Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, being myself a member of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs, I can tell you that we all tried in good faith to hold a meeting last week to discuss the terms and conditions of the appearance. We wanted to organize a meeting without forcing anyone, based on good faith on both sides. Unfortunately, the Liberal chair of the committee refused to call a meeting so we co…
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Mr. Chair, since my riding bears the name of our national emblem, which is a tree, I am especially interested in the softwood lumber debate, even though maple is not a softwood. Softwood lumber plays an important role in all the regions of Quebec. It was high time that we had a debate like this one in the House of Commons to talk about the importance of softwood lumber and the Liberals' incompeten…
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Mr. Chair, I would like to point out to my colleague that the member for Carleton was the first to rise in the House to speak out against the Minister of Environment and Climate Change's desire to create a whole saga around woodland caribou. We expected the leader of the Bloc Québécois to ask a question about that, but he did not. There is something else that I would like to add. My Conservative c…
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Madam Speaker, the Liberals' hypocrisy is that they talk about their big agenda while ignoring what is really going on at food banks, or in the homes of Quebec families who are unable to buy groceries every week because they cannot afford them now that the government's inflationary spending has hiked up the price of everything. That is the Liberals' hypocrisy. We are wondering why the Bloc Québéco…
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Madam Speaker, I rise on a point of order. During question period, the Minister of Public Services and Procurement spoke of hypocrisy. According to one article, police are monitoring the line at a Montreal food bank because people were fighting over food. I request unanimous consent to table this TVA Nouvelles article, which shows the Liberal government's hypocrisy.
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Madam Speaker, Quebeckers are disappointed today. They are disappointed that an election was not called to change the government. Why? Because the Bloc Québécois voted to save this Prime Minister's career. The Bloc Québécois is kowtowing to a Prime Minister who has encroached on every aspect of Quebec's jurisdiction, who has doubled the national debt, and who is sending 800,000 Quebeckers to food …
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Mr. Speaker, we are currently witnessing a historic debate in the House of Commons, since it has been over 100 years since someone was called to testify in this way for contempt of Parliament before all parliamentarians. This is a serious moment, but it is also essential to ensure that the people who testify before committees understand that, when members of this Parliament ask them to appear befo…
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Mr. Speaker, that just shows how out of touch the NDP are with the reality facing Canadians. While I talk about food banks and mention that two million Canadians a month use them, or that food bank use in the riding of Mégantic—L'Érable increased by 40% to 50% this year, all the NDP can do is live in the past and say that things are the same they always were. As Conservatives, we are forward-looki…
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Mr. Speaker, I really like my colleague, but sometimes he is hard to follow. I do not really understand what he was trying to get at with that question. All I know is that, on the one hand, the Bloc Québécois claims to defend the interests of Quebeckers. The reality on the ground, however, is that Quebeckers are paying twice as much for housing, they are paying a lot more for groceries and they ar…
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Mr. Speaker, I want to congratulate my colleague from Chilliwack—Hope on his excellent speech today. He has once again demonstrated how good Conservatives are at voicing the concerns of people across the country here in the House. My colleague just conveyed the concerns of people way over on the other side of the country, in British Columbia. I want to thank him for that. I think it is worth takin…
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Mr. Speaker, it is rare that I have to do this in the House, but I have to say that the apples that are grown in the riding of Mégantic—L'Érable are very good, and I think that I will buy apples from Mégantic—L'Érable before I buy apples from my colleague's riding. We have seen it. It is obvious. Food prices have increased, and the carbon tax has a direct impact on the price of food that is import…
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years, this Prime Minister is not worth the cost of the support he is getting from the Bloc Québécois. How can the Bloc Québécois support a Prime Minister who has doubled our national debt? How can the Bloc Québécois support a Prime Minister who is sending hundreds of thousands of Quebeckers to food banks? My question is for the Prime Minister. What promise did the Prime M…
