Parliamentary Speeches
290 speeches by Marie-Hélène Gaudreau — Page 4 of 6
Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, it is the wrong person and the wrong job. Irrespective of Mr. Johnston, the Prime Minister is the one who came up with the idea of a special rapporteur, which is the wrong job. The Prime Minister is the one holding up the investigation into the Chinese police stations. He is the one holding up the investigation into the intimidation of the Chinese community. He is the one holding up t…
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Mr. Speaker, during a press conference on Monday, the Prime Minister listed his protection measures against foreign interference: in 2017, he formed the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians; in 2018, he created election financing legislation to fend off foreign financing and, in 2019, he came up with a plan to protect democracy and set up a working group on the threats …
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Mr. Speaker, it is understandable that the Prime Minister prefers to sweep the issue of interference under the rug. It is understandable that he does not want to hear it mentioned ever again and that he wants to move on. However, it is not that simple, and it will take more than a secret committee and a rapporteur doing the Prime Minister's bidding. The Prime Minister is playing with public confid…
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Mr. Speaker, the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs voted in favour of an independent public inquiry chaired by a commission member chosen with the agreement of all the parties represented in the House. The Bloc Québécois, the NDP and the Conservatives were able to set partisanship aside. What is important here is public confidence in our electoral system, not partisanship. Does the…
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Mr. Speaker, in a democracy, candidates are not guaranteed to win an election, but they must be assured that the election is conducted by the book, without cheating, without money received on the sly, without people being bullied into voting, and without foreign interference. That is democracy. These conditions make it possible to accept the results of elections. If the public loses confidence in …
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Madam Speaker, we have been hearing details about the impact this bill could have. I would like to hear my colleague's thoughts on the following question. Why are we always in reaction mode? In 2019, the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics was looking at how to separate information pertaining to social insurance numbers in order to protect citizens' privacy. What messag…
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Madam Speaker, I heard loud and clear what the bill is missing. It lacks teeth and, of course, accountability mechanisms. I heard my colleague opposite talk about the purpose of this bill, which could restore some degree of public trust. It is safe to say that trust is being undermined at the moment. My colleague is concerned not only about the fact that people's safety must not be compromised, bu…
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Madam Speaker, unfortunately, we have seen that, when it comes to everything that affects all citizens, the government is ignoring security issues and the threats that foreign interference can pose. We are seeing partisanship everywhere. We are talking here about cybersecurity. We want our electoral system to be airtight. We also do not want democracy to be affected. Is this the right time for thi…
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Mr. Speaker, the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs passed a motion calling for the creation of an independent commission of public inquiry on foreign interference in our elections. The committee agreed with the Bloc Québécois proposal that the commission chair be appointed with the consent of all parties represented in the House. Why is that important? Because it must transcend par…
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Madam Speaker, today I will be talking about the bill we have been discussing for the past few hours, Bill C‑26, an act respecting cyber security, amending the Telecommunications Act and making consequential amendments to other acts. From the outset, I would like to mention that in 2019, when I arrived in the House of Commons, the topic on everyone's lips was the data breach at Desjardins. To put …
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Madam Speaker, that is a very interesting question. Here is what I would say in response. If my colleague and I were to switch places, I would say that one of the truly urgent and useful things we could do would be to fine-tune and improve the bill to show that the government really cares about cybersecurity and wants to make sure it protects Canadians from all cyber-attacks and any potential inte…
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Madam Speaker, in my opinion, a government that knows where it is headed and has the competence to get there does not stumble around and try to clear its conscience or improve its own image. On the contrary, a leader who is in a really good position does not wait for the opposition's proposals to figure out what to do. My colleague asked a good question. I will let people come to their own conclus…
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Madam Speaker, that is exactly one of the questions we need to ask the experts. We must listen to them and accept their recommendations. We must take action based on the analyses of scientists, particularly those who may have had to reconsider some mechanisms. Obviously, it is important to be ready to act. The answer might be very different depending on the situation. We are hearing a lot about fo…
