Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I congratulate my colleague opposite on his speech. His commitment to the environment is beyond any doubt. As for Bill C-49, I have many questions. As I read this bill, it struck me as a great way to conceal malicious intentions around oil and gas development. Wind energy is great. Saying that we are going to produce green hydrogen is great. That is the positive side of the bill. Howe…
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Madam Speaker, I always find it interesting to listen to my Conservative colleagues bash the Liberal government—rightly so most of the time, and I am not suggesting that they are not good at it. However, rarely do we hear anything in the Conservatives' speeches other than criticism of the government's inaction or misdeeds. Rarely do we hear them come up with concrete solutions. There is $900 milli…
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his speech. I was glad I could provide at least some sort of an audience. I want to go back to the question that my colleague from Berthier—Maskinongé asked another colleague earlier. Instead of introducing measures that are little more than publicity stunts, that may have some short-term effect but that do nothing to provide a modicum of predictability to a…
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Mr. Speaker, congratulations on your election. Fanfreluche is a centenarian. On Sunday, actor Kim Yaroshevskaya, known to my generation as the unforgettable Fanfreluche and to the Passe-Partout generation as the beloved Grand-mère, celebrated her 100th birthday. Fanfreluche's magical stories, read in her lively, animated voice, captivated and fascinated us while nurturing our love of reading. Kim …
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Madam Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I would respectfully ask you to confirm whether we have the quorum required for the business of the House to proceed.
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Madam Speaker, I too would like to sincerely congratulate my colleague from Repentigny on the quality of her speech, as well as her ability to remain focused. During part of her speech, she had to put up with three annoying members behind her who would not stop talking. I just wanted to say that I admire how she remained focused on her message. I am always surprised that this Liberal government, w…
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Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I understand that the discussions are interesting, but when the House of Commons is not very full, as is the case right now, private conversations tend to carry a lot more. Hearing our colleagues' conversations makes it hard to concentrate. I wonder if it would be possible to ask them to take their conversations elsewhere or to lower their voices.
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Madam Speaker, we hear the Conservatives make criticisms and talk about what they will do when they are in power if they are elected. However, the housing crisis is urgent and is happening right now. The election might happen at any time, but it might not happen for another two years. In the meantime, $900 million is dormant in the federal government's coffers and it is meant to go to Quebec City.…
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Mr. Speaker, I too would like to welcome the member to the House of Commons. I would also like to say that I was here when his father gave his farewell speech in the House, and I was here when people paid tribute after his passing. The words of my colleague from Avignon—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia left not a single dry eye in the House. With utmost respect, I welcome him to his new role as a member …
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Mr. Speaker, Métro Média, the company that owns Journal Métro and 16 other local newspapers, is declaring bankruptcy. It is ceasing operations. Over 70 people, including about 30 journalists, are losing their jobs. This is yet another blow to Quebec news, which has already been very hard hit. The closure of a local newspaper hurts in many ways. Obviously, it affects access to local information, a …
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Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to pick up where we left off last night. I have to say I was a little disappointed. We had a great opportunity to debate Bill C‑18 last night, but we were cut off at about 6:30 p.m. in the middle of my speech. I had about 12 minutes to go. The classy thing to do would have been to let me finish my speech before interrupting the proceedings. Let us not talk…
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Madam Speaker, I really do not like that they are imposing time allocation. I think it is an insult to democracy and parliamentary privilege. That said, I do not agree with my Conservative colleague who said that people were not heard in committee when it studied Bill C‑18. I think everyone spoke to that bill. The committee heard as many people as possible and we had ample time to debate the bill.…
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Madam Speaker, I would like to come back to the minister's heated reaction. We know he is quite a passionate man and that this bill is important to him, but I believe he misunderstood the meaning of my question earlier. I really want to refocus my question on the concept of a closure motion. In its entire history, the Bloc Québécois has supported under 10 closure motions. When it did give its supp…
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Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague. I too enjoy the work we do and our close collaboration at the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage. Most of the time, our work has been constructive. There is a reason journalism and news are called the fourth estate. The news media has a duty and an important role to play in society. I said “important”, but I really mean “essential”. If Bill C…
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Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague from Bow River because he is a staunch defender of small media outlets and the regional media, the local papers he talks about so passionately. He did a great job of defending them and representing them during the committee study. Originally, long before Bill C-18 was tabled, the Bloc Québécois's idea was that we should create a royalty fund financ…
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Madam Speaker, I think that every form of journalism that respects the fundamental rules of integrity, independence, meticulousness and respect for people and sources is essential. In-depth reporting by investigative journalists striving to dig deeper into the stories is also essential, and we need to keep it alive as well.