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Mr. Speaker, the thousands of Quebeckers who are watching at home would have liked to hear an answer to my question. Here is the question that the members of the Bloc Québécois should be asking themselves today: Will they set their ideology aside for once and vote for the Quebeckers they represent, who cannot take any more of this government's arrogance? This Prime Minister broke our immigration s…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Mr. Speaker, I would like to add a few points to the question of privilege raised by my colleague from Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier. As you reflect on the ruling you should give on this question of privilege, I would like to remind you that, with the passage of the British North America Act, the greatest legacy of Sir John A. Macdonald and Sir George-Étienne Cartier, members have been free to express …
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Mr. Speaker, the manager of a Montreal food bank gave the following explanation after police had to intervene when food bank clients began shoving one another in line because there was not enough food. She said, “They are starving, so they are acting out.” This is Canada after eight years of this Prime Minister. Food banks are overwhelmed and in dire straits because food is too expensive. The Libe…
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Mr. Speaker, more and more Quebec families and workers may no longer be able to make ends meet because food is too expensive. Why is food too expensive? Quebec imports food from the rest of Canada. The farmers who grow that food are paying the carbon tax. Food processors are paying the carbon tax. The truckers hauling that food are paying the carbon tax. Guess who ends up paying the bill? Quebec f…
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years of this Liberal government, Quebec farmers are stretched to the limit. There is a generalized sense of frustration as a result of tax hikes, inflation and carbon pricing, which the Bloc Québécois wants to drastically increase. I am not the one saying it. Martin Caron, the president of the Union des producteurs agricoles, has been clear. He said that rising interest r…
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Mr. Speaker, it is time for the minister to come back down to earth. In the Lower St. Lawrence, 500 farmers were escorted by 200 tractors; in Charlevoix, 200 farmers were escorted by about 100 tractors. There were also demonstrations on the north shore and in Quebec City. This is a heartfelt plea from farmers across Quebec. As farm closures multiply, the Liberals, backed by the Bloc Québécois, thi…
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister is a known admirer of China's basic dictatorship. Over the past eight years, he has allowed research with the Chinese army. He has allowed the Chinese Communist Party to interfere in our elections. He has turned a blind eye to intimidation of the Chinese diaspora. With the release of the Winnipeg lab documents yesterday, we learned that the Prime Minister also allow…
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Mr. Speaker, where was the minister in July 2019 when two scientists were expelled from Canada by the security agencies? Where was the minister then? It was not last January; it was in 2019. That was over four years ago. What we learned yesterday is that the Prime Minister ignored four orders of Parliament to produce documents. He took the Speaker of the House to court. This is unprecedented in th…
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That is appalling, Madam Speaker. The Leader of the Opposition was clear today. Yes, we need to investigate all of the contracts that were awarded. The member for Winnipeg North is talking about a few million dollars under the Conservatives. Yes, he is right. However, we are talking about a total of $250 million that this government allegedly paid to GC Strategies, $250 million. The Liberals doubl…
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Madam Speaker, I will be sharing my time with my colleague from Brantford—Brant. Before I begin my speech, I would like to acknowledge the great French spoken by my colleague from Vaughan—Woodbridge, who gave his entire speech in French. I wanted to point that out because it is greatly appreciated by all francophones in the House when our colleagues give speeches in the language of Molière. The co…
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Madam Speaker, the problem is that the NDP blindly supports all of this government's financial decisions. There are more civil servants and there are more subcontractors. Unfortunately, services are worse than they were prior to 2015. Every Canadian in every riding can confirm this. People are lining up for passports. People are waiting months and weeks for Service Canada. People are waiting weeks…
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Mr. Speaker, axe the tax, build the homes, fix the budget and stop the crime, that is the Conservative common sense plan. Common sense is also knowing the extent of the Liberal arrive scam disaster. Even though the Liberals can count on the Bloc Québécois to close their eyes to millions of dollars in spending, the Conservatives want to shed light on the arrive scam scandal. Will the Prime Minister…
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Mr. Speaker, if my colleague were more aware of what is happening in Canada, he would know that after eight years under this Liberal Prime Minister, two million people are going to food banks every month. Food banks are now lining up to get the food they need to feed the lines of hungry people. That is what Canada looks like under this Prime Minister. The Liberal government, with Bloc support, man…
