Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, there are less than 48 hours left. On Sunday, the temporary employment insurance measures come to an end. On Sunday, unless the federal government does something, it is back to the spring gap, back to the nightmare for seasonal workers everywhere, especially in eastern Quebec. In less than 48 hours, we will be back to an employment insurance system that 60% of workers do not have acce…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Madam Speaker, I am proud to rise on this 21st day of June to honour National Indigenous Peoples Day. May this, the brightest day of the year, serve as an opportunity to showcase the full spectrum and richness of indigenous language and culture. On this special day, let us become better acquainted with and learn about the diversity and wealth that offer so many pathways to a greater understanding …
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Madam Speaker, I am sorry. My question was misunderstood, so I did not get the right answer. Perhaps I could clarify. I was not talking about question period as a whole. My question was about when members of the governing party ask their own government questions.
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Madam Speaker, I wonder if we have quorum. And the count having been taken:
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Mr. Speaker, the French interpretation was not available.
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague from Calgary Rocky Ridge for his speech. I believe that there are some things we agree on with respect to the hybrid Parliament. I found the points he raised to be very interesting. I would like to ask him a question about constituents. We often hear about the advantages or disadvantages for elected members of voting from home, as though it were a video game. At…
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague from Beaches—East York for his speech. He brought up several worthwhile ideas, especially with respect to private members' bills, for which there is a kind of lottery. I would like to hear his thoughts about question period and the fact that the government asks itself questions. Does my colleague think that this is an appropriate or useful practice? Does he thin…
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his speech. I also thank my colleague from the NDP who spoke earlier. I would have liked him to go further. He talked about transparency, as well as the need to show scientific evidence and to provide an update. We need to go even further. Once the evidence is provided, a strategy needs to be presented to the public as well. The thing that many people find f…
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Madam Speaker, I would like to know if there is quorum.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I want to know if there is a quorum.
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, that is exactly the problem. The border is long and people can cross wherever they want to, even though they should be going through official border crossings. If we suspended the safe third country agreement, migrants would be redirected to the 117 border crossings across Canada, instead of converging to cross at Roxham Road, as 92% of them are doing. The number of irregular crossing…
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister refuses to close Roxham Road on the pretext that that is not the solution because irregular migrants “will cross elsewhere”. Yes, they will cross elsewhere. They will cross at the border crossings. That is what they did before the safe third country agreement. If the Prime Minister suspends the agreement, something he can do unilaterally, migrants can cross at any b…
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his speech. I always like hearing what he has to say. He concluded his speech on China by talking about greenhouse gas emission rates. He said that Canada produces 1.6% of greenhouse gas emissions, while China produces 27%. I would like to bring to my colleague's attention to the fact that the entire world did not experience the industrial revolution at the …
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Mr. Speaker, as someone who wants to take the time to do things properly and to consult, can my hon. colleague tell me why none of the Government of Quebec's requests were accommodated in this new version of the bill?
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Madam Speaker, I would like to say from the outset that French in Quebec and outside Quebec is alive and well. In the House, I sometimes get the impression from some speeches that French is being dismissed as a dying language. People have brought up certain monuments from the past. I agree that we can be proud, but French is not a thing of the past and the Bloc Québécois can attest that it has a f…
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Madam Speaker, I could not agree more with my colleague. In all the notes I prepare for my speeches, I am always tempted to remind members of that early and absolutely useless election that cost all Quebeckers and Canadians time. We are now starting over again, discussing bills that we could have tackled back then. Furthermore, the government is constantly telling us that it is urgent. I would sub…
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Madam Speaker, I could also say that I have good intentions while introducing a bill, for example, to lower gas prices. There is nothing in Bill C‑13. The government sees, accepts, says and commits to saying that there is asymmetry. However, the text does not reflect that, since it does not contain asymmetrical measures. It is a problem and that is the problem. For its part, the anglophone communi…
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Madam Speaker, we simply want this bill not to apply to Quebec. That would be the best thing to do.
