Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I would remind my colleague that one of the very first Black members to sit in the House was elected under the Bloc Québécois banner. That said, one of the challenges we face today is the increasing anglicization of Montreal, a phenomenon caused in large part by Montreal's municipal government. It makes things difficult for us. I am the only Bloc Québécois MP on the island of Montreal…
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Mr. Speaker, first of all, we never said that. We are all Quebeckers. I agree that diversity of opinion exists among Quebeckers. However, because a lot of Liberals were elected, they sometimes say that they represent Quebeckers. When the 1982 Constitution was introduced, only one Liberal member from Quebec voted against it. It was Mr. Duclos, who subsequently resigned. Furthermore, no Quebec gover…
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Mr. Speaker, I congratulate the Conservative leader for his speech. I would like to know what he thinks is behind the increase in forest fires, floods, climate disasters and global warming. Does he believe that there is a climate emergency?
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Mr. Speaker, despite all the Liberals' promises and good intentions, pretty much all experts agree that Canada is not meeting its greenhouse gas reduction targets. Year after year, the commissioner of the environment and sustainable development keeps challenging the government's action on climate change and confirming that it is failing. Year after year, the conclusion is the same. We are witnessi…
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Mr. Speaker, I would describe the Conservatives' motion as kicking down an open door. They are proposing that Canada repeal a cap that does not exist. I would like my colleague to tell us a little more about this. Earlier, a Liberal colleague said that greenhouse gas emissions are down 9%. Is that true? I have the impression that they are plateauing, that they are not falling enough.
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Mr. Speaker, I see a contradiction in what my colleague said. We have heard many people here say that oil can be decarbonized, that there could be green oil or that we could find a way to make oil less polluting. Now some people are saying that lowering the emissions cap means reducing production, so they are admitting that that it is not true. There is no such thing as green oil. Oil inevitably l…
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Madam Speaker, I commend the member on her speech. Earlier, one of her colleagues spoke about language issues. Given that Quebec is a nation, a bill has already been introduced to make a knowledge of French a requirement for obtaining citizenship in Quebec. I would like to know what my colleague thinks about that.
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Madam Speaker, I commend my colleague and congratulate him on his speech. There are cases where the law seems unfair. For example, Canadian citizens who go to a foreign country for work and have a child there have to reapply for citizenship for the child when they return. If that child then leaves the country, they will also have a hard time obtaining citizenship for their child. Can the member gi…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to the Treasury Board Secretariat and the Privy Council Office: how many unilingual English-speaking positions not requiring knowledge of French, unilingual French-speaking positions and bilingual positions exist in the federal public service, in Quebec, specifying the institution (department, branch, board, organization, agency, corporation, Canada Post, Royal Canadian Mounted Police,…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to the Treasury Board Secretariat and the Privy Council Office: what is the proportion of the federal public service whose first official language spoken is English or French among (i) the general public service, (ii) deputy and associate deputy ministers, (iii) positions at the EX-03, EX-04 and EX-05 executive levels, based on the most recent data available, indicating the date in eac…
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Madam Speaker, I think there are some very good things in this bill that will correct some injustices. I am sure other changes need to be made too. The Citizenship Act as a whole is very confusing. Does my colleague agree that the Citizenship Act is in need of a complete overhaul?
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Mr. Speaker, apparently, the Conservatives are in favour of free choice. They are against EV subsidies and the incentive program for zero-emission vehicles. If we apply their reasoning around free choice, oil companies that want to keep operating and polluting should receive no government subsidies. Does my colleague agree that the federal government should provide no subsidies, whether direct or …
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Mr. Speaker, the Liberals seem to want to pick up where the Conservatives left off and abandon the fight against climate change. Their EV incentive program was discontinued well before the deadline, causing challenges for dealers who wanted to meet the zero-emission vehicle standard. Some dealers advanced as much as $11 million to pay for federal subsidies, but they did not receive the expected pa…
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Madam Speaker, I would like to know what my colleague thinks about greenhouse gas emissions and climate change. Does she think that electric vehicles are better for the environment than gas-powered vehicles?
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Mr. Speaker, we know that transportation accounts for 25% of greenhouse gas emissions and that oil development and mining operations generate 30% of greenhouse gas emissions. Does my colleague believe that climate change is real and that we need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions? If so, how would he go about it?
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Madam Speaker, sooner or later, we are going to have to limit greenhouse gas emissions and the use of gas-powered vehicles. Sooner or later, we are going to have encourage the use of electric vehicles. Does my friend think that the federal government should bring back the electric vehicle incentives?
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Madam Speaker, I would like to know what my colleague thinks about the fact that the oil and gas industry causes an increase in greenhouse gases. Does my colleague agree that we need to find a way to transition away from the oil economy to one that is more reliant on renewable energy?
