the Prime Minister said that “police do not grant themselves new powers”. He was admitting that the police did not ask for the Emergencies Act. That is the exact opposite of what the Minister of Public Safety has repeatedly said. Ministerial responsibility means nothing to this Liberal government anymore. Is the Prime Minister also going t…
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Mr. Speaker, who asked, when did they ask and what exactly did they ask for? The Prime Minister just said that police officers asked the government to implement extraordinary measures by invoking the Emergencies Act. The Prime Minister is repeating what the Minister of Public Safety said. This is scandalous. The Prime Minister is misleading the House too. He has a choice today. He can do the honou…
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Mr. Speaker, we have a Minister of Public Safety who has repeatedly said that the serious decision to invoke the Emergencies Act was made at the request of police authorities. All the police forces deny having requested the Emergencies Act. The minister knows this, and as a former Crown prosecutor, he knows the importance of telling the truth and nothing but the truth. Since he cannot take back wh…
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Mr. Speaker, the Emergencies Act cannot be invoked when other legislation can do the job. The Minister of Public Safety knew that, which is why he justified his decision by stating repeatedly that the police had requested these extraordinary powers. No police officer, police force, chief of police or commissioner has confirmed the minister's assertion. There is no misunderstanding. This Liberal mi…
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We shall see, Mr. Speaker. On April 28, the Minister of Public Safety said, and I quote, “the invocation of the Emergencies Act...was only put forward after police officials told us they needed this special power”. No police service acknowledges having asked for the Emergencies Act. Are the minister and the Prime Minister both insisting that police asked the government to invoke the Emergencies Ac…
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Mr. Speaker, that is what Commissioner Lucki said after the act was invoked, not before. However, on April 28, the Minister of Public Safety stated, “It was on the advice of [the police] that we invoked the Emergencies Act”. The whole story told by the Prime Minister to justify invoking the Emergencies Act was farfetched, and all the police forces have denied asking the federal government to invok…
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Mr. Speaker, ministerial responsibility is a cornerstone of our political system. It means that ministers are accountable for their departments' actions. With the job comes huge responsibility. Does this principle, which is what gives people confidence in their government, mean anything to the Prime Minister and his cabinet?
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Mr. Speaker, soon masks will no longer be required on public transit in Ontario. Soon masks will no longer be required on public transit in Quebec. The provincial governments listened to the recommendations of their public health experts. Vaccine passports are no longer required in the country unless you are taking a plane, working for the federal government or entering the Parliament buildings. I…
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Mr. Speaker, all we ever hear from the minister is “if”. She never gives real answers. Let us talk about real-life things. Even as shootings are on the rise in Montreal, the Liberals are in such a hurry to release criminals that they are going to gag the opposition to pass Bill C‑5, which imposes mandatory minimum sentences. Here is what one Montrealer said on TVA: “My mother and I were sitting on…
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Mr. Speaker, her talent for not answering questions is incredible. What is the difference between being crammed into a subway or lining up at an airport? People on the subway have physical contact with others, vaccinated or not, and public health is fine with that. At an airport, everyone is vaccinated and must still wear a mask. The Prime Minister has no science to justify this. Does the Prime Mi…
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Mr. Speaker, allow me to share another story from one of my constituents who is worried about the cost of living. This person will not have enough to pay his bills and put food on the table at the end of the month. He will have to make some very difficult choices. Some members of his family will probably have to go hungry so that he can afford to pay his bills. This is the experience of someone fr…
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to share what I heard from the representative of a community that this government claims it wants to help. She says that eliminating these minimum sentences is not only a bad idea masquerading as a good one, but an idea that will further jeopardize the communities this initiative is supposed to protect. That is what we heard from Murielle Chatellier in a parliamentary com…
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Mr. Speaker, working Canadians and everyone else do not care what is causing inflation or why everything costs more. What they do care about is being able to afford to buy groceries at the end of the month, making sure that their kids are not going to bed hungry, and being able to afford to fill up their vehicle so that they can get to work. Whether it is the pandemic, COVID‑19, or anything else t…
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Madam Speaker, I have a very short question for my colleague. He mentioned the importance of taking action, of moving to plan B. Is it important to act quickly to protect the potential victims of future attackers?
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Mr. Speaker, this is what happens when members speak up: they encourage debate. When members say things to distract the House, some of our colleagues here want to get us back on topic. This was, unfortunately, yet another example of this kind of distraction. The Liberals do not see any inflation crisis. They see no crisis, and they do not think people are having a hard time paying their gas or gro…
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Mr. Speaker, I want to highlight the excellent work of the Leader of the Opposition, who today made a passionate plea on behalf of Canadians who are struggling and having a hard time making ends meet. By moving this motion today, the Leader of the Opposition clearly showed her support for Canadians, families, young people, workers, seniors and everyone affected by the skyrocketing cost of living. …
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Mr. Speaker, there is much in what my hon. colleague said. I must mention that she works very hard for seniors. That is her file and she often speaks about seniors' needs. We are currently facing a crisis. All consumers who are seniors will get a break with the measures we outlined. Seniors, youth and workers will immediately get a break. That is the goal. We are the official opposition, and there…
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Mr. Speaker, we support a relief on taxes for each and every Canadian, including indigenous people. This is for everyone in the country. It is what we are supportive of. It could be the direct answer and could help everyone right now. This is what we need in Canada, and I hope the member will support our motion today.