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, this year, the largest aluminum manufacturing company in the Americas is celebrating its 30th anniversary. Aluminerie Alouette is a source of pride on the North Shore, a jewel for Quebec and the perfect example of how it is possible to be a major, environmentally responsible business on a human scale. A company such as Alouette represents above all the strength, knowledge and expertis…
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Madam Speaker, my first love as a student, as a teacher and even as a child was literature. In a way, literature was my alma mater. Through literature I perceived—or glimpsed, to be more accurate—the letters themselves, because letters both voluntarily and involuntarily encompass all of human knowledge. That may be why I have always had a grateful admiration for and insatiable curiosity about the …
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Madam Speaker, I could go on at length about that with my colleague from Saint‑Hyacinthe—Bagot. It seems clear to me that there is bias in the thought process, despite what one of my colleagues said earlier. Some say that it makes no difference to have a prayer at the beginning of the sitting. However, as I briefly explained, it is clear that the responsibility for our decisions comes from God, ac…
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Madam Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for his question. I believe that such important issues should be raised and debated in the House, and that everyone should have an opportunity to contribute to the debate. As parliamentarians, we are here to debate. Let us give everyone the opportunity to express their opinion, if I may echo what a colleague just whispered in my ear. That is the intent behi…
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Madam Speaker, at no point did I mention the Reign of Terror, if that is what my colleague is suggesting. As I said earlier, I am passionate about both history and knowledge. Naturally I would love to have a conversation with him and very humbly share what I know about the historical period during which humanity achieved democracy. Great Britain is not the only place where peoples have fought for …
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, if you seek it, I think you will find unanimous consent for the following motion: That the membership of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs be amended as follows: Ms. Gaudreau (Laurentides—Labelle) for Mr. Therrien (La Prairie).
Read full speech →Statements By Members
Madam Speaker, on April 2, the entire blue planet observes World Autism Awareness Day. These days, we speak more broadly about autism spectrum disorders, or ASDs. Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder that primarily affects a person's ability to communicate and interact with others. Autism is not an illness. It is a condition. This year, the 38th anniversary, the Fédération québécoise de l'autis…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, I am very pleased to rise today to speak to Bill C‑228, which was introduced by my colleague from Sarnia—Lambton. I want to officially thank her. I may also have done so during my comments. I have thanked her personally but wanted to do so in the House. This is the kind of collaboration that allows us as parliamentarians to go even further, and this was confirmed in all of the quest…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, since 1988, Canada has released 11 plans for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. They have all failed, and the one announced this week will also fail. Why? This is what the plan has to say about capping emissions from the oil and gas industries: “The intent of the cap is not to bring reductions in production that are not driven by declines in global demand.” In other words, as long s…
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Madam Speaker, the Conservatives are applauding the government's plan. That says it all. On Monday, the IPCC, the group of UN environmental experts, will be tabling a new report. In a report released last month, the UN said that the biggest polluters are guilty of arson on our only home. The UN warned all governments that this abdication of leadership is criminal. On Monday, when we read the IPCC …
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, I want to thank my colleague from Sarnia—Lambton for introducing Bill C-228 and for being so open-minded in the House. I heard examples of this several times today. She said that we are ready to adopt this type of bill, and I completely agree. I want her to know that she will have my support and that of the Bloc Québécois on her bill. I think it could be referred to committee very q…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, ever since the birth of the Quebec nation, fishers in Charlevoix have been weir fishing for capelin. It is a tradition, not an industry. It accounts for less than 1% of the total fishery. However, this traditional fishery not only supplies our restaurants, but is also part of our history and is in the process of being recognized by UNESCO. The problem is that Fisheries and Oceans Cana…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
moved for leave to introduce Bill C-264, An Act to amend the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act and the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (pension plans and group insurance plans). Mr. Speaker, I am honoured and proud to introduce this bill in the House. I feel compelled to say that I am reintroducing it, since I introduced a similar version in terms of the spirit and the letter in 2017, and again i…
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Madam Speaker, the National Assembly is unanimous: Health transfers must be increased unconditionally. Quebec knows what it needs. All elected members and the public understand that in Quebec, except for the federal Liberals and the member for Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie. They are the ones who know best what the Government of Quebec must do. They know about health care. How many federal family docto…
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Madam Speaker, we have been asking the government to increase health transfers for years now. The Conservatives cut the escalator and the Liberals have always refused to correct the situation, which means that the federal government's share is decreasing every year. While Quebec is being forced to make tough choices, the federal government keeps lecturing us while cutting health care. That is cyni…
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Mr. Speaker, the Bloc Québécois agrees to apply the results of the previous vote to this one, and we will vote in favour of the motion.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, the Bloc Québécois agrees to apply the results from the previous vote to this vote with our members voting in favour of the motion.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, the Bloc Québécois agrees to apply the results of the previous vote to this vote, and we vote in favour.