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Mr. Speaker, I congratulate my colleague on his speech. Throughout the election campaign, the Prime Minister talked about Donald Trump and the disaster that was coming. Now the Liberals are putting forward measures without presenting a budget, which makes no sense. We completely agree on that. It is even more troubling because the fiscal framework the Liberals presented during the election campaig…
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Mr. Speaker, we agree with the Conservatives that committing that much money without tabling a budget does not make sense. The Bloc Québécois commissioned a study from the Institut de recherche en économie contemporaine. We wanted to see if food inflation is tied to the carbon tax. The answer we got is that it is not tied to the carbon tax, or at least not in any significant way. However, it is ti…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the excellent work being done by the Association pour les victimes de l'amiante du Québec, or AVAQ, the Quebec association for asbestos victims. Some members of the association, which is headquartered in my riding of La Pointe-de-l'Île, are here today. The AVAQ has mapped more than 3,700 public buildings containing asbestos, including many federal government …
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives are paralyzing the government to denounce its refusal to hand over certain documents and to denounce corruption. I would like to know if my colleague could talk about any measures the Conservatives are planning on taking to fight corruption and improve government transparency.
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, for over a month now, the Conservatives have brought government to a standstill to talk about contempt of Parliament, specifically the fact that the government refuses to hand over the documents requested by Parliament. They have used this time to give all kinds of examples of Liberal corruption. However, we know that corruption and this kind of phenomenon of contempt of Parliament ex…
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Madam Speaker, essentially, that is a way for the Conservatives to pass the cost on to the provinces and to Quebec. With $18 billion in projected housing starts, the same amount it will cost the government in taxes could help build roughly 20,000 social housing units. I would like to know what my colleague thinks about that.
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, the Bloc Québécois has also condemned the acts of violence that occurred during Friday's protests. I would like to know what my colleague thinks about the Bloc Québécois's bill that seeks to do away with the religious exemption for hate speech. For example, criminal charges cannot be laid if religious-based incitement to hatred or hate speech occurs as part of a protest like the one w…
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Mr. Speaker, I asked another Conservative colleague a question earlier. I wanted to know what she thought about the Bloc Québécois's bill that seeks to do away with the religious exemption for hate speech. She responded that censorship is not going to solve the problem. Does that mean that, under a Conservative government, hate speech will be allowed for everyone or will the Conservatives just con…
Read full speech →Statements By Members
Mr. Speaker, I rise to honour the memory of former slaves who became soldiers during the Battle of Vertières in 1803. This was a major event in the history of the resistance to colonial oppression, yet it has never been mentioned in the House. On November 18, 1803, the Battle of Vertières in northern Haiti dealt the final blow to Napoleon Bonaparte's army. It was the last battle of the Haitian Rev…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the Governor General has had three years to learn French. Taxpayers even paid $28,000 for her to take lessons. Clearly, she has not been trying. Why should she bother? She already landed the job. This is another example of history repeating itself for francophones. Today, we are talking about Mary Simon, but it was the same thing when Air Canada appointed Michael Rousseau. When will t…
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Madam Speaker, my colleague is blaming the Bloc Québécois and talking about Quebec. However, when it comes to immigration, we have no idea where the Conservatives stand. Do they agree on the need for a more equal distribution? What are their concrete commitments? In terms of official languages, for example, we know that almost all official language funding is spent on English in Quebec. Have the C…
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Mr. Speaker, I congratulate my colleague on her speech. Would she agree that we should split the bill? That way, we could deal with part 1, which covers everything dealing with sexual content, separately from the other parts of the act that we find more problematic.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like my colleague to comment on the fact that the exemption for religious texts that promote hatred is maintained in the bill. What does he think of the religious exemption for incitement to hatred?
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Mr. Speaker, by hiring unilingual anglophone employees, Canada Post is undermining the right of all its employees in Quebec to work in French. This issue is putting the reformed Official Languages Act to the test. Let us not forget that Quebec and the Liberals reached a compromise that does not require federal corporations to comply with the Charter of the French Language. Canada Post is using tha…
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Madam Speaker, the budget implementation measures in Bill C-69 are full of interference in the jurisdictions of Quebec and the provinces. Whether it is a question of housing, health, education or the banking sector, the fiscal imbalance really is on full display. I would like to know what my colleague thinks.
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Madam Speaker, I congratulate my colleague on his French, and I salute all Franco-Manitobans. We have heard several Liberal ministers say that they are going to take action to protect French in Quebec and that they recognize that French is in decline in Quebec. However, an analysis of the public accounts reveals that 94% of official-language funding programs in Quebec are used to strengthen Englis…
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Madam Speaker, I want to congratulate my colleague on his excellent speech. Personally, I think this is a case of major interference in Quebec's businesses and financial services. How does my colleague think the financial community in Quebec will react? What dynamic can we expect to see?
