Parliamentary Speeches
331 speeches by Maxime Blanchette-Joncas — Page 2 of 7
Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, my colleague is on the wrong track. In my speech, I mentioned that this also has to do with other provinces. Other provinces have used the notwithstanding clause throughout history. I invite him to read the Ford decision, which states that there is no danger in using the notwithstanding clause. I would also remind him that, historically, the notwithstanding clause has been used for mo…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, I would like to sincerely congratulate Yves Gingras, a professor of history and the sociology of knowledge at the Université du Québec à Montréal, who was awarded the 2024 Prix science et laïcité, or science and secularism award, in Paris at the 18th annual ceremony of the Comité Laïcité République. This award recognizes Professor Gingras' commitment to distinguishing between scientif…
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Mr. Speaker, I like facts, and there is one fact that I will certainly be able to remind my colleague about. As we know, Quebec's motto is “Je me souviens”, or “I remember”. The Harper Conservative government planned to cut CBSA staff at the border. That is mentioned in the 2015 report on plans and priorities. I invite my colleague to check that report and simply send me a brief email saying wheth…
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Mr. Speaker, I understand that the Conservative Party's guiding principle is law and order. However, law and order also happens at our borders. It was the Conservative government, under Harper, that planned cuts to the Canada Border Services Agency. Now that the Conservatives are in opposition, they are telling us they want more staff. There should not be such a contradiction between what they are…
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Mr. Speaker, we said that we were not going to give the government carte blanche. Once again, we are going to work hard in committee. We want to get some answers from the government. I repeat that, when promises are made during an election campaign, both the opposition parties and the public want to see results. However, right now, they seem to be mostly empty promises. On the ground, we are being…
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Madam Speaker, I would like to say hello to the people of Rimouski—La Matapédia, whom I am proud and honoured to represent. The riding name has changed, but I am not forgetting the people of La Mitis, Les Basques and Neigette, and I want to say hello to them too. My question for my Conservative colleague is quite simple. The bill gives extraordinary powers to the Minister of Immigration, Refugees …
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Mr. Speaker, securing our borders is not a luxury. It is a matter of urgency. For a long time now, the Bloc Québécois has been calling for strong measures to combat the export of stolen vehicles, the increase in asylum claims, the fentanyl crisis and money laundering. However, the situation had to become critical before the government would think about taking any action. After nearly 10 years of c…
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague's speech made it clear that the government's priority is border security and the safety of Canadians. I would remind the House of the Prime Minister's promise in April, during an election campaign, to add 1,000 new border officers and new RCMP officers. I have a simple question for my colleague. What concrete measures have been taken since those announcements? How many ne…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague. I really like the part in his speech when he said that French is not a secondary language in Canada. Quebec's motto is Je me souviens, or I remember. I would like to remind my colleague that it was the Conservative Party, under Stephen Harper, that appointed a unilingual anglophone auditor general, unilingual anglophone Supreme Court justices and a unilingual ang…
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Mr. Speaker, I salute my colleague and congratulate him on his speech. One interesting thing about Bill C‑2 is that border services officers will not even be allowed to patrol between certain sectors. That will make them less effective. I just want my colleague's opinion. Does he agree that they should be more effective and that the officers, though too few in number, should be allowed to patrol b…
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Mr. Speaker, I appreciate my colleague's question, but I did say a lot in my speech. In April, in the middle of the election campaign, the Prime Minister himself promised to hire 1,000 additional CBSA officers. Can my colleague tell us how many new officers have been hired to date, since her counterparts in the government are unable to tell us? It is rather confusing. The same goes for the RCMP. T…
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague described the situation well. The government acknowledges that its immigration department has some very serious problems and that the public no longer has confidence in the immigration system. It even mentioned this in its own throne speech. What is happening this morning, at the beginning of this new Parliament? The government is recycling. It thinks the public will star…
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Mr. Speaker, I listened carefully to my colleague's speech. He said that it was not their fault and that the Conservative government created the problem. I would like my colleague to tell me why his government did not fix the situation before now if it was so serious. There were parliamentary reports dating as far back as 2007 on lost Canadians. The issue got media attention. There was even a lega…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, the government mentioned in the throne speech that its priority is to restore public confidence in the immigration system. I would like my colleague to simply tell me whether she agrees that this bill, which seems rather minor to me, will really restore public confidence in the immigration system. What concrete steps does she suggest we prioritize to really address the root causes of …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, as my colleague said earlier, the Bloc Québécois is obviously in favour of this bill. We want to finally move on to something else because what we are doing this morning is recycling. I have to let honest workers and taxpayers know. This problem has existed since 2009, when the Conservative Party changed the legislation. We know the problem, and we know the solutions; now is the time …
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague said that it is very important to pass this bill. Her government could have already done that, since it had a majority from 2015 to 2019. It knew both the problem and the solutions. This goes back to 2009. Today, the government is telling us that we need to restore public confidence in our immigration system. We are not going to get there by recycling bills that have been…
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Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives support freedom of choice, but only when it suits them. When scientists choose climate, they muzzle them. When the public wants public services, they slash funding for those public services. When Quebec wants to choose transportation electrification, particularly through electric vehicles, they oppose it in the name of freedom of choice. It seems that Conservatives o…
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Mr. Speaker, we have just been served up the usual Conservative rhetoric. I do not recycle because my neighbour does not recycle. That is what my colleague just said. We should put everything on hold because China pollutes more than we do. What a profoundly cynical abdication of responsibility. We should refuse to do anything to fight climate change because other people are worse than we are. The …
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Madam Speaker, the government has not increased graduate scholarships by a single cent in 20 years. We were told that it was not a priority. Now the government has a new argument. It is saying that it will follow through on what it said during the election campaign. The Liberals told us that they would invest in science, research and innovation. I would like my colleague to clarify the following p…
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Mr. Speaker, in Quebec, we have chosen to ban gas-powered vehicles by 2035. That is our choice. It is our future. It is our economy. Why does the Conservative Party insist on imposing its oil-focused vision on Quebec?
