Parliamentary Speeches
412 speeches by Maxime Blanchette-Joncas — Page 4 of 9
Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, it is with immense pride today that we celebrate the triumph of Grey Owl cheese, produced by Le Détour cheese factory in Témiscouata‑sur‑le‑Lac. This culinary gem was recently crowned the best cheese in Quebec by the jury of the prestigious Sélection Caseus competition, which recognizes the most remarkable creations in Quebec. In direct competition with 197 other exceptional products …
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives are going to need to tell us their plan. The former Conservative leader said that he had a plan, a contract for Quebeckers. I would like my colleague to explain the plan to us. We are studying a committee report on the financialization of housing. In October 2023, the Conservatives did not exactly agree with some of the measures. A year later, while this long-standin…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, I listened carefully to my colleague's speech. He said that the Liberal government does not have a mandate to break Canada. I wonder if my colleague's party gave him a mandate to forget the facts and history. I would remind my colleague that, when his party was in power, Minister Tony Clement personally embezzled $50 million in public funds in his own riding. This was not some committ…
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Mr. Speaker, my constituents have a proud motto, “Je me souviens”, or “I remember”. I would like to remind members of some historical facts about the Conservative Party, and especially what our colleague from Louis-Saint-Laurent just mentioned, which also highlights the 25 years of service of our colleague from Brandon—Souris. Members will recall that there certainly was corruption when the Conser…
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to mark the 50th anniversary of the École de technologie supérieure, or ÉTS for short, founded in Montreal back in 1974. Over these many years, the school has become a trusted institution and alma mater to 25% of all of Quebec's engineers. It has taken the top spot in Quebec for the highest number of bachelor of engineering graduates. A member of the Université du Québec …
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, I agree with my colleague from Oxford that the Liberal Party is corrupt to the core. We need only think back to the infamous sponsorship scandal. However, I do not agree with my colleague from Oxford about corruption in the Conservative Party. He says that his party is beyond reproach. Let me remind him of a few historical facts. Consider the “in and out” scandal of 2006, when the C…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, I like to see parliamentarians speaking out against corruption and calling for transparency. I would remind my colleague that when her party, the Conservative Party, was in power, there was corruption. Members will recall the $50 million that Tony Clement, a former Conservative minister, took from the public purse to send to his riding. Quebec's motto is “Je me souviens” or “I remem…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, “I remember” is the motto of Quebeckers. This morning, I would like my colleague to remember certain events. He talked about Liberal government corruption and lack of transparency. I want to go back in history because it is important to remember what happened. The Conservative Party claims to be the party of common sense, transparency, of fighting corruption in this world. However, wh…
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Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honour the memory of a community builder and proud resident of the Lower St. Lawrence, Thomas Gagnon, who passed away on September 14 at the age of 72. A successful entrepreneur, he founded PG Solutions in Rimouski in 1980. This is a leading Quebec company specializing in management software applications for the corporate, forestry and municipal sectors. Then, in 2012,…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, my colleague's speech was, of course, no different from what all his common-sense Conservative colleagues are telling us. I think, however, that common sense has gone out the window, because they have forgotten their history. I agree that corruption is very much part of the Liberal DNA. That said, it is also in the Conservative DNA. My colleague likes to remind people of the facts, so…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, we will try to take the high road. The Bloc Québécois is used to being the adult in the room. This evening, those who are watching at home are seeing two parties sling mud at each other and accusing each other of having the most scandals to its name. That is what our democracy looks like in 2024 with these two parties that are both hoping to govern. I have a clear and simple question …
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, I listened closely to my colleague's speech. The Bloc Québécois agrees with the privilege motion we are discussing today. The government needs to be transparent. It has to be accountable and provide the information we need to be able to make decisions. That is our role. My colleague speaks as though the Conservative Party of Canada is full of people who are always honest who have ne…
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 →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, it is always good to refresh one's memory. It is particularly important because Quebec's motto is “Je me souviens”, or I remember. In his speech on September 16, the opposition leader and member for Carleton questioned whether we could have confidence in our institutions' representatives, and that worries me. More specifically, he questioned whether parliamentarians should have confid…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, I assure my colleague from Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup that I do not have Alzheimer's. I have a very good memory. The motto in Quebec is “Je me souviens”, or “I remember”. I do not trust people who preach to others when things in their own party are not entirely above board. I would remind my colleague about the G8 and G20 spending scandal. That was not even about peo…
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 →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 →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 →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…
Read full speech →Government Orders
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…
Read full speech →Government Orders
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…
Read full speech →Government Orders
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…
Read full speech →Government Orders
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…
Read full speech →Government Orders
