Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I do not know what my colleague is referring to, but there is one thing we will never support, and that is Conservative common sense. We will never support populism and overly simplistic thinking. What I am seeing on social media right now is certain people posting half-truths in the hope that the staff at our riding offices will be flooded with calls from all sorts of cuckoo conspi…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, basically, it is very simple. What I can tell the member for Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles is that, if people in my riding office receive any threats, I will hold him personally responsible.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I would like my colleague to know that Quebeckers are suffering because of with the costly Conservative-Liberal coalition that panders to the Canadian oil monarchy. Some $47 million is being spent on the Governor General every year. What do the Conservatives do? They sing God Save the King. By 2035, it is going to cost us a collective $83 billion to prop up the greedy oil industry. …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, the leader of the NDP sent a letter inviting the Quebec Minister of Health and Vincent Marissal, a Québec solidaire member, to explain the benefits of pharmacare. I am not sure if the leader of the NDP is aware, but we already have pharmacare in Quebec. Furthermore, I know that the riding office of my colleague from Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie is in the same building as the Québec solid…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I was saying that the tax credit for green hydrogen is a pipe dream, according to a number of analysts who specialize in this area. Members may recall that the government announced its intention to end fossil fuel subsidies in 2023, yet in 2023 alone, it gave $18 billion to the oil and gas sector. The government also said that a definition of inefficient subsidies was forthcoming, b…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I am certainly not ashamed to say that I think the member will be sharing her time with me.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I did not fully understand my colleague's question. I apologize. I can simply say that Hydro‑Québec has never received support from the federal government to pay for its facilities, unlike the oil and gas companies who, for the past 25 years, have benefited from generous tax credits and completely unbridled support from the federal government. As I said in my speech, these large oil…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, there is nothing new in Bill C-69. It is merely an extension of the budget, so it continues to indulge the oil and gas sector and maintains this government's predatory federalism without any consideration for Quebec. My colleague from Manicouagan said earlier that we will be voting against the budget. I want to emphasize that. We will be voting against Bill C-69 because the atmosphe…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, my colleague is completely right and he answered his own question. How can anyone ignore the wishes expressed by the Quebec National Assembly concerning pharmacare? I heard my colleagues in the NDP say that the unions were on board. I would like to point out to my NDP colleagues that many unions belong to OUI Québec, a sovereignty group. I do not know whether my colleagues are willi…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, in November, the House voted unanimously for the federal government to review its immigration targets in 2024, after consulting Quebec and the provinces about their integration capacity. Even the Liberals recognized that the targets should correspond with housing, health, education, French language training and infrastructure needs. Even so, Ottawa intends to continue to increase immi…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, what a valid and interesting question. My colleague is absolutely right. The Séguin report demonstrated that best. Mr. Séguin, who was Quebec's finance minister, was not a sovereignist, but a federalist. In his report, he clearly demonstrated that the federal government's revenues are much higher and that its expenses are smaller, which means it is constantly putting pressure on the…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, it is rather remarkable when you think of it. When the parliamentary secretary was asked whether he acknowledged that the federal government had a role to play in health, he said yes. In the same sentence, he said that its role was not limited to transfers of funds. However, the federal government does not manage any hospitals or any doctors. It wants to have a role in health but ha…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, if we want a robust system, then the simplest thing to do would be for the federal government to stay out of what is happening in Quebec, which is in negotiations with the large pharmaceutical companies. What the federal government managed to do was to negotiate prices that are worse than what Quebec already had. That is one sign that the federal government does more harm than good …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, we are going to go far like that. The federal government is blindly increasing its targets despite the House's calls to adjust the targets in line with integration capacity, despite the House's calls to begin this process within 100 days of meeting with the premiers, despite the negative feedback of the public service, despite the warnings from economists and despite the CMHC figures …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, let us come back to immigration. On February 12, the House supported a motion giving the government 100 days to convene a meeting of all first ministers to discuss integration capacity. It had 100 days to table a plan for revising federal immigration targets in 2024, 100 days to produce a report on the gap between federal targets and capacity, and 100 days to determine how to financia…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I apologize. I was saying that the member for Mirabel, who is a bit of a rascal will go so far as to say that the NDP wanted to bring in dental insurance because they are spending so much time kissing the Liberals' feet that they are going to get a fungal disease. I would not say something so asinine. I think it is disrespectful, but it is one way to see who might be interesting. Wh…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I will be sharing my time with my colleague, the member for Berthier—Maskinongé, for whom I have a great deal of respect. I hope I do not embarrass him over the next ten minutes. I am not sure if my colleagues heard the Prime Minister when he said that people, and I am quoting him because I do not speak this way, could not care less about jurisdictional bickering. That is what the P…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I think that what is irresponsible in the fight against climate change is to continue our out-of-control support for the oil and gas sector. That is