Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I would ask members on the other side to please take their conversations to the lobby.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I am interested to know what my colleague thinks about the magic trick that the Liberals played with the budget by categorizing one part as spending and the other as investments. One expert and economist said that if the same criteria had been applied to Justin Trudeau's budgets, they would almost always have been balanced or even surplus budgets. What does my colleague think of the…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, my colleague said earlier that this budget supports French. She mentioned a subsidy for National Acadian Day. I agree with that. That is good news. However, there is nothing else. At the Standing Committee on Official Languages, we have heard from various francophone associations and school boards outside Quebec who are saying that they do not have enough money or enough schools. Ther…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I would like to congratulate my colleague on an excellent speech and for all the work he has been doing. My understanding is that the final outcome will be that someone may have been a resident of Canada for five years, but over a very long period spanning many decades, and that their descendants will automatically gain Canadian citizenship without undergoing a security screening or p…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, the bill seeks to restrict the principle of restraint, or at least set guidelines for it. I would like my colleague to tell us more about the reasons for these restrictions.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, the Conservatives want tougher measures to fight crime. I would like to know whether they agree that we also need to crack down on criminal organizations by, for example, creating a registry of such organizations, making it easier to seize their assets and prohibiting them from displaying their insignia and symbols.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, the Conservatives want tougher measures to fight crime. I would like to know their thoughts on the following ideas for cracking down on organized crime: creating a registry of criminal organizations and making it illegal to display symbols or insignia used by criminal organizations. What does my colleague think about that?
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, basically, if we were to accept the Liberal and NDP amendments to the amendments proposed in committee, let us just say that someone could have lived in Canada for three years out of 65, and their children, who never lived in Canada, could automatically apply for Canadian citizenship by descent without a security check, language test or citizenship test. Why does my colleague think th…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, what is concerning is that, in committee, we asked how many people might be impacted by this measure, and the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship was unable to answer the question. She did not know. One of the effects of the amendments proposed by the Liberals and the New Democrats is to remove the requirement to produce reports that indicate how many people will actuall…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Mr. Speaker, what we are increasingly seeing around the world is that models based on multiculturalism are being rejected. Multiculturalism involves interacting with people on the basis of their ethnic origin, which encourages people to remain within their ethnic group. In contrast, the Quebec model, which we call an intercultural model and which many people today refer to as cultural convergence,…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, one objective of the amendments proposed is to grant citizenship by descent. However, the amendments state that the applicant should still be required to undergo security, language and knowledge testing, like any other naturalized citizen. What have my colleague and the Liberals got against that?
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, beyond the semantic debates about naturalization and descent, with Bill C‑3, we could have someone who obtained citizenship in Canada after living in Canada for three out of 60 years and whose children could get citizenship without ever living in Canada, without knowing the language and without passing a security assessment. What does my colleague think about all that? Why are the Lib…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, imagine being this out of touch with Quebeckers: On Thursday, the federal government announced $52 million for Quebec's health care system, but not for treating the sick. No, that $52 million is for anglicizing our hospitals. What our hospitals need is money to care for Quebeckers, not money to anglicize Quebec. English is alive and well in Quebec, including in hospitals. When will th…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, English is hardly at risk in Quebec. It is unacceptable to waste $52 million of our money to anglicize our hospitals, rather than providing people with actual health care. Obviously, the Government of Quebec has spoken out about this, saying, “Once again, the federal government is infringing on Quebec's jurisdictions....Instead, it should be transferring the money to Quebec with no st…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, according to the bill, border officers have a surveillance mandate, but they are not truly a part of national defence. They cannot intervene directly. I would like to know what my colleague thinks about that.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I congratulate the minister on his speech. The Bloc Québécois has long called for better border control, whether to combat the export of stolen vehicles, reduce the number of asylum seekers in Quebec, or fight fentanyl and money laundering. We are pleased that Bill C‑12 is doing away with the most problematic elements of Bill C‑2 with regard to privacy violations. However, there is on…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I would like to know what my colleague thinks about the fact that the Customs and Immigration Union estimates that we need an additional 2,000 to 3,000 officers in order to truly ensure better border control. What are his thoughts on the fact that the Canadian Coast Guard, despite having a mandate to control and monitor the border, is not authorized to intervene and is not a part of…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, the Bloc Québécois welcomes this bill. This is a step in the right direction. I only hope that it will not be a repeat of the situation with the Commissioner of Official Languages. Although numerous complaints have been filed over the past 50 years, it seems like things are moving backwards instead of forwards. In my colleague's opinion, what will make this position more effective, ev…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, my Conservative colleague says that the commissioner position is a distraction. Would he be willing to amend the bill to give the position more teeth? What would he be willing to do to exert more pressure for a real implementation of modern treaties?