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Mr. Speaker, what we are hearing from the member for Trois-Rivières today is pretty mind-blowing. She seems to think that a new election is like a reset button. Imagine a driver ramming their car into a lamppost. Even if we replace the driver, the car is still the same, unless my colleague is saying the opposite. We are talking about 106 contracts between 2015 and 2023, most of them non-competitiv…
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Mr. Speaker, we are being treated to quite a show in today's debate. The Liberals are throwing mud at the Conservatives, saying that the Harper government also awarded contracts to GC Strategies. The Conservatives respond by saying that that is not true and that the current situation between the Liberal Party and GC Strategies is worse. Something rather historic happened yesterday. Every new minor…
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Mr. Speaker, I commend my colleague for his speech. There are many things we disagree on, but there is one thing he may have avoided mentioning in his speech. He talked about redistribution and tax sharing. He talked about equalization payments. However, he did not mention that Quebec receives the least money per capita in all of Canada. It is not good enough to say that a province receives a cert…
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Mr. Speaker, I congratulate my colleague from Jonquière on his speech. The purpose of my question is to clarify the situation for my colleagues and for the people tuning in at home today. Liberal MPs keep telling us that Quebeckers are not entitled to the rebate because Quebec has its own carbon pricing system. On April 19, 2024, the Liberal government changed the system. The Canada carbon rebate …
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Mr. Speaker, I want to congratulate my colleague on his speech and on his election. I welcome him to Ottawa. He used to be a member of the Quebec National Assembly, which brings back many memories for us. I definitely remember. I must begin by congratulating him on the thoroughness and accuracy of the facts he shared. He did not say that carbon pricing is a bad thing. He simply said that the gover…
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Mr. Speaker, I congratulate my Bloc Québécois colleague on his speech. Since he is the international trade critic, I would like him to explain how eliminating carbon pricing will impact trade with the European Union. The EU is going to impose an entry tax on certain products if no carbon price was imposed on them in their source country. I would like my colleague to explain how this could penalize…
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Madam Speaker, Bill C‑2 gives CBSA officers more power to deal with fentanyl and, notably, vehicle theft. However, without additional staff, this will only solve part of the problem. On April 10, the Prime Minister promised to hire 1,000 additional officers. When will he finally keep his promise and follow through?
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Madam Speaker, the bill gives new powers to border services officers, but those already on the ground are overwhelmed. The union even says that they are short 2,000 to 3,000 officers. Let us start with the Prime Minister's promise. On April 10 during the election campaign, he promised 1,000. Can my colleague tell me how many new officers have been hired since then? If the answer is zero, when will…
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Madam Speaker, I salute my colleague and congratulate her on her re-election. Under the Harper government, there were plans to cut the number of officers at the border. That is what it says in CBSA's 2015 report on plans and priorities. Now that the Conservative Party is in opposition, it seems to have taken the opposite position. They agree that we need more staff to have more security at the bor…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, after carefully listening to my colleague's speech, I would encourage him to update his talking points. The Bloc Québécois supported the non-confidence motion against the government on Monday. My colleague needs to get that through his head. We know that the Conservative Party has little to offer in the way of constructive contributions and keeps repeating the same thing, but it needs…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, back in the Harper era, the Conservative government reduced the GST. Members will recall that it went from 7% to 5%. I would like my colleague to explain why today, a few years later, his party objects to a GST holiday. How was the fiscal impact under the Conservatives different from the current fiscal impact with the Liberals in power?