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Mr. Speaker, I am really upset this morning. Let me explain. In 2017, my father passed away after a very difficult life. Many people here know his story. He struggled with ALS for 20 years. I was there with him during the five years he was in palliative care. At the time, he told me, “Don't worry. I have a respirator. I had an extra eight years of life and now I know that I can choose what to do w…
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Mr. Speaker, Quebec's gastronomy community is in mourning. Marcel Kretz, a monumental figure in that community, passed away on January 31 at the age of 91. He was a member of the Order of Canada and the Ordre national du Québec whose expertise and talent paved the way for Normand Laprise, Martin Picard and Colombe St-Pierre. Today I want to highlight the important role and influence he had in maki…
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Madam Speaker, for most of us, March 12, 2020, marked the official start of the COVID-19 pandemic, which had a major impact on the life of our communities and the organization of our societies and our work. It had an especially big impact on our social interactions. Three years later, we have the right, as citizens, to know what really happened so that we can learn from this unprecedented public h…
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Thank you for the reminder, Madam Speaker. We will have to make changes in 2023. I will resume my speech. I have to say that in Laurentides-Labelle my team and I worked tirelessly to bring home our constituents. More than 50 families were stranded abroad and abandoned by the government. It was an urgent situation. I remember that it happened during the school break, a time when thousands of Quebec…
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Madam Speaker, in Quebec, we call them centres de la petite enfance, or CPEs. This has allowed parents, like me for that matter, to not have to make the agonizing choice of deciding which parent should stay home to educate and prepare children for school based on family income. Twenty-five years ago, many women often earned less than their spouses. The child care system has not only provided equal…
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Madam Speaker, my wish for my colleagues is that 2023 is a bit different than these past few years. A few minutes ago, I heard my colleague ask if we could encourage people to get into politics and set aside partisan rhetoric on the thousands of files before us. Today I have the great pleasure of speaking to Bill C‑35. I say bravo because we are entirely in favour in principle. I am very proud of …
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Madam Speaker, that is a good question. I thank the minister for asking it. Here is my answer. How do we judge whether parents, who are acting out of love for their children, have everything they need based on their situation? It seems to me that we should give everyone the opportunity to get an education in a safe setting in order to prepare children for the future. It is odd to be talking about …
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Madam Speaker, anything is possible after 25 years. As I said, I worked in the forestry industry for seven years. For 44 hours a week, there were three shifts, including a night shift, so day care centres that are open non-standard hours do exist. I would ask members not to get hung up on the wording, but instead to look at how we can seize this moment to create opportunities for those who work ni…
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That is a very good question, Madam Speaker. Studies have indeed shown that, when education is at the heart of a community, then health care prevention is possible. When individuals are fortunate enough to be informed, to feel safe and to be educated, it has a direct impact on health care. As I said at the outset, for every dollar we invest in health and social services, we save nine dollars. Ofte…
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Mr. Speaker, only 57% of the Commissioner of Official Languages' recommendations were implemented this year. That is only half. The worst offender with respect to the French language is not Air Canada, it is the federal government itself. How many recommendations has Transport Canada followed? Zero. How many recommendations has Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada followed? Zero. How many recommendati…
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Mr. Speaker, the Bloc Québécois agrees. We also want to ensure that we have everything in our possession to guarantee that our refugees are protected. Earlier I heard my colleague talk about the fact that the government is behind the curve. That is true not just in defence, but also in foreign affairs. It is no secret that the government is also behind the curve on the environment and privacy prot…
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Mr. Speaker, we are happy that the holiday season is approaching. There are a few days left before we rise. My colleague opposite will have enough time to ask a question because I will be brief. I appreciate my colleague's speech. I am sad to hear that she did not get an answer to her Order Paper question. I cannot believe it. My question concerns the possibility of recourse to ensure that there a…
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Mr. Speaker, earlier, I asked my colleague a question. I wanted to know why the government had waited so long, given the importance of this bill not only for identifying terrorist groups, but also for ensuring the safety of refugees. I will ask my other colleague the same question. Why has it taken so long, and why are we starting the study of this bill just a few days before we rise for the holid…