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Mr. Speaker, the Bloc Québécois agrees to apply the vote and will be voting in favour.
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Mr. Speaker, I respectfully question whether the speech by the member for Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie is relevant, given the topic currently before the House.
Read full speech →Statements By Members
Mr. Speaker, it is with emotion, appreciation and conviction that I rise in the House today to mark Purple Day for epilepsy. It is with emotion, because I have an extraordinary four-year-old son named Ulysse who has suffered from the neurological disorder of epilepsy since he was barely ten months old. It is with appreciation, because the 100,000 or so Quebeckers living with this disorder can coun…
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Mr. Speaker, the provinces have plans in place to lift the health restrictions. However, the Conservatives' motion calls on the government to do so “immediately”. To me, that is not necessarily reasonable, and I think this is worth discussing. I would like to know if my colleague agrees with us. What is causing anger and anxiety among the public is the lack of predictability.
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague from Fort McMurray—Cold Lake for her speech. The pandemic is constantly evolving and the sixth wave is under way, although it has not quite hit Canada yet. I think it is a little simplistic to say that, because there is no plan or a vote on a plan, all the restrictions should just be lifted. Would the Conservative motion also presume that there is some flexibili…
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Mr. Speaker, the Bloc Québécois agrees to apply the vote and will vote in favour of the motion.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, the Bloc Québécois agrees to apply the results of the previous vote to this one, and we will vote in favour of the motion.
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, even now, new moms who were let go from their jobs while on parental leave cannot collect employment insurance. When these women, who have just started their families, lose their income, Ottawa abandons them. The federal government has been refusing to fix this injustice for years. Six women took the government to court and won. Instead of fixing the problem, Ottawa appealed the decis…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, in the past seven days, one million people have fled Ukraine to Poland, Hungary, Moldova and other European countries. Thousands of people seeking safety are being forced to leave Ukraine, many of them women. These women are courageously crossing borders with their children, unsure of their future. I want to add my voice …
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for her speech. The member spoke a great deal about the mechanics of the process, so I would like to know what position she is taking as an MP from Quebec and a member of the Quebec nation. Simply put, will she vote in favour of the Bloc Québécois motion?
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Mr. Speaker, first of all, I too am proud of my heritage, as the member for Winnipeg North said. Of course, my last name, Gill, is quite British—Gills were kidnapped, raised, and adopted by Abenaki people—and here I am in the House to represent Quebec. As my colleague from Drummond said earlier, we are able to walk and chew gum at the same time. We now have proof that Canada is deciding what is go…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Shefford for her question. I am disappointed to hear that anyone would try to minimize the impact of the Bloc Québécois's actions or accuse us of picking a fight. I think that is intellectually dishonest. I could make an analogy here, but like any analogy, it may be murky or flawed. Still, Ukraine is not picking a fight right now. We want to stand up for our …
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for her question. I would like to address two things. Of course, one always wants the best possible representation for the people. However, I have made a clarification several times, and I have quoted the Canadian Encyclopedia, Sonia Lebel and my leader, François Legault. We are saying that representation is necessary, but that it is not a simple mathematical calc…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Outremont for her question. I do not want to speak for all my colleagues, but I dare to imagine that the only thing that would satisfy the Bloc Québécois is Quebec's independence. We sit in the House of Commons because Parliament exists in Canada. I send my taxes to Ottawa and of course I want Quebec to be free to benefit from them as it sees fit. When we ask…
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