irresponsible. I began by saying that one of the stumbling blocks was to determine whether offshore areas fell under federal or provincial jurisdiction. Constitutionally speaking, they are under federal jurisdiction. That is one thing. Th…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, we have learned that greenhouse gas emissions increased between 2021 and 2022. They are going up when they should be going down. The worst part is that they are going to keep going up because Ottawa just opened Trans Mountain yesterday. The Minister of Environment has just completely turned on the dirty oil tap. An additional 600,000 barrels a day are being siphoned out of the oil san…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, Greenpeace told CBC that a missing link in the federal climate plan is a cap on emissions from the oil and gas sector. The minister must be glad that there is no cap because, with Trans Mountain, he would have smacked his head, and hard. This serves to remind us that Canada is the world's fourth-largest oil monarchy. With Trans Mountain, it is consolidating its ranking, between Russia…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague from Provencher for his question. It is true that we do not always agree, especially when it comes to straws and gas guzzlers. I do not agree with him on these matters. I do not agree with him that Canada’s oil and gas sector is one of the most ethical, either. Oil from the tar sands is probably one of the dirtiest oils in the world. However, let us …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I hope that I can speak with the same passion as my colleague, but I have to admit that I am not an oil and gas enthusiast, far from it. I want to begin by saying that Bill C-49 was introduced to us as a bill that seeks to promote renewable energy, but such is not the case. Before I explain why I do not think that is the case, I would like to give a bit of background. It feels like gr…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I completely agree with my colleague. If we look at the federal government's strategies in the past three or four years, clean energy has never been at the centre of those strategies. In the latest budget, we saw tax credits pop up for clean electricity. Those will apply this year. We shall see what that looks like. However, the bulk of the federal government's strategy, the bulk of t…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I do not know how many litres of fuel it takes to get to Newfoundland and Labrador. The committee did not make it there. If the aim was to have consultations, perhaps they should have made it there. However, I can say that I have to drive for six hours every time I travel from Saguenay to Ottawa, and I do it in an electric car. I invite my colleague to do the same when he goes back ho…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, what I am saying is that the federal government is using this bill as environmental window dressing. The bill has nothing to do with the energy transition. The federal government could have been honest in its presentation of the bill, clearly indicating that what it wanted was continuity in the offshore energy sector. In this case, continuity refers to oil and gas projects. Nowhere in…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the expression area of jurisdiction contains the word “jurisdiction”. When someone has a toothache, they do not call the hairdresser, any more than they would call the federal government. Federal dental coverage is not even available yet, and already everyone is furious with Ottawa. Seniors are furious because after being promised free care, they are going to have to foot the bill. De…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the money Ottawa is spending on dental care could be used to improve Quebec's health insurance plan, or RAMQ. Quebec even said that that is what it wants to do. Instead, Ottawa is creating a bureaucratic duplication that is infuriating everyone before the program even gets off the ground. As for housing, Ottawa could pay out the money now, but instead it is picking a constitutional fi…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I have been wondering for some time what is behind the Conservatives' fixation on the carbon tax. I am a well-meaning person. I am known for it in my caucus. In fact, the MP for Mirabel constantly says that I am the Mother Teresa of the Bloc Québécois caucus. I have tried to understand what the Leader of the Opposition is attempting to tell us. I often find him hard to follow. He some…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I think what is funniest in the question raised by my colleague is the reaction by the member for Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis, who brandished a sheet of paper to criticize the Quebec carbon exchange when she herself was in government when this exchange was implemented. Basically, one could say that she acts one way in Quebec City, and another way in Ottawa. That is precisely why t…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, the reasons why the Conservatives do not want to take action on climate change are very simple. The only reason is the oil industry. Unfortunately, what will that accomplish in the long term? Since everyone is putting a price on carbon, Quebec's competitiveness in its trade with Europe and the United States will be affected because the Conservatives and the Liberals have decided that …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, economists tell us these indirect costs are minimal. Nevertheless, on the subject of indirect costs, we could talk about Alberta's oil royalties. These costs far outstrip those associated with the carbon tax. Why do I never hear my colleagues talk to us about that? We could also talk about the indecent amount of public money funnelled to oil companies, money that could help us provide…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, another day, another example of interference. Today, it is the mental health of students that the Liberals want to manage. The same government that, let me remind the House, cannot even pay its own public servants with Phoenix, the same government that could not print passports, the same government that lost control of the border and exacerbated the housing crisis now wants to manage …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I would like to congratulate my colleague on his new grandson. Now that is an achievement. I would like to point out to my colleague that there are people who have estimated the direct impact of the carbon tax per $1,000. It is about $1.50 for every $1,000. This $1.50 does not apply to Quebec. Why do we not have the figures for what would apply in Quebec? Because economists say the …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, this jokey smurf simply wants to remind the minister that the federal government has managed to collaborate sensibly in the past. Let us not forget that it copied our child care system to offer something similar to Canadians. Since this falls under Quebec's jurisdiction, the feds simply gave us our funding with no strings attached. Everyone was happy. Why