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Madam Speaker, as I said earlier, this is just a rehash of the budget, but it took a pandemic for the government to say that high-speed Internet is an essential service. Now, when we talk about public safety, the government points out that there is broadband, but if there is no electricity, what will our providers or people who live in more remote areas without cellphone coverage do? Again, we wil…
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for the question. However, for the people watching, I would like to point out that decades ago, 50% of the tax dollars collected by Ottawa were transferred for health care. There was never any question as to whether the provinces were able to deliver services. No, the fact of the matter was that Ottawa trusted them and it had other things to manage. The day that…
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Madam Speaker, I will begin my remarks with a short aside about Sainte‑Adèle, a municipality in my riding. On Friday, a terrible fire destroyed the Hôtel Mont Gabriel, which is a Laurentides—Labelle institution. The hotel has been perched on the summit of Mont Gabriel since 1936. I have a personal attachment to it because, in the 1960s, my father worked at Mont Gabriel to pay for his education. I …
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question. I am not a tax expert or an economist, but what I do know is that we need to listen to scientists, to those who are recommending measures to offset this inflation. We saw it with the key rate, which continues to rise, even though inflation is still very high. Nevertheless, I rely on science and everything that will be proven to help us deal wit…
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Madam Speaker, I commend my colleague. I sat with her on the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics for a few months. We had concerns about privacy. Several recommendations were made, and that is why Bill C‑11 became Bill C‑27. I acknowledge that the bill has been improved. That being said, I wonder about two things. First, in 2022, I do not think it is right that banking …
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Madam Speaker, it is a beautiful Monday morning, particularly since we are talking about a bill that will likely make things easier for people who, unfortunately, did not give their consent or whose personal information was compromised. I will repeat my question, which I unfortunately did not get an answer to. Does the government intend to thoroughly analyze this bill and invite enough witnesses t…
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Madam Speaker, I liked what my colleague had to say. To begin, I want to say that I worked in the forestry sector and forestry industry for a decade. It is 2022 and, even back in the early 2000s, I was telling insurers in Laurentides—Labelle about the positives of carbon capture, its use and benefits in terms of fire reduction. Given that it is now 2022, it was high time this bill was introduced. …
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Madam Speaker, I am pleased to rise this evening to speak at second reading of Bill C‑288, and I will take this opportunity to make references to what I experience in Laurentides—Labelle. This bill will, I am sure, have an impact on Quebeckers, including people in my riding, Laurentides—Labelle. The riding that I have the honour to represent is vast and rural. Anyone who knows our region knows tha…
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Mr. Speaker, I am honoured to highlight the lengthy career of a community builder from Laurentides—Labelle, Pierre Urquhart. In 2019, Pierre welcomed me as a new MP and helped me better understand the issues in Pays‑d'en‑Haut and all the valuable key players. Executive director of the Vallée de Saint‑Sauveur—Piedmont chamber of commerce and tourism for 27 years, founder of the Carrefour jeunesse-e…
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Madam Speaker, I enjoyed my colleague's speech. Strengthening environmental protection is a good thing. We are not against virtue. However, based on what my colleague said earlier, I am wondering whether this is just wishful thinking. Is there not something else we could focus on to ensure a healthy environment after this bill is passed? What commitments could the Conservatives make to improve the…
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Mr. Speaker, today I want to talk about the miners in Saint‑Rémi‑d'Amherst and their families. Bruno Carrière's documentary film 1948, L'affaire silicose — L'histoire d'une injustice—
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Mr. Speaker, today I want to talk about the miners in Saint‑Rémi‑d'Amherst and their families. Bruno Carrière's documentary film 1948, L'affaire silicose — L'histoire d'une injustice shines a light on the tragedy of the first industrial disease in Quebec in the 1930s and 1940s. It is thanks to the tireless investigative work of Franco-American journalist Burton LeDoux that we know the extent of th…
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Mr. Speaker, this bill will have a positive and meaningful impact on family reunification for many immigrants, particularly immigrant women. Bill C-242 would amend the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, specifically the eligibility criteria for parents and grandparents who wish to apply for the temporary resident super visa. To better understand this, let us take a quick look back. The super …
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Mr. Speaker, I heard a lot of things that helped me prepare my question. The opposition party is very constructive and raises issues that come up over time. We realize we need to deal with Bill S‑5, but there are also other things the government must act on quickly. While the principle of Bill S‑5 has merit, I would like to give my colleague a chance to tell us what more we can do.
