Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the Bloc Québécois actually introduced a bill to make federally regulated businesses subject to the Charter of the French Language, as called for by the Quebec National Assembly, the Government of Quebec and all of Quebec's former premiers, including Liberal and PQ premiers. It seems that they cannot help themselves. The will of Quebec just does not matter to this government. Why is t…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Official Languages talked to us about the inevitable changes that come with globalization, the capacity of Canadians to adapt, but in terms of language, the primary change we have seen in Canada from day one is the decline of French. After all sorts of assimilation measures, after successfully making francophones in Canada the minority after 1867, we went from 29% to 2…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, everyone across Quebec wants the federal government to subject federally regulated companies to Bill 101. That is not at all what is being announced today. The minister's solution is to make companies comply with her Official Languages Act, not Bill 101. In other words, the feds want to extend the Air Canada model to other companies. Air Canada leads the way in every category of com…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, the federal government is overstepping its bounds and invading Quebec's jurisdiction. Bill 101 needs to apply to federally regulated businesses. That is what Quebec is asking for. Quebec wants Quebec businesses to be subject to Quebec legislation within Quebec's territory. What the Liberals are proposing is to make them subject to an official languages commissioner who does not even…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, the member spoke briefly about electronic voting. I personally find the way we vote to be rather absurd, especially how long it takes. Electronic voting would be just as secure and would save so much time. Perhaps this would allow for more debate in the House. Economically speaking, the three or so hours it takes 338 MPs to vote are extremely costly. I would like to hear my colleague'…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, I do not know if my colleague mentioned this, but there is still the matter of electronic votes. I think it would be a good idea to carry out a study to determine how much time each electronic vote would save us. I think it would be very advantageous. We would save time. We can spend more time debating this, but I wonder what my colleague thinks.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, as in the case of the economic statement, the most notable thing about this bill is what is missing from it. For example, Quebec and the provinces asked the federal government to increase health transfers. We know that, in the 1970s, the federal government was covering approximately 50% of health care costs. Now, it is paying only 22%. It is choking Quebec and the provinces, which e…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, in the 1970s, the federal government used to cover about 50% of health care spending. Today, it covers about 22%. On the one hand, the federal government is stifling the health care system in Quebec and the provinces, and on the other, it is interfering in areas of provincial jurisdiction, such as long-term care and lots of other sectors. What does the hon. member think? Does he agree…
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