Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I would like to begin by saying that I will be sharing my time with the hon. member for Gaspésie—Les Îles-de-la-Madeleine—Listuguj. I would like to take us in a different direction with today's debate. I thought that it might be beneficial for a number of colleagues here, who regularly hear Quebec's grievances but are not familiar with our history, to learn a little more about our jou…
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Mr. Speaker, I want to begin by wishing Shana Tova to my colleague from Mount Royal and to the entire Jewish community in Quebec and Canada who are celebrating the new year today. I acknowledge the fact that my colleague and I will likely never agree on this type of issue. However, having worked with my colleague many times, I admire his openness to intelligent and lively debate. Even so, I have t…
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Mr. Speaker, I was also blown away when I saw excerpts from this report, which mentions the possibility that a government could reinstate arbitrary executions and consider repealing freedom of the press. My colleague from Pontiac—Kitigan Zibi said earlier that there was a danger of women's rights being rolled back. As my colleague from Pierre-Boucher—Les Patriotes—Verchères implied, Quebec is the …
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Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. People who wish to have conversations during the question and comments period may do so outside the House.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles for his speech and for his passion on this particular topic. I know he is a strong advocate for cracking down a little more on repeat offenders. There are a number of ways to achieve this. We in the Bloc Québécois generally agree on the substance, but we may disagree or have other ideas about the form. We have proposed various …
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Mr. Speaker, I commend the parliamentary secretary for his speech. As we said a few times this week, my colleague from Rivière-du-Nord did incredible work on the issue of judicial appointments. Judicial appointments are supposed to be impartial. However, we know that nothing could be further from the truth. The shortage of judges in the system is one of the problems we are speaking out against tod…
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Madam Speaker, in the speech he gave just now, my colleague from Rivière-du-Nord quoted comments made by Adil Charkaoui, a very controversial religious leader, during a demonstration literally calling for Jews to be hunted down and exterminated. These extremely violent and hateful comments were made under the guise of religion. As my colleague quite rightly pointed out, the authorities did not eve…
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Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to have the opportunity to pick up on the question that my colleague from Berthier—Maskinongé asked the member for Winnipeg North earlier, because it was a simple question. We talked about a bill that we introduced in the previous Parliament and that the member must be familiar with. It sought to eliminate the religious exemption in the Criminal Code that allows people to…
Read full speech →Statements By Members
Mr. Speaker, some superheroes wear capes and fly, but the one I am honouring today wears warm clothes, a toque and boots with crampons, and he is a climber. On August 12, while most of us were enjoying the summer sun, Charles Page from Drummondville was facing the worst weather conditions imaginable as he reached the summit of K2, the second-highest mountain in the world at 8,611 metres, and the m…
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Mr. Speaker, I see that you were going to move on to the next item, but my colleague from Berthier—Maskinongé requested that the minister withdraw her remarks.
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Mr. Speaker, my childhood memories, like the childhood memories of hundreds of thousands of Quebecker children, are filled with winter nights on streets where the hard snow had made a perfect surface for us to play hockey. Sometimes three-on-three, sometimes four-on-four, one goalie, and two or three players on offence. There was no one on defence when we played in the street. At that time, it did…
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Mr. Speaker, the member has held the important and critical position of immigration minister for over a month now. Quebec is experiencing major issues, including with the temporary foreign worker program, and the federal government has been dragging its feet for a long time. Today, I am very pleased to see Bill C-3 has been introduced. It is a good bill, which we were in favour of during the previ…
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Mr. Speaker, I want to commend my colleague from Lac-Saint-Jean on his speech. Everyone who knows him and has had the opportunity to work with him knows that he is an extremely thorough individual who is capable of working across party lines in the best interests of the issues that he is working on. Immigration is something that is very important to him. After the Minister of Immigration, Refugees…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my Conservative colleague for her speech and for her strong convictions on this issue. We will not always agree on all the measures to be taken or on the entirety of a bill. However, it seems to me that in the case of this bill, everyone had pretty much agreed to finish with this measure, which has already been studied several times in previous versions of similar bills from t…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, on June 24, 1975, the celebrated poet of Natashquan chose the feast day of Saint-Jean, soon to become our national holiday, to bestow upon Quebeckers a priceless treasure: a song they could all call their very own. For 50 years now, whenever we celebrate a loved one's birthday around the dinner table or out at a restaurant with friends and family, we all raise our voices to sing Gille…
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Mr. Speaker, I congratulate my Conservative colleague on his speech, which gets the day off to a good start on a motion that the Bloc Québécois intends to support, albeit with some reservations. It is a bit unrealistic to think that the money wasted in the GC Strategies scandal will be able to be recovered. I will go back in history because these scandals are piling up. There was the sponsorship s…
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Mr. Speaker, I congratulate my colleague on her speech. What does my colleague think are the chances that we will ever see that money again? The other point that I would like to go back to is the penalty imposed on GC Strategies. It has been banned from all public contracts for seven years. This seems like a slap on the wrist. They are being told not to do it again because what they did was not ni…