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Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague from Repentigny for her question and her hard work. It is good to talk about Mr. Sims, because he gave us the Australian perspective. Australia is much further along in applying its code. Talking to Mr. Sims gave us a different perspective and insight into what our next steps would be. True, Australia has run into issues, but this did not diminish …
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Madam Speaker, when a journalist loses their job in a region like Côte-Nord, it is not just serious, it is tragic. The news that comes from community media or other small regional media outlets, which are often newsrooms run on a shoestring budget, is vital. It is these news media outlets, which are often run by passionate people covering three or four jobs in the radio station or the small local …
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Madam Speaker, it was very brave of you to ask my colleague from Winnipeg North to ask a very brief question, but he managed it, and I congratulate him. My answer will be brief. I do not know. We will never know, because of the time allocation motion adopted earlier. I would have liked to give democracy a chance over the next few days to extend the debate into Thursday or Friday. We could have don…
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Madam Speaker, I would like to thank and congratulate my colleague from New Westminster—Burnaby for his speech. We certainly did work hard on Bill C-11 and Bill C-18 at the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage with the other committee members. In general, we worked in a very constructive manner. I really appreciated that. In September, I had the privilege of attending Mondiacult, a world confer…
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Madam Speaker, there is never a dull moment in the House. It truly is incredible. There is always some event or other that grabs our attention. I am very happy Bill C‑18 has reached this stage. I am happy, but I can promise my colleagues that there are an awful lot of people at media outlets in my riding and pretty much everywhere in Quebec, not to mention everywhere across Canada, based on our co…
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Mr. Speaker, there should be a Radio-Canada voice hall of fame. It would be a sound hall of fame, of course. It would feature the voices of Bernard Derome, René Lecavalier, Richard Garneau, Pierre Nadeau, as well as Myra Cree, Judith Jasmin and countless others. If there were a hall of fame, the newest inductees would be Joël Le Bigot and Michel Désautels. For decades, we have listened to the comf…
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Madam Speaker, my Conservative colleague's question gives us some idea of the mood and the positions taken in the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage during its work on Bill C‑18. It was pretty specific and pretty clear. Throughout this study, the web giants went to great lengths to tell us that news was not that valuable to their businesses. Sabrina Geremia, a vice-president at Google Canada,…
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Madam Speaker, I congratulate my colleague from Lethbridge for her brief speech. She spoke a lot about the fact that Bill C‑18 offers nothing positive for smaller media outlets, weeklies or newspapers. Oddly enough, however, over the course of our study, the most vocal proponents of this bill were people like Pierre-Elliott Levasseur, president of La Presse, and Benoît Chartier and Sylvain Poisson…
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Mr. Speaker, layoffs at Bell Media are a sign of growing pessimism even among the telecom giants. We can only imagine how the smaller industry players feel. Will current federal programs and the compensation flowing from Bill C‑18 really be enough to ensure the survival of the news? The Bloc Québécois is proposing the creation of a dedicated fund, separate from existing programs, wholly dedicated …
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Mr. Speaker, 1,300 people learned yesterday that they would be losing their jobs at Bell Media. Six radio stations are going to stop broadcasting. When even a giant like Bell can no longer protect its media and newsrooms, the situation is dire. The entire news industry and the people who work in it are all under threat. The Bloc Québécois is proud to have contributed to Bill C‑11 and Bill C‑18, tw…
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Mr. Speaker, for 60 years now, the Éditions du Boréal publishing house has been magnificently showcasing Quebec authors, writers and historians. Gilles Boulet, Pierre Gravel, Jacques Lacoursière, Denis Vaugeois and Bishop Albert Tessier founded the Boréal Express in 1963. It would go on to publish an impressive collection of historical works from the front row of the Quiet Revolution and the socia…