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Mr. Speaker, I was very touched by my colleague opposite's speech because I have children myself, and we are wondering what will happen in the coming decades. My question is quite simple. I heard the member opposite talking about how we can ensure that Canadians live in a healthy environment. I would like to know what measures are set out in the bill to create a healthier environment. I would like…
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Madam Speaker, any time we vote on bills in this place, we in the Bloc Québécois are always careful to vote with our conscience. There may be times when we vote against certain bills not because of their principle, but because we respect jurisdictions. I have a question for my hon. colleague. I am concerned about this temporary solution, given how vulnerable people are. As we have said from the be…
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Madam Speaker, last week, I gave a speech about Bill C‑31 in which I said that it does provide some relief. What does my colleague like about the proposed temporary solution to the dental care issue? Quebec has tackled it, and all the provinces really need to do likewise.
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Mr. Speaker, I listened intently to my colleague across the way as she went on and on about the cost of living relief measures, which are being offered on a one-time basis to help people through today's economic times. Her government has been in office since 2015. If it had made meaningful, significant investments over the past seven years, the housing shortage would not be as severe as it is toda…
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Madam Speaker, I will start by saying I gave myself a little challenge, and this is my first time giving a real speech with only a few notes. This is also my first speech of the session. I hope that we can all be productive here. We hear a lot about listening, but I want to focus on active listening. In other words, members who are here in the chamber must truly be present. Let us listen to one an…
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Madam Speaker, I thank the member opposite for his question. I really talked about just part 2. We will obviously be supporting this proposal. We are extremely worried because we do not want Quebec and New Brunswick, which have already taken the initiative to help these people, to be penalized. That aspect worries us. As my colleague stated, helping people who cannot afford dental care is one thin…
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Madam Speaker, when one is in a relationship and must live together, one will obviously find all kinds of ways to maintain that relationship. I sincerely believe that the wording of this bill is all for show. That is why we are talking about dental care and the details on how this measure will be funded. As my colleague pointed out, this is ultimately a supplementary benefit. This is not the much-…
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Madam Speaker, I am pleased to see that my interventions are now a little more polished. After three years I am getting the hang of it. I want to talk about the benefits. I sincerely believe that my colleague must be very disappointed to have to vote on this bill. Based on what we have been told so far, the dental care is nothing like what was expected. I would tell my colleague that his party nee…
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Mr. Speaker, my esteemed colleague from Drummond is right. Indeed, my riding of Laurentides—Labelle is culturally diverse, whether it be in terms of film or singer-songwriters. Clearly, we need to talk about the idea of redistribution. Consuming culture is not only good for the soul, but it can also break isolation. It re-invigorates, and that has an effect on our future actions. This bill is abou…
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Madam Speaker, I want to congratulate my colleague on his detailed speech. I have a simple question. They say that they want to take action on illegal arms trafficking, yet it has been documented that Bill C-21 will do nothing to prevent illegal arms trafficking. Is my colleague aware of that?
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