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Madam Speaker, the plank is in the eye of the person who just asked me if I could see the plank in mine. We did indeed vote against that, but it was a vote of non-confidence in this government because even then we already had doubts about its ability to manage public money, Canadians' money. My colleague's position is to defend the leader of the Bloc Québécois, who said, “We are not going to scrut…
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Mr. Speaker, can the minister tell me why this Prime Minister, with the support of the leader of the Bloc Québécois, has put the country deeper into debt than all the other prime ministers before him combined? The leader of the Bloc Québécois chose to vote in favour of spending $24 million on the Prime Minister's arrive scam. I am not the one saying so. It was the leader of the Bloc Québécois who …
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Mr. Speaker, the common-sense Conservatives will axe the tax, build the homes, fix the budget and stop the crime. After eight years, this Prime Minister is not worth the cost or the crime of corruption. The leader of the Bloc Québécois has just shown his true colours. Not only does he want to keep this Prime Minister in office for a long time to come, but he voted eight times to send more money to…
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Madam Speaker, the minister is denying the truth. I quoted newspaper articles that have been published since the Auditor General brought to light this scandal that saw Canadians pay $60 million for an app that should have cost only $80,000. Radio-Canada found that GC Strategies, this infamous company that does not do IT work and that was paid close to $20 million to develop a useless app, actually…
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Madam Speaker, the Prime Minister is ultimately the one responsible for the arrive scam scandal, his useless app that was supposed to cost $80,000 and ended up costing 750 times more. No one believes the Prime Minister's excuses anymore. A former NDP leader said, “The scam of the century: [the Prime Minister] gave millions to a company with four employees”. One headline reads, “Arrive Scam: A $59-…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Madam Speaker, for 95 years, the Écho de Frontenac newspaper has been an important part of people's lives in Lac‑Mégantic and the Granit MCR. Founded in 1929 by J. Édouard Fortin, the local independent newspaper was acquired by Louis‑Philippe Poulin two years later and has remained in the family ever since. A truly independent weekly, the Écho de Frontenac gets support from its subscribers and its…
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Mr. Speaker, after what was undoubtedly a difficult week for the government, one could say that the upcoming one is very timely for government members. In the meantime, however, we still have one sitting of the House to go. I would like to ask the government House leader to tell us what business is planned for tomorrow and for when we return from what I hope will be a relaxing break week for the g…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to take part in this debate on Bill C‑354, which was introduced by the Bloc Québécois. The Bloc Québécois's bill seems pretty straightforward. It states: The Commission shall consult with the Government of Quebec about the cultural distinctiveness of Quebec and with the governments of the other provinces about the French-speaking markets in those provinces before furtheri…
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister keeps misleading the House. On September 27, the Prime Minister said in this House that he had no idea that a former Nazi was going to be involved in the events surrounding President Zelenskyy's visit. We now know that the Prime Minister personally invited the Nazi to his private reception in Toronto. He said that the Speaker of the House should resign for inviting …
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Madam Speaker, after eight years of Justin Trudeau, one word keeps coming up over and over: trust. After eight years of Liberal governance, people no longer trust this government or this Prime Minister. The latest example could not be clearer. The Globe and Mail is reporting that the Nazi who was invited here and honoured in the House was also invited—
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Madam Speaker, the Bloc Québécois just has a tendency to support the Liberal Prime Minister. The Bloc Québécois voted for the Liberal law arising from Bill C-75, which allows car thieves to be released on bail the same day they are arrested. The thieves are arrested, but the next day, they are free to start stealing again. The Bloc Québécois also voted for Bill C-5, which allows car thieves to ser…
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Madam Speaker, I can see the NDP is confused, because, during the Harper years, it was indeed less costly and there was less crime. Crime did not pay during the time of Prime Minister Stephen Harper. I can see the NDP has trouble understanding this, but we Conservatives have decided to act. We will continue. We will stop the crime and take steps to reduce auto theft in this country. Car owners wil…