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.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I listened carefully to my colleague's speech. I want to make one important point clear to him right off the bat. A denturist called me last week and said that the federal dental care program was a flop. He cannot get reimbursed, so he is going to drop out of the program. He has spoken with some colleagues who told him that no one was using the program because it is not working. Canad…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, listening to my colleague is always a pleasure, but we know that history repeats itself. That is usually the case. Quebec's motto is “Je me souviens” or “I remember”. We remember one important thing the NDP did: It signed the Sherbrooke declaration. I would remind my colleague that the Sherbrooke declaration of 2005 respected the autonomy of Quebec and the provinces, and it even suppo…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, it is always a pleasure to answer my colleague's questions. The New Democratic Party says it is democratic, but it defends the privatization of certain programs and approved a dental care program that is run by a private company, Sun Life. That was done with the support of the NDP. In the meantime, what we in the Bloc Québécois are asking for is not to not help the people who need sup…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I have two simple questions for my colleague. First, why did the Conservative Party refuse to support the Bloc Québécois amendments, including a three-year ban on working for a foreign state for former public office holders? Here is the second question, the most important one: How can we trust the Conservative Party? This is the same party that allowed someone to enter the leadershi…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I rise in the House today to speak to a very important topic. I am referring to the creation of an independent commission to review miscarriages of justice under Bill C‑40. The bill is concrete and positive, a fact that deserves mention, considering it is not always a Liberal Party specialty. That is a rare occurrence indeed, as we know. In 2021, the Minister of Justice commissioned…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, the Conservative Party seems to have some good ideas. It recently had one. It wants to lower federal gas taxes. That sounds interesting. I wondered why they had not come up with it sooner if it was such a good idea. I did some searching. In 2008, the Harper government said that higher gas prices were unavoidable and that Canadians would have no choice but to reduce their dependence …
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Mr. Speaker, the perfect is the enemy of the good. This saying may well apply to the current situation and to Bill C‑277, an act to establish a national strategy on brain injuries, which I have the opportunity to talk to members of the House about today. I would like to thank my colleague for his hard work to bring this proposal before us today. Unfortunately, as with all previous national strateg…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, once again, we see the profound hypocrisy at play here. Nothing goes deeper than Anglo-Saxon hypocrisy, and this MP just proved that to be true. For him, someone who is capable, competent and qualified must be someone who speaks one of the two official languages. It makes no sense for a government to appoint a Governor General who does not speak a word of French when that is one of …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, when a member of the Conservative Party, the party that brags about standing up for francophones, asks me to respond with a yes or no, it is hard to take that seriously. I wish I could ask my colleague whether he is comfortable with the fact that his party, which claims to recognize both official languages, is not in favour of having bilingual judges on this commission. Again, I can…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, it will take me more than 40 seconds to explain how discrimination against francophones has been going on for as long as Canada has existed. We were promised reconciliation and substantive equality. We were promised that institutional bilingualism would be the salvation of francophones. The Liberal Party, the Conservative Party and the New Democratic Party are federalist parties tha…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, my colleague's speech was very interesting. I think he is suffering from extreme optimism. Canada, which has the largest supply of drinking water in the world, is unable to provide its citizens with safe drinking water. My colleague said that progress has been made and we should be happy with that. The Liberal Party's promise in 2015 was to provide clean drinking water to indigenous…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I would like to seek unanimous consent to change my vote. I want to vote no.
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to federal spending in the electoral district of Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, broken down by fiscal year since 2018–19, inclusively: (a) what is the total amount for each fiscal year; (b) what is the detailed breakdown of the amounts in (a) by department, Crown corporation, agency or organization; and (c) what grants and contributions were made, broken down by funding sou…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I commend my colleague from Trois-Rivières for his excellent speech. It is always a pleasure to listen to him. It is like a university lecture condensed into a speech, and we keep coming back for more. It is a nice change from some other speeches that tend to be more vague, with watered-down points. Canada's national security policy dates back to 2004. This policy does not even incl…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to federal spending in the electoral district of Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, broken down by fiscal year since 2018–19, inclusively: (a) what is the total amount for each fiscal year; (b) what is the detailed breakdown of the amounts in (a) by department, Crown corporation, agency or organization; and (c) what grants and contributions were made, broken down by funding sou…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I salute my colleague from Whitby, who I work with at the Standing Committee on Science and Research. My question for my colleague is on the effectiveness of implementing, creating a new department of housing. Quebec already has the ministry of municipal affairs and housing and the Société d'habitation du Québec. The last projects that were funded in Quebec, in my region in particul…
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Madam Speaker, a leopard cannot change its spots. Once again, it is clear that the Liberal government is trying to interfere in Quebec's affairs and fantasizing about taking over jurisdictions that do not belong to it and in which it has no expertise. Why? Maybe it is trying to justify its existence and appear relevant. Budget 2024 and this bill are perfect examples of that. That is why the Bloc Q…
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Madam Speaker, it will take me a lot longer than a minute to make the federal government understand that the regions exist and that they have specific needs, just like Quebec, which is also distinguished by its nationhood and its own specific needs. Air transportation is practically non-existent in the regions. When its pals at Air Canada ask for millions or billions of dollars in wage subsidies, …
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Madam Speaker, there is a saying that goes, “If you want something done right, do it yourself”. That is good, because the Bloc Québécois is a separatist party. It is in favour of independence. It wants to take care of its own business by itself, for itself, without needing anything from a federal government that does not always share Quebec's priorities. As my colleague from Sarnia—Lambton just sa…
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Madam Speaker, the Bloc Québécois is obviously in favour of this measure, which finally recognizes how distressing such situations can be for parents. We did not wait