Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I come right out and tell these people to be patient, because transportation electrification is making rapid progress. I am seeing more and more electric F-150 trucks in my region. The best part is that when we plug in our EVs at home, our money does not go to Alberta but to Hydro‑Québec. That will, in turn, enable us to develop these upcoming technologies. What I tell these people …
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Madam Speaker, I tend to agree with my colleague. The Leader of the Opposition already does not allow his members to speak freely, so I am sure that he will try to apply the same logic to scientists in Canada who do not agree with his political aspirations. These are dark days for the planet, but it will be smooth sailing for the oil sector in the years ahead.
Read full speech →Emergency Debate
Mr. Speaker, I was being heckled while I was asking my question. I will withdraw the word I used to describe my colleague, but I recommend that all the Conservative members put what the member herself just said into practice.
Read full speech →Emergency Debate
Mr. Speaker, I could not agree more. It was not a disaster, it was a catastrophe. From 2005 to 2011, Quebec's forestry sector shrank by 30%, yet the Conservative Party and the Liberal Party did nothing. As I was saying earlier on, Canada relies on two economic pillars: oil and gas. As we saw, the leader of the official opposition used a quarter of his speaking time to crow about energy and new LNG…
Read full speech →Emergency Debate
Mr. Speaker, there is probably a contrast in tone, but I started my speech by saying that, whether we are talking about “team Canada” or “Canada first”, the end result is always the same with either the Conservatives or the Liberals: Quebec takes a back seat. I have never seen a political party defend the forestry industry. The Conservatives have bragged about the 2006 agreement, but they reduced …
Read full speech →Emergency Debate
Madam Speaker, I just want to correct a few inaccuracies we heard from my colleague from Chicoutimi—Le Fjord. First, it is thanks to the Bloc Québécois that there was a special committee on caribou, a special committee on the environment. I hope that he will acknowledge that. Second, the reason why aluminum from Saguenay—Lac‑Saint‑Jean is particularly competitive is that it is clean aluminum, as h…
Read full speech →Emergency Debate
Mr. Speaker, certainly the fear is that if CUSMA is renegotiated, new cracks will appear in supply management. Ideally, Bill C-282 will be passed quickly. Unfortunately, we are paralyzed here. The Liberal government seems to be a doormat, I have to say, for two senators who have decided to act like kings. It is rather disappointing. There is a bill on the table, our bill, and the Liberals and the …
Read full speech →Emergency Debate
Mr. Speaker, as I said earlier, and as we have been saying for a long time, if we want to protect ourselves from American tariffs, more processing at home is the answer. Unfortunately, the forestry sector receives no federal government support. Sawmills that ask the federal government for financial support are referred to Global Affairs Canada, where they are automatically turned down. Rather surp…
Read full speech →Emergency Debate
Madam Speaker, I am really fond of my colleague from Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles. I really like him. We are supposed to be talking about tariffs, but he is talking about national defence. Perhaps because of my limitations, I am trying to understand the connection between the two. I am sure my colleague from Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles will be able to tell me the connection between nation…
Read full speech →Emergency Debate
Mr. Speaker, the Conservative Party gets 125 questions a week. As I said earlier, since January 1, the Conservatives have asked 15 questions on immigration. I encourage my colleague to check the record. None of their opposition days have dealt with this or the border issue, but they have dedicated 18 opposition days to the carbon tax. Every day, I hear the Conservatives say they want an election o…
Read full speech →Emergency Debate
Mr. Speaker, I would like to acknowledge the respect shown by my Conservative colleagues, for whom I have a great deal of affection. I was somewhat blown away by the Conservative leader's intervention. This evening, we are tasked with coming up with solutions and trying to comfort and reassure business people and workers. The Conservative leader did not do that at all. Later I will turn my attenti…
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Mr. Speaker, I know that Mr. Trump is an irrational political player, but personally, I do not believe that the Americans should be imposing tariffs on aluminum, because they do not produce primary aluminum. If I remember correctly, there is only one aluminum smelter operating in the United States. We are the biggest producers of primary aluminum in North America. It is Quebec, particularly my reg…
Read full speech →Emergency Debate
Mr. Speaker, I do not think a country can be run like an ad agency. I do not think that serious problems can be resolved by chanting incantations. Repeating “Canada first”, “triple, triple, triple” and “axe the tax” has never fixed anything. For 20 minutes, all I heard from the official opposition leader was empty slogans. I think he can reassure Canadians, and I will give him a chance: Can he tel…
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Mr. Speaker, could we please have silence?