would it be any different wit…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Chair, I agree with my colleague from Mégantic—L'Érable. The current government is not doing much to support the forestry sector. Even worse is that no government has ever done much to help the forestry sector. Under the last agreement that was negotiated by the federal government, $1 billion was left on the table. To me, the future does not look bright, because if there were to be a Conservat…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Chair, absolutely, there are plenty of opportunities. There are also success stories. One example is Chantiers Chibougamau, which will provide the beams and infrastructure for all the buildings at the Paris Olympic Games. These examples exist, but unfortunately, the main problem is that the entire forestry processing sector cannot get any support from the federal government, even though this s…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Chair, the major problem is the laissez-faire attitude that the government has had on this issue for over 20 years. The federal government has never had a strong, clear desire to support the forestry industry, even though it claims that the forestry industry is one of the most promising industries in the fight against climate change. When we harvest a tree in the forest, we have just sequester…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Chair, I am not entirely familiar with the reality of the forestry sector in British Columbia. I am more familiar with the situation in Quebec, but there is one fundamental issue, and that is processing. We need to process more wood. Unfortunately, we do not have the support of the federal government. One simple measure would be to use the carbon footprint of federal government buildings as …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Chair, I will be sharing my time with the member for Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou. Usually, the best thing a person can do is to tell the truth. Let us tell the truth this evening. The government has never been willing to provide real support for the forestry industry. That is rather easy to prove. My colleague from Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot did so earlier when he said that the words “softwood…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Chair, does my colleague not find it odd that at no time in the minister's mandate letter, when it talks about trade disputes, is there any mention of the words “softwood lumber”? Is that not a clear admission that the Government of Canada does not care about the softwood lumber dispute and that it is trying to use the regions of Canada that live from the forestry sector as a bargaining chip t…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Chair, there is a fairly simple solution to support forestry companies. It was actually people in the forestry sector who came up with this solution. They have to be given access to liquidity. To get through the current crisis, with its tariffs that are totally unfair, what people in the forestry sector are telling us is that they need access to liquidity so they can invest in their infrastruc…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Chair, indeed, a billion dollars stayed on the table in the last softwood lumber agreement. Now there are solutions that the current government could put in place. The majority of the key players in the forestry sector are asking us for a liquidity program. That has never been brought in by the government. The majority of people in the forestry sector are asking us to diversify. What they want…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Chair, my colleague talked about a team Canada approach. The problem with that is that the federal government does not listen to the province that is paying the most in terms of U.S. softwood lumber tariffs. Quebec accounts for 20% of Canada's softwood lumber exports to the United States, but it pays 48% of the tariffs. The federal government never wanted to lead the softwood lumber fight. I…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, while the federal government spends its time interfering in Quebec's jurisdictions, the situation in its own jurisdictions is getting serious. The Prime Minister is in shock after finally discovering that immigration levels have exceeded our integration capacity. Who was oblivious enough to have increased permanent and temporary immigration without thinking about housing, schools or h…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, since the Prime Minister is responsible for the largest population increase since 1957, many are likening him to a pyromaniac firefighter in the housing crisis. It is true that he is setting fires, but is he really trying to put them out? Is he lowering permanent immigration targets? No, he is not. Is he spreading out the intake of asylum seekers among the provinces, to give Quebec so…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Chair, my colleague is bragging about the agreement that Mr. Harper negotiated, but I would just like to point out to him that people in the forestry sector lost $1 billion at the time. A billion dollars in ransom money was left on the table, so it was not exactly the best deal. I have a fairly simple question for him. Given that disputes with the United States are ongoing, would he agree th…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Chair, I would just like clarification, because this could set a regrettable precedent. If any member of this Parliament told NDP members that they are pro-Palestinian, would that member be silenced and accused of using unparliamentary language? If any one of us told other members that they are pro-Israeli, would that be cause for expulsion? We need to be careful about using ideologies. I cert…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the only reason we are not talking about tense intergovernmental relations is that there is no relationship to speak of. Right now, the federal government is in its “no” phase: no to increasing health transfers with no strings attached, no to the right to opt out of dental insurance and pharmacare, and no to helping with asylum seeker intake. At this point, the only thing the federal …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, we may not be in government, but we simply listed a few budget measures because they also said no to giving Quebec full authority over immigration, no to Bill 21 on state secularism, and no to advance requests for medical assistance in dying. It is almost a matter of principle for them. Even when no money is involved, the federal government says no to Quebec. What a contrast during th…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, the Canadian Under-18 Curling Championships kick off this week, and the riding of Jonquière will be represented in Ottawa by the Fortin-Lafrance team from Kénogami. This team was named Curling Québec's team of the year for the 2021-22 season and are sure to do our region proud. This year is particularly special for the member for Lac-Saint-Jean and me, because the two teams representi…
Read full speech →