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Mr. Speaker, this week, Quebecor held its 2023 tribute evening to recognize the extraordinary contributions of two of Quebec's cultural luminaries, Monique Miller and Serge Fiori. Quebec's cultural firmament is teeming with stars, stars whose voices, words, acting and music light Quebec up. Some of our stars have burned brightly for a short time; others have been shining forever, it seems. Monique…
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Madam Speaker, it is unbelievable. I was sitting pretty close to the member for Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, but I could barely hear what he was saying because the other member was shouting so much. That being said, let us move on to more serious matters. I very much appreciate the NDP's position on today's motion. Its approach to the climate emergency is quite similar to the Bloc's. I am pleased to…
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Mr. Speaker, I was listening to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance answer my colleague from Repentigny earlier. She spoke about all the good things in her budget, things we could not in good conscience vote against. It is nice to see what is in the budget, but it is even more important to see what is not in the budget. There is nothing for the housing crisis and nothing for seniors …
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Madam Speaker, I was listening earlier when my colleague from Châteauguay—Lacolle asked her questions. I have often wondered how the Liberal leaders managed to pull a fast one on their MPs when it comes to increasing the old age security pension only for seniors aged 75 and up. Now I understand. They led their MPs to believe that a report from 2013 is still relevant today. That explains a lot of t…
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Madam Speaker, I am very pleased to be able to rise and ask a question of my colleague from Salaberry—Suroît. In her speech, she once again demonstrated her empathy and warmth for her colleagues by highlighting the work of our colleagues from Manicouagan and Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou. She also highlighted the work of our colleague from Abitibi—Témiscamingue, who will be leaving in the middl…
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Madam Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I am sitting next to my colleague, who is giving her speech, and I am hearing sounds. I am not sure where they are coming from. It sounds like someone is watching a video or a headset on a desk has been left on at full volume. I think it would be appropriate to ask colleagues to lower the volume on their devices if they are watching something other than t…
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Madam Speaker, like the Conservatives, the Bloc Québécois will be voting against Bill C-47, but for different reasons. I hear my Conservative colleagues talk a lot about the carbon tax. They keep coming back to the same points. We in the Bloc Québécois are a bit like that. We keep coming back to the same points, specifically the fact that there is nothing for seniors, nothing for housing, nothing …
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Madam Speaker, I congratulate my colleague from New Westminster—Burnaby on his speech. I have the pleasure of working with him on the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage, and we appreciate the collaboration we have. I think we do. I do, at least. Having said that, I want to talk a little bit about the content of Bill C-47 and the budget in general. We heard from many witnesses from the arts co…
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Mr. Speaker, on another note, I would like to talk a bit about the monarchy with my colleague. The monarchy is a subject that the Bloc Québécois is particularly fond of talking about. As members know, the Liberals included the recognition of Charles III as Canada's sovereign in Bill C-47, which we find a bit far-fetched in such a bill. However, the Bloc Québécois still wanted to give the Liberals …
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his speech. Earlier we heard the Conservatives touting carbon capture technologies, and we often see the Liberals doing the same. However, just about every scientist in the world criticizes those technologies. The Conservatives praise this technology a lot, saying that it is a cure-all, a miracle, and that, in the end, it will mean oil sands development is n…
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Madam Speaker, I want to congratulate the NDP on the strong stance it has taken today. As my colleague said, the NDP did indeed move a motion calling for an independent public inquiry, but the Bloc started asking questions about this issue three weeks ago. Still, I am happy to see that the New Democrats are on board with the opposition consensus in favour of launching this independent public inqui…
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to congratulate my colleague from Trois-Rivières for his speech. I particularly enjoyed how he ended it with something of a question. He wondered what will happen otherwise. He did not say it in quite those words. He said it more clearly. Parents who have raised young children will know that we often have to threaten them to get them to brush their teeth. However, the chi…