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, the Conservatives are starting to sound like a broken record. The Conservatives say they no longer have confidence in the Liberal Party, but they have been blocking the work of the House for five weeks now and preventing a non-confidence vote. Now we learn that the Conservatives are feeling generous right before Christmas, so they are going to allow the Liberal Party to present thei…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, I listened carefully to my colleague's speech. I agree with him that lack of transparency and corruption are in the Liberal Party's DNA. We all remember the sponsorship scandal. There is something I do not understand, however. We have been debating this question of privilege for five weeks now, and most of the House's work has been stalled. The Conservative Party has been saying for…
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Madam Speaker, I agree with part of my colleague's speech: Canada is doing a very poor job of reducing greenhouse gases. It makes sense though, because producing more oil requires more oil exploration and development projects, which produce more greenhouse gas emissions. She did not say anything about the biggest investment in Canadian history, the $34 billion spent to buy a pipeline. The Conserva…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, I listened carefully to my colleague's speech. Obviously, the Bloc Québécois completely agrees that the government has to be transparent and disclose the information in the documents. However, I have one fairly simply question I would like to ask my colleague. I know that, in the past, she opposed a motion that reaffirmed Canada's commitment to the Paris Agreement. My question is th…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, I listened carefully to the speech by my colleague from South Shore—St. Margarets. I agree in part with several of the things he said, especially with respect to the Liberal Party's inherent corruption and lack of transparency. That being said, it is easy to talk about others. I would like him to talk about his own party. I will remind him of something. Does he know what former Conser…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I would ask for the unanimous consent of the House for my vote to count. I was unable to vote the last time.
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, the Conservative Party no longer has confidence in this government. That is good, because the Bloc Québécois does not either. However, we have been debating this question of privilege for three weeks now, and the Conservative Party has not moved a non-confidence motion to bring down the government. The Conservative Party is saying one thing and doing the opposite. Can my colleague g…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, I listened carefully to the speech by my colleague from Barrie—Innisfil, who blames the government for not being transparent or open. I would like to remind my colleague of Quebec's motto, “je me souviens”, or “I remember”. I would also like to remind my colleague of the following facts. In 2010, during the G8 summit, former Conservative minister Tony Clement diverted $50 million to p…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I would like to begin by commending the speech by my esteemed colleague from Joliette, whose speeches are always well structured. That is evident here, and I think it inspires confidence in my colleagues too, based on comments we have heard from other members of the various parties. As everyone knows, increasing old age security is a key issue for the Bloc Québécois. In my region, i…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, once is not a habit. Again, this government is trying to interfere in the affairs of Quebec and the provinces through the municipalities. Most of the rules governing food product and food donation management fall outside federal jurisdiction. I consider it my duty to remind my colleague of that. Either he has not done his homework and does not know where federal jurisdiction begins …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, Ms. Elghawaby's mandate is supposed to be to build bridges, but all she does is create wedges and sow division. She epitomizes the excessive multiculturalism promoted by Canadian parties. She is proof positive that having an adviser fixated on the interests of a single community and blind to the others has serious consequences for both government and social cohesion. Ms. Elghawaby i…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, we need to talk about Amira Elghawaby. The Prime Minister's special representative on Islamophobia has given herself a broad mandate. Now she wants to tell universities which professors to hire, based on religious criteria that fly in the face of the principle of secularism. She even wants to dictate the kind of training they will get from the universities. This is obviously not a g…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honour the memory of a great patriot, Rimouski's own Michel Dompierre, who sadly passed away on August 28 at the age of 78. Michel was a talented photographer who spent more than 45 years immortalizing the magnificent landscapes of the Lower St. Lawrence on film. From La Pocatière to Routhierville, travelling on foot or by bicycle or car, nothing escaped this great art…
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Mr. Speaker, 15 seconds is not enough time to demonstrate that the common-sense plan makes no sense. When I asked a question earlier, the Conservative Party completely avoided talking about the monarchy and the $3 million being spent to hand out some little medals. I would like my colleague from Mégantic—L'Érable to ask his constituents if they support that.
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Mr. Speaker, I listened carefully to my colleague's speech. He spoke about the importance of growing the economy. When the Progressive Conservative Party was in office, Brian Mulroney increased the capital gains inclusion rate to 75%. That was in 1990. In 2024, the Conservative Party is saying that that is not a good idea. At the time, Mr. Mulroney justified that decision by saying that the goal w…
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Madam Speaker, it is always a pleasure to hear my colleague speak. The Conservatives pride themselves on being the party of common sense. Something in the supplementary estimates does not make sense. I am referring to a $3‑million increase for something that had already been allocated $22 million. Ottawa is investing an additional $3 million in little medals to be awarded in connection with the co…
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Mr. Speaker, the Liberals never stop asking us for more money. They always want more, more, more. We can agree on some things, but they have to be good and serve the needs of the people. It should not just be more money to buy a new pipeline. Oil and gas companies are already making billions of dollars in profits. They can buy their own pipelines. I would like to remind those tuning in about somet…
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Mr. Speaker, it is not late for me. I am wide awake and alert, even without coffee. I will answer my colleague from Lac-Saint-Louis's very simple and easy questions. He did not mention that Quebec has had its own child care program for 25 years. We did not wait for the federal government to give us money to do that. Now, he is waking up 25 years later and thinks this is important. If it were so im…
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