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Mr. Speaker, since the beginning of the crisis, we have seen that the Minister of Finance is totally out of touch with the reality of Canadians. According to the Liberals, gas prices are not too high. According to them, Russia, the pandemic and even Canadians are to blame. They are going to criticize the Conservatives today for introducing a motion calling on them to act, to give a little breathin…
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Mr. Speaker, now is not the time to spout off scripted lines meant for the press. The situation in Canada is increasingly worrisome. We have learned that a quarter of Canadians are not eating enough because they cannot afford to buy food. Statistics Canada reports that food prices have risen 10% since last year, the highest increase since 1981. Why are the Prime Minister and his ministers not doin…
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Mr. Speaker, the minister cannot be serious. Her answer was about dental care and the home buyers' tax credit. Is that the Liberals' solution to the crisis food banks are currently facing? Places like Mégantic—L'Érable have seen a 10% increase in demand over the past few weeks from people who cannot afford to put food on the table. In many other regions, it is as high as 25%. When food bank usage …
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Mr. Speaker, I cannot get over the answers I am hearing from Canada's Minister of Finance. She does not realize what a tough time people are having paying their bills and putting food on the table. Everything is more expensive. What the minister is saying is that it may just be single mothers who are having a tough time. In reality, every Canadian and every worker is having a tough time. Some are …
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Madam Speaker, I think many of my colleagues from the Liberal Party, the NDP and the Bloc Québécois are ignoring important facts about Bill C-5, the bill they are planning to support. Under this bill, 11 serious criminal offences involving firearms will no longer be subject to mandatory minimums. We are talking about robbery with a firearm, discharging a firearm with intent and using a firearm whe…
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Madam Speaker, that is the problem. In trying to do something good, three parties in the House are going to make a serious mistake by passing Bill C-5. Rather than sending a strong message to armed criminals, they are announcing that Canada will now be more tolerant toward criminals and will give them a second chance. Victims of gun violence, however, do not get a second chance. The reality is tha…
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Mr. Speaker, “[g]overnment and its information must be open by default”. That was the big promise that the Prime Minister made to Canadians in 2015. Seven years later, that promise has melted away like snow on a sunny day. We have never seen a government as closed off, as opaque or as quick to redact as the one led by this Prime Minister. We recently learned that the government has adopted 72 secr…
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Mr. Speaker, the member opposite cannot impute motives or attribute words to other colleagues without evidence. All he is doing right now is spewing rhetoric and making some pretty big assumptions about what is going to happen—
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Mr. Speaker, there was another murder this week in Laval, in the middle of a restaurant, right in front of diners. People are afraid. Criminals no longer fear the police, who in turn feel abandoned by the Liberal government. Instead of sending a strong message to armed criminal gangs, with Bill C‑5, the Prime Minister announced that they will be able to serve their sentences at home. Even Pierre E…
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Mr. Speaker, do you want me to list more Liberal secrets? There was SNC-Lavalin, the paid vacations, the WE Charity scandal, the Winnipeg lab documents. The Information Commissioner of Canada is receiving more complaints than ever before, and now the Prime Minister and his cabinet are keeping 72 decisions secret. “[I]t is time to shine more light on government to make sure it remains focused on th…
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Mr. Speaker, how is it partisan to ask the government to spend a little time thinking about how difficult it is for Canadian families to stretch their budget to get to the end of the month? Canadians need help now, not in six months or a year. The Prime Minister must act now. However, he never even saw it coming, and there was nothing in the last budget to help Canadian families get through the im…
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister keeps repeating talking points that border on misinformation and that definitely show a lack of compassion, both for victims of crime and for Canadians who are paying more and more for everything. To satisfy his insatiable appetite for spending, the Prime Minister is happy to let Canadians pay millions of dollars more every day in taxes because everything costs more…
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Mr. Speaker, that is a whole lot of nonsense. The government's response to inflation and the rising price of gas, food and housing is sorely lacking in compassion for Canadians. It is not by comparing Canada to other countries that we are going to help the families who are struggling to make ends meet at the end of the month. The government is one of the biggest beneficiaries of inflation since it…
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Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives always put victims' rights above criminals' rights. On Friday, the Supreme Court issued a disappointing verdict that will allow violent criminals and serial killers like Alexandre Bissonnette and Justin Bourque back into society in spite of their life sentences. They murdered nine people. These victims will never be back in society, never be with their families again…
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Mr. Speaker, in 2015, the Prime Minister promised to make life more affordable for everyone. Seven years later, here is his report card: Gas costs twice as much, housing prices have doubled, groceries cost a fortune, and inflation has risen from 1.1% to 6.8%. With the carbon tax, the government itself is happily picking the pockets of Canadians. The facts speak for themselves. Under the Liberals, …
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Madam Chair, how can the minister not be involved in a contract with a private company, a contract worth $400 million?
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