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Mr. Speaker, I commend my colleague from New Westminster—Burnaby for his speech. I also commend the NDP for moving this motion. I think it is very courageous and timely, because the issue is extremely important. What is at stake is democracy and the confidence that Quebeckers and Canadians have in democracy and the functioning of their Parliament. There are several items in this motion, but the mo…
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Mr. Speaker, Quebec is in mourning. Quebec is in shock. Michel Côté has left us. Our thoughts are with his family and friends. We extend our sincere condolences to them. We are obviously thinking of those close to him, but we suddenly realize that we were all close to him. Michel Côté was a part of our lives, and we are collectively and individually in mourning. There are great actors we admire, a…
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Mr. Speaker, Quebec is in mourning. Quebec is in shock. Michel Côté is no longer with us. Our thoughts are with his family and friends. We extend our deepest condolences to them. We are also thinking of those close to him, but we now realize that we were all close to him. Michel Côté was a part of our lives, and we are collectively and individually in mourning. There are great actors we admire, an…
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Madam Speaker, I can hear the Conservatives' concern. As my colleague from Longueuil—Saint-Hubert said earlier, we are addressing an extremely sensitive and important issue, but they are not providing effective and vetted solutions. The Conservatives' approach is very similar to that of the Americans. It has been said before. We have been saying it since this morning. The results in the United Sta…
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Mr. Speaker, the Cercle de fermières de Saint-Cyrille is celebrating its 85th anniversary. The year 2023 is a historic year for the group. Our farm women will have plenty of opportunities to showcase their many talents. The group consists of 36 extraordinary volunteers, dedicated to improving the living conditions of women and families, and to passing on their cultural and artisanal heritage. They…
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Mr. Speaker, today I have the honour of tabling petition e-4335, signed by 2,500 petitioners from Quebec and all across Canada, which states that a “religious representative answering directly to the Prime Minister violates the religious neutrality of the state as the mandate to combat racism and hate propaganda against all citizens falls to the Department of Canadian Heritage and Justice Canada”.…
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Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased with some of the changes made to Bill C-21 along the way, and I really want to highlight the extraordinary work of my colleague from Avignon—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia. We saw her take charge and manage this file for the Bloc Québécois. We are all very proud of what has been done on this file, which was very complex and whose path was very chaotic. I believe that the …
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Mr. Speaker, certain artists, certain songs take us back in time, maybe even to our youth. There are even some that bring us back to a specific era, perhaps to an important milestone, for example. I do not need to sing the following lines; it is enough to recite the following: Quebec's future will be sound, if it does let itself get pushed around. We all know how it goes and immediately want to si…
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Madam Speaker, several studies over the past few months and years have shown that francophones outside Quebec rely heavily on the strength of French in Quebec and on the support for French in Quebec to protect them in their official language minority community. Why does my colleague think it is a good idea to improve and strengthen French outside Quebec but let it get weaker within Quebec? Does he…
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Madam Speaker, the Government of Quebec is already doing a lot of good things to manage immigration and to welcome francophone immigrants. It is true that as far as my colleague from Hochelaga is concerned, other than a slight Hochelaga accent, we can say this is a perfect integration in French. She is a colleague that I hold in high regard. Quebec often has its hands tied because of Ottawa, which…
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Madam Speaker, that is a good question, and it fits in with what I said at the beginning of my speech. We want to welcome and integrate immigrants. We do not want them to end up in ghettos in the areas where they will settle. In just about every Quebec municipality I know of, there are organizations dedicated to supporting and integrating newcomers. Who generally manages and sponsors these organiz…
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