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, my colleague was consistent. She said she would support amending the bill to give the commissioner more power to force action. Could she give us an example of how that might be worded?
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I congratulate my colleague on his rather nuanced speech. He says that he agrees with continuing the reconciliation process and implementing modern treaties, but that he views the commissioner position as bureaucracy. In that case, there are two options. The commissioner could be given more of an enforcement role and more powers so that the position is not just bureaucratic. Otherwise…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I am rising on a point of order. The interpretation is not working.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, the Bloc Québécois supports the principle of the bill. However, we see that nowhere does it provide for authority to compel the government to do anything. The commissioner will have no power. We worry that it will be a bit like the Commissioner of Official Languages, whose office was established 50 years ago. For 50 years now, French has been in decline and francophone assimilation ha…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I salute my colleague, with whom I served for a long time on the Standing Committee on Official Languages. When the Conservatives criticize and say that this is nothing but red tape, we have reason to be concerned. The Bloc Québécois supports the principle of the bill. However, we see that it does not provide for the power to enforce compliance. It kind of reminds me of the Commission…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, our colleague spoke at length about the Jonathan Vance case, but both the Conservatives and the Liberals looked the other way in that case and pretended there was nothing to see. There were already rumours about and allegations against Mr. Vance when the Conservatives appointed him as chief of staff and tasked him with taking on sexual misconduct in the military. The Canadian Armed Fo…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, as we saw, the Conservatives turned a blind eye by appointing Mr. Vance chief of the defence staff even though rumours of sexual misconduct were already circulating. The Liberals did even worse. I will come back to my colleague's suggestion. Should we not find ways to ensure that the process is not completely controlled by those with political power?
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I congratulate my colleague on his speech, which was somewhat nuanced. However, considering that it was the Conservatives who appointed Mr. Vance in the first place when there were already allegations of sexual misconduct, and considering that the Liberals did everything they could to ignore those allegations, it is clear that the system needs to be overhauled. The idea behind the rec…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, we saw that the Liberal defence minister turned a blind eye to all the allegations against Mr. Vance. He pretended he had not received them. My colleague spoke about the need to take action. I think it is good to ensure that the process is no longer exclusively in the hands of the military. However, the Minister of Defence will be the one appointing the judges. Should this not be expa…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I have a question for my colleague. Why does he think that no government in Quebec has ever signed the Constitution Act, 1982 and its draft charter?
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, Quebeckers care deeply about state secularism. The first demands came from the Patriotes of 1837 and 1838. In their declaration of independence, they called for freedom of conscience and a strict separation of church and state. Secularism is one of the driving forces behind the birth and development of modern Quebec. The Quebec nation has a special history where the Catholic faith had…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question, but he just revealed that he did not really listen to my speech, because I did talk about minorities. Quebec is a plurinational state. The charter is supposed to defend minorities against the dictatorship of the majority, except for the Quebec national minority. I do not think Quebeckers are the majority in Canada. He cannot dispute that. We are …
Read full speech →Government Orders
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…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I completely agree with my colleague. I will continue to address my colleague from Bourassa. Minorities are important. Quebec is probably one of the places that respects its minorities the most. We must continue to do so. Unfortunately, the problem is that we are a minority that is subject to the majority, and legislation such as the Official Languages Act is imposed on us. English is…
Read full speech →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…
Read full speech →Government Orders
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…
Read full speech →Government Orders
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.
Read full speech →Government Orders
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?
Read full speech →Government Orders
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…
Read full speech →Government Orders
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.
Read full speech →Government Orders
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 →Government Orders
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?
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…
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 →Government Orders
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?
Read full speech →Government Orders
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…
Read full speech →Government Orders
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 …
Read full speech →Government Orders
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?
Read full speech →Government Orders
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?
Read full speech →Government Orders
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?
Read full speech →