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With regard to the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada Client Support Centre, in its Montreal offices: what is the number of (i) unilingual anglophone, (ii) bilingual, (iii) unilingual francophone, agents?
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Madam Speaker, it seems that the Conservatives moved this motion because the Liberals wanted to censor the report. Now the report has been released. The Liberals keep saying that they have stopped funding oil, although they continue to fund oil companies in many ways, from building pipelines to subsidizing new carbon capture processes. Could my colleague comment on the fact that the Liberals keep …
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Madam Speaker, as everyone knows, the Liberals say they have stopped subsidizing oil, but they continue to do so indirectly. They are subsidizing big oil through the pipeline project, as well as through all the subsidies to help carbon capture and, basically, to help make tar sands oil cleaner. Does my colleague think that oil companies really need these tax credits? Will this not just lead to eve…
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Madam Speaker, we saw in the motion that the Liberals seemed to be trying to prevent the release of the report. Earlier, we heard the Minister of Environment and Climate Change say that he had stopped subsidizing oil when in fact he continues to subsidize the oil companies in all manner of ways, including the pipeline and so-called carbon capture. What does my colleague make of this doublespeak?
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Mr. Speaker, my question is not about the substance of Bill C‑40, but about the time allocation motion. There are times when the Liberals filibuster, for example at the Standing Committee on Official Languages. They have done that at several meetings now because they refuse to accept the majority decision at the Standing Committee on Official Languages. In this case, they are tabling a time alloca…
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Madam Speaker, initially, it seemed that the government had done everything it could to cover up the issue. It began by refusing to hold a public inquiry. I want to know whether the government is now actually prepared to get to the bottom of the matter and expand the commission's terms of reference.
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, there have been discussions among the parties and, if you seek it, I believe you will find unanimous consent for the following motion: That the House recall Quebec's rich history, punctuated by bold gestures to defend and ensure the vitality of its only official language, French; That it unreservedly affirm that the strength of the Quebec nation certainly does not lie in bilingualis…
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Madam Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I would like to seek unanimous consent to change my vote. I made a mistake. I want to vote no.
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Mr. Speaker, one of the factors driving up food prices is climate change. The Retail Council of Canada representative explained that recent droughts and heat waves in California and western Canada have had a direct impact on the produce aisle. The price of lettuce and cauliflower increased by 30% during major heat waves that devastated crops, including in California, Arizona and Quebec. There are …
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Madam Speaker, the Bloc Québécois is naturally in favour of this bill. I hope this will give citizens effective recourse. I heard about a lot of cases of abuse of power against people who wanted to be served in French, including at the Montreal airport. This seems to be done with impunity. There was even a university professor who was jailed for being a bit too insistent on being served in French.…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, I would like to know what my colleague thinks about the questions from earlier to the effect that the Bloc Québécois should not criticize the Speaker because he is a Quebecker. I believe that where the person lives should not even come into play. There was another incident with the president of the Assemblée parlementaire de la Francophonie. Some people were saying that the Bloc Qué…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, while the Liberals were making headlines with their contradictions about French, the report of the Office québécois de la langue française slipped by almost unnoticed. However, guess which sector heads the list of workplaces where working in French is often the most difficult? It is the federal government. The federal government is the worst economic sector in Quebec when it comes to …
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Mr. Speaker, Bill C-356 reiterates the Conservative leader's talking points about the housing crisis. According to him, the municipalities are responsible for the housing crisis by tying up real estate development projects in supposedly needless red tape. One of the Conservatives' proposals is to set a target for increasing the number of housing starts. Beginning on April 1, 2024, the target would…
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Mr. Speaker, according to the Office québécois de la langue française, the federal government is the worst workplace when it comes to anglicizing workers. The impacts are catastrophic. Take Gatineau for example, where the federal government is the largest employer. Between 2016 and 2021, the proportion of people working primarily in French fell from 77% to 62%, a drop of 17% in just four years. Qu…
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Madam Speaker, I congratulate my colleague on her speech. Earlier, during oral question period, we heard the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance tell us how important the Quebec nation and the French language in Quebec are for her. However, there is nothing in the budget to subsidize French. From 1995 to 2002, I found that 94% of funding of official languages in Quebec went to support En…
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Madam Speaker, for three years now, the Liberals have been saying that they recognize the decline of French in Quebec, that they will take steps to promote French in Quebec. However, we have yet to see them take any action. There were no measures in the latest budget either. What does my colleague think? Do they want to protect French in Quebec or do they want it to continue to decline?
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