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I am always amazed at my colleague from Kingston and the Islands' ability to play the victim. Every time I hear him, he says that the poor government is trapped by this question of privilege, that the infamous Bloc Québécois, with the help of the NDP, will not help break the impasse in the House and that it is appalling. He does not seem to understand that he is part of a minority g…
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Mr. Speaker, I sincerely thank my colleague for his speech, because I now realize how much we have hurt the government. The government, the poor victim, is being overwhelmed by the Conservatives' filibustering, with the support of the Bloc Québécois and the NDP, and we have paralyzed the House. The government is being beaten down day after day. I realize that now and I feel bad. I would therefore …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, what the government says is one thing, the facts are another, and rarely the twain do meet, unfortunately. The environment commissioner's reports are painful to read. Despite the minister's claims, the Liberal record is bleak. The government cares little about the survival of threatened species, and Canada lags behind every other G7 country when it comes to meeting its greenhouse gas …
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Mr. Speaker, Canada has six years left to reach its target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 45% below 2005 levels. According to the environment commissioner, Canada had barely reduced its emissions by a laughable 7.1% by 2022. At this rate, every forest will have burned to the ground and every glacier will have melted before the federal government wakes up. A mere 7.1% is not even one-sixth…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, since July 2023, we have been calling on the government to take responsibility for water contaminated by per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, from CFB Bagotville. Water treatment costs have skyrocketed, and Saguenay will have to spend $7 million a year to provide residents of La Baie with drinking water until a permanent solution can be found. Quick action is imperative befor…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, what the minister is not saying is that a significant chunk of the money that the government puts into oil comes from Quebec. For the nine years that the Liberals have been in power, the Bloc has been calling for an emissions cap for oil and gas companies. The Liberals finally promised to implement such a cap three years ago. Two years ago, they tabled draft regulations but did not im…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, this year, the Association des libraires du Québec, the Quebec booksellers association, presented its award of excellence to my bookseller, Philippe Fortin-Villeneuve, from Librairie Marie-Laura. Philippe is a real bookworm. If someone asks him about the great classics of Quebec literature, philosophy or sociology, he can make recommendations without even batting an eye. This champion…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, indeed, we cannot ignore the fact that there is a housing crisis, and our out-of-control migration policies have something to do with this. In Quebec we know this only too well, since we are the ones receiving the majority of the temporary residents. These policies certainly have something to do with this. I do not believe, though, that the solution proposed by the opposition leader, …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, not only are the Liberals discriminating against seniors, but they are even going so far as to cut funding to the organizations that support them. For months, they have been depriving community organizations of funding from the age well at home initiative because they refuse to come to an agreement with Quebec. This is yet another cynical attempt to encroach upon Quebec's jurisdiction…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I would like to give my colleague the opportunity to clarify or even qualify his thoughts. Earlier, in a question he asked the member for Winnipeg North, he said that, in his opinion, just because someone thinks they are Canadian does not mean they are truly Canadian. Defining oneself as a Canadian does not make one a Canadian. People often mistakenly think that sovereignists like me …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, in his speech, my colleague referred to investments in clean energy. We know that, in Alberta and western Canada, those investments are mainly being made in carbon capture and storage strategies. However, many experts have said that these strategies are a big waste of money. What is more, a Deloitte report commissioned by the Alberta government was just published today, and it found…
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Madam Speaker, I heard my colleague talk about capital gains earlier. I heard the Leader of the Opposition say earlier this week that this bill could not be amended in committee. I was confused. The leader of the official opposition has been a member for 20 years. Is it possible that the leader of the official opposition does not know how a bill works? I would like my colleague to elaborate on tha…
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Madam Speaker, let us be patient. I am getting there. Getting back to carbon pricing, Derek Evans, the former CEO of MEG Energy, is now the executive chair of Pathways Alliance, the largest representative of the oil sands industry. What did Mr. Evans say? He said that the advice he would give to the opposition leader is that the carbon policy will be absolutely essential for maintaining our positi…
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Madam Speaker, I'll be sharing my time with my friend and associate, the member for Terrebonne. This is the umpteenth version of an opposition motion on the carbon tax. When I read the motion, I was kind of confused about my Conservative colleagues' intentions. A careful read of the motion eventually reveals that its mover is seeking access to the government's economic analysis of carbon pricing, …
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Madam Speaker, that is precisely it. I want members of Parliament to have access to as much information as possible before making decisions. The gist of my speech earlier was that this information has to be used in a rational manner, which the Conservative Party is not doing right now. When a leader says that people are requesting medical assistance in dying because they have no food to eat, that …
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Madam Speaker, at the close of my remarks I was simply pointing out that the Conservatives' motivations when it comes to carbon pricing are to support the oil and gas industry. It was surprising, therefore, to see the leader of the official opposition rise and say that the chief representative of the oil and gas industry is, in fact, a useless lobbyist who says stupid things. I have to wonder whet…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague from Timmins—James Bay. I have the pleasure of working with him on the Standing Committee on Natural Resources. He is absolutely right. When it comes to oil and gas, I find the Liberals are just Conservatives with a complex. They are trying to hide things. Earlier, the Minister of Environment was saying that we were the first country to eliminate s…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, I found my colleague's speech very inspiring, especially when she talked about her time as a minister in Quebec City and said that she wants to put what she did there into a bill. I found that inspiring because I know that when she was in Quebec City, she also voted in favour of carbon pricing. She talked about courage earlier. I think she could have the courage to bring to this Par…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, that is a very interesting answer. The minister just said that the federal government does not run any hospitals. He just said that the federal government has no expertise in the procedures performed at hospitals. In his previous answer to me, however, he said that we need data on the procedures being done in hospitals. He wants data on something that is not within his purview. The on…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I see that my colleague is unfortunately trying to avoid the question, since he is not answering, but I will answer for him. Health is the exclusive jurisdiction of Quebec. He said earlier that it was not just about money. If it is not just about money, what is the federal government's purpose? All citizens of every province pay taxes to the federal government. A portion of these taxe…