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Mr. Speaker, I noted something interesting in the speech by my colleague from Winnipeg North. He said that he never once heard his constituents talk to him about GC Strategies during the election campaign. I understand that because, throughout the election campaign, the Liberals lulled everyone to sleep with fear of Donald Trump and tariffs. They fed that fear so well that there was no room to tal…
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Mr. Speaker, there is something sweet about the candour shown by the new Liberal member, who is convinced that this new government will better manage public funds. The creation of the agency my colleague was talking about is a bit like if Don Vito Corleone launched an investigation into the mafia. It is a bit surreal. There is also something important in my colleague's remarks, and I will ask him …
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Mr. Speaker, I commend the member for Peterborough for her speech. It is mind-boggling to hear the Liberals claiming that they are a new government with a new vision and a new management approach. All of a sudden, they see the merit of properly managing public funds. Let us consider, for example, the CBSA assessment and revenue management system, or CARM, the Phoenix pay system and the long-gun re…
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Madam Speaker, I am very pleased to be able to speak for the first time in this new Parliament on a subject that I find extremely relevant. Before I begin, like many of my colleagues, I would like to say a few words of personal thanks, and look back at the spring election campaign, which was not without its challenges, emotions and hardships. I want to send a heartfelt and very sincere thank you t…
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague from Shefford, and I look forward to hearing her speech in a few minutes. I, too, was surprised by this stunt, and I recognized it as one at the time. I even told the people around me that the Liberals were doing this to cut the ground from under the Conservatives. However, I thought they would come back with something else, since it is not in the Liberals' natu…
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Madam Speaker, I do not know where to begin. That is such a patchwork of nonsense that it is fascinating. The member for Winnipeg North knows full well that these rebates were sent out at the beginning of each quarter. It was not money that had already been spent, but money in anticipation of the expenses that would be incurred due to the carbon tax, and he knows that very well. Seniors in Quebec …
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Madam Speaker, I would say it is because of the fear that was carefully stoked throughout the election campaign for political reasons. That fear was stoked by a team that wanted to win the election and who knew full well that seniors and the most vulnerable members of our society would be afraid...
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Madam Speaker, my colleague from Mégantic—L'Érable—Lotbinière mentioned at the beginning of his speech the hardships he had to overcome during the election campaign. These are personal hardships that have touched all of us as colleagues. He is someone we appreciate very much and I think that we cannot remain insensitive to what he has been through. Our thoughts were with him and they are with him …
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Madam Speaker, I do not think I have had a chance to congratulate you on your appointment as Deputy Speaker. As my colleague from Lac-Saint-Jean said earlier, I am happy to see you again. You are my favourite too, so it is good to see you again. I was also pleased to hear our new colleague from Madawaska—Restigouche say that he will support Bill C‑2. I am glad to hear that. However, I would add th…
Read full speech →Speech from the Throne
Mr. Speaker, I congratulate my newly elected colleague on her first speech in the House. I remember mine as a very moving experience. When I rose for the first time, I also remember thanking my family members, being overcome with emotion and having tears in my eyes. I have a very good idea of the emotions my colleague is feeling right now. We are currently debating a Bloc Québécois amendment to th…
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Mr. Speaker, it is my turn to congratulate you on your appointment. You are doing a superb job in that chair, except maybe for that little slap on the wrist for the member for Richmond—Arthabaska, who named one of his colleagues in the House. However, he will get used to it now that he is in the House. I think he will become a seasoned parliamentarian, coming off nine years at the Quebec National …
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Mr. Speaker, with regard to this point of order, I agree that we want to give new members a chance to be heard and to finish their speeches. However, there is such a thing as parliamentary privilege. When a member asks a question, he or she can expect to receive an answer. I have no problem with the member making a speech, and she will have an opportunity to come back to it another time, but now i…
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Mr. Speaker, I do not wish to comment on the same point of order. However, there is something that everyone needs to be reminded of, and I am certain it is your duty to remind them. It has to do with the interpreters' safety. My colleague may not realize she is banging very loudly on the desk close to the microphones. This is dangerous for the interpreters, who have to wear headphones to do their …
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to start by congratulating you and telling you how relieved I am that you are in the chair. You are a diligent member of Parliament and a formidable opponent when asking or answering questions as a member. I am glad to see you in the chair because it will save us from having to go up against you as a colleague and adversary. I also want to congratulate the new member for …
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Mr. Speaker, I want to take this opportunity to congratulate you on being elected Speaker. I wish you every success during this Parliament. I would also like to congratulate the Prime Minister for surviving his baptism by fire, his first question period and his maiden speech today. We do not mind saying that he did well. However, a number of questions remain unanswered. One specific question of mi…
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to congratulate my colleague on her speech. It is always very nice to hear colleagues express themselves so clearly and fluently in French. I would also like to congratulate her on her re-election. There are several items on the agenda. This morning, we debated, and are still debating, the Bloc Québécois amendment to the Conservatives' amendment to the Speech from the Thr…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, today's lunch was the most beautiful meal of the year in Drummondville, as a hearty traditional Christmas dinner was offered to Tablée populaire regulars by the team at the legendary Le Roy Jucep restaurant, where, as we all know, poutine was invented. This is the third year that Laurent Proulx and Léonie Nadeau have invited local politicians and business people to help their generous…