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Madam Speaker, after eight years of this Prime Minister whose name we cannot say anymore, the trust is gone. Unfortunately, the trust is broken. We saw this in the most recent incident. The Globe and Mail is reporting that the Prime Minister provided disinformation, at the very least, to the House concerning his office's knowledge of the presence of a Nazi who was honoured here. Each of my colleag…
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Madam Speaker, is there anyone in this government who will ever take responsibility for their actions and decisions? The Liberals have been in power for eight years. In those eight years, the rate of violent gun crime has surged. In Canada, in 2022 alone, the rate jumped by 9%. Approximately 14,000 violent crimes were committed with the aid of a firearm in this country in 2022, which breaks down t…
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Mr. Speaker, they are good at trying to distract us to better divide us and shift the focus away from their disastrous record, which is driving two million people to use food banks every month. People can laugh if they want, but there is nothing funny about two million Canadians having to turn to food banks every month because groceries are now beyond their means. Who is going to do the right thin…
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Mr. Speaker, today the costly Bloc-Liberal coalition will have the opportunity to vote on a Conservative motion to cancel the April 1 carbon tax increase. With 800,000 Quebeckers lining up at food banks every month, the Bloc Québécois and the Liberals think it is a good idea to raise taxes. What is worse, the Bloc members want to drastically increase the carbon tax, which has a direct impact on th…
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Madam Speaker, just on the other side of the Ottawa River is Quebec, more specifically the city of Gatineau. After eight years of this Prime Minister, it is in Gatineau that the Liberals' soft-on-crime policies have caused the most damage. Shockingly, violent gun crime has increased by 76% in one year. That is the biggest increase in all of Quebec. In Canada, 14,000 violent gun crimes were committ…
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Madam Speaker, I do not see how, after eight years of Liberal inaction, the member for Gatineau can be proud that violent gun crime has gone up by 76% in Gatineau. It is not just gun crime that is causing harm. The housing crisis is as well. Community organizations say that the situation is going to keep getting worse, because more people are going to be evicted from their homes. As the saying goe…
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Madam Speaker, people are lining up for housing. After eight years of this Prime Minister, he is not worth the cost of waiting. People are lining up at airports and passport offices, and waiting for hours on the phone for EI cheques. Even food banks have wait lists. Folks at Quebec City's La Bouchée généreuse said that in a modern, wealthy society like ours, it does not make sense that families ha…
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Mr. Speaker, what the Liberals should be ashamed of is the fact that, after eight years of this Prime Minister, food banks are stretched to the limit because too many Canadians can no longer afford to put food on the table. Things are only going to get worse on April 1 because the Prime Minister is going to further impoverish families with a new carbon tax hike. We can also count on the Bloc Québé…
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Mr. Speaker, we will always vote against. These taxes will drive up the price of food and make it impossible for Canadians to feed themselves. They will force two million Canadians to use food banks every month. Of course we will vote against these measures. I highly doubt the Prime Minister visited a food bank during his $84,000 one-week trip to Jamaica. Surely he has seen how many Canadians go t…
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Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to welcome the minister of state in the House of Commons, who will take on the role of Leader of the Government in the House of Commons for the next few weeks and months. I would like to ask him if the government has planned to put anything of interest to Canadians on the agenda tomorrow, and what the plan is for next week.
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to the grocery rebate announcement made by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance at Rabba Fine Foods in early July 2023: (a) did any of the minister’s staff members remove, or request that the store remove, the price tags from the food in the background of the announcement, and, if so, why was this done; and (b) if the answer to (a) is negative, what is the minister’s expla…
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Madam Speaker, I would like to seek leave to table the documents from Moisson Québec.
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Madam Speaker, as you know, immediately after question period, we can rise on a point of order on what was said during question period. During question period, it was mentioned that Moisson Québec has seen a 27% increase in demand, which is truly shocking—
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