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Mr. Speaker, I would simply like to remind the minister that a Leger poll showed that more than 80% of Quebeckers feel it is important for the federal government to respect jurisdictional boundaries. Accusing others of picking fights is easy to do in politics. Every time someone raises an objection, it is enough to just say they are picking a fight. I have a question for the minister. Can he tell …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, we cannot accept that kind of answer. The pandemic was a unique situation, something that happens once a century. The government's action cannot be based on the pandemic. A recurring theme, however, is the federal government's failure to take responsibility for the problems in the health care system. At the end of his career, Prime Minister Jean Chrétien openly admitted that he was ab…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, it is really quite astonishing. The minister just said that he respects provincial jurisdictions. However, when it comes to pharmacare and dental care, the Quebec government has repeatedly said that these are inexcusable intrusions into Quebec's jurisdictions. Not only are these inexcusable and unenforceable intrusions into our areas of jurisdiction, but the government is going to cre…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, every single year, the Quebec government allocates roughly 43% of its total budget to health care. If 43% is spent on health care, that means the other 57% of its entire budget has to cover all of its other government responsibilities, including education, the fight against poverty, housing construction, infrastructure, municipalities, support for businesses and so on. Members can see…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I sympathize with the minister. I am willing to talk about working together, but the numbers still speak for themselves. The federal government's share of health funding sits at just 23%. There is a recurring phenomenon that has been very well documented in the Canadian federation, and that is the fiscal imbalance. The minister may have already read the report by Yves Séguin, a Libera…
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Madam Speaker, I completely agree with my colleague. In fact, the Bloc Québécois has already introduced a bill to indicate that the provinces and Quebec should be responsible for any environmental assessments that deal with natural resource development. However, there is something else that I would like to point out. I would go even farther than what my colleague is saying. I do not think it is ri…
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Madam Speaker, I would just like to point out to my colleague that what Quebeckers want is a health care system worthy of the name. The federal government is creating new programs after chronically underfunding the health care system. In a few years' time, it will slowly withdraw and put pressure on Quebec. The dental insurance and pharmacare measures exist on paper only. The Government of Quebec …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, what an inspiring speech. It is a tough act to follow. To illustrate just how much the federal government has interfered in the jurisdictions of Quebec and the provinces, I want to revisit what happened this week during question period. This week, I asked the Minister of Transport a question, and I was basically saying that Quebeckers want to be masters in their own house, whereas t…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I could repeat the rather harsh words that Mr. Legault used to describe the Liberal government, but I will not pull an egregious stunt like that on my colleague. She can easily find out what he said in the media. The Government of Quebec has been very critical of the implementation of pharmacare. The Government of Quebec was very critical of the implementation of dental care. It is …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I can tell my NDP colleague that the Bloc Québécois never opposes progressive policies. It defends the political independence of Quebec. That is what the Bloc Québécois does. I would also like to point out to my colleague that many unions are members of OUI Québec. OUI Québec is a pro-independence umbrella group. Does this mean the NDP does not support Quebec unions, since it opposes …
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Madam Speaker, I agree with my colleague on one thing, and that is about the member for Winnipeg North. I do not agree with him, however, on the reasons why the Bloc Québécois opposes the pharmacare plan. We oppose it because it directly interferes in Quebec's jurisdictions. I would like to point something out to my colleague, because he spoke at length about rare diseases. In the early 2000s, the…
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Mr. Speaker, there is a fairly simple dictum in politics that everyone knows, and it is that adding is better than subtracting. We try to add to the number of people who are willing to support our positions. By the same token, when a bill as momentous as this government bill is introduced, the aim is to get all the provinces to buy in and consent. This is not the case for pharmacare, however. The …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, earlier I was listening intently to my colleague, who is a doctor, talking about the shortcomings of the health care system. However, I have never heard his leader clearly state whether he supports the provinces' request to increase health care funding from 22% to 35%. This government has not agreed to that request. I would like to hear my colleague's comments on that. Does he agree…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the government is moving a closure motion to force the implementation of the budget. This budget interferes in Quebec's jurisdictions; its theme is to decide for Quebeckers. Imposing conditions on Quebec and the cities under the threat of cutting funding for housing, intruding into health care in favour of private care, grabbing power in the financial sector; we have to wonder if the …
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Mr. Speaker, let me reassure the member, I do not care much about federalism. I know that Quebeckers want to be masters in their own house, and yet what the federal government is doing with this budget is trying to be master everywhere. While the Liberals seek to govern in place of the provinces, no one is looking after federal business. No one here is looking out for seniors 65 and over who do no…
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