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Mr. Speaker, the Standing Committee on Justice is echoing Amira Elghawaby's request that professors be hired based on their religion rather than their skills. First, why is Ottawa getting involved in the hiring of university professors? Is there a minister of higher education here, and Ottawa forgot to tell us? Second, this proposal flies in the face of secularism. This brings religion back into o…
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Mr. Speaker, the Senate issued a report that blames Quebec's secularism for everything, and the Minister of Immigration said nothing. Amira Elghawaby called Quebeckers anti-Muslim, and the Minister of Immigration said nothing. The Standing Committee on Justice tabled a report that repeats the Senate's anti-secularism arguments, and the Minister of Immigration has no problem with that. Ottawa is pr…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, “We are the offspring of modest French-Canadian families, working class or lower middle class”. With those words, a small group of artists launched an artistic and social revolution in 1948, laying the foundations for what would become modern-day Quebec. The Refus global is perhaps one of the most fundamental texts when it comes to understanding today's Quebec. The manifesto, which wa…
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Mr. Speaker, the Iris gala, the grand celebration of the Quebec film industry, shone brightly again this year. The biggest winner of the night was Gatineau director Ariane Louis‑Seize, whose film Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person has more than just a catchy title to recommend it. This black comedy won best picture, best first film, and best screenplay for the director and her co-…
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Mr. Speaker, I find it quite rich to hear the NDP and the Conservatives passing the buck about who is disrupting the House the most. The Bloc Québécois sits between the two parties. Members on both sides are yelling and hurling insults at each other. There is clearly a lack of decorum in the House. This is not the first time we have risen to point that out. Once again, I appeal to you, Mr. Speaker…
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Mr. Speaker, on Tuesday, the Quebec National Assembly made me truly proud to be a Quebecker when it unanimously adopted a motion denouncing hate speech and calling for an end to the religious exemption. Calling for someone's death in the name of God should not be any more legal than calling for the death of someone we do not like. Freedom of religion does not give a person carte blanche to spread …
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I would like to congratulate my colleague from Shefford on another brilliant speech. I cannot help but be extremely surprised and disappointed by the question asked by my colleague from Victoria, who appears to be questioning the importance the Bloc Québécois places on this inalienable right, in our view, to access to health care and to full autonomy in making decisions about one's ow…
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Mr. Speaker, I congratulate my colleague from Victoria for her speech and the passion she has for this issue. Before asking her a question, I would just like to get back to her tone when she accused the Bloc Québécois of siding with the Conservatives on the question of voting to get back to the orders of the day. She said we had voted 36 times. The only two times we voted to get back to the orders…
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Madam Speaker, yesterday I tried to move a motion calling on the House of Commons to join the Bloc Québécois in denouncing the presence of a religious exemption in paragraph 319(3)(b) of the Criminal Code. This exemption permits hate speech under the guise of religious beliefs. However, the Conservatives and Liberals seem to be against the idea of repealing this Criminal Code provision and stoppin…
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Mr. Speaker, Before I had time to read even a sentence of my motion yesterday, we were already hearing “no” from the Liberal benches. I had just enough time to say, “That the House affirm that no hate speech is tolerated”, when the Liberals were already saying no. Some people in the House have no problem tolerating hate. People can say, “May God strike all the unbelievers dead.” According to these…
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Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. 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 affirm that no hate speech is tolerated—
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Mr. Speaker, Rassemblement pour la laïcité stands united with the Quebec government. Both are calling for the government to remove the religious exemption in the Criminal Code that allows people to spread hate speech without consequence. The Liberals have said they are, and I quote, determined to find solutions that meet the needs of all Canadians. Luckily enough, the Bloc Québécois can help them …
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Mr. Speaker, I am going to have to listen to that again. It did not seem to me like an answer to the question. Hate speech is supposed to be a crime, period. Either we believe that or not. Quebec is asking that the religious exception protecting hate speech in section 319 of the Criminal Code be repealed. The timing is good, because the Bloc Québécois's Bill C‑373 does exactly that. It is the only…
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Madam Speaker, those are very interesting questions. When my grandmother talked about her sometimes rowdy grandsons, she would say that we were all smart enough to start a fire, but not smart enough to put it out. When I hear the Conservative leader say that he is going to get rid of the CBC but protect Radio-Canada, it sounds a bit like what my grandmother used to say. It reminds me a little of t…
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Madam Speaker, my colleague is correct in saying that the dubbing industry is having a tough time. There is a whole host of challenges currently facing Quebec's dubbing industry, given the changes in technology and the rise of artificial intelligence. This is a real concern. The fact that officials here are not sending a strong signal of support is really disappointing, and this will only hurt the…
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Madam Speaker, I am not going to get into a discussion about the wording of amendments and subamendments, because I already take great issue with the political manoeuvring that goes on when we address this issue. For example, yesterday, the member for Mégantic—L'Érable made a post on X in which he says, “The Bloc Québécois just voted with the Liberals to hand out bonuses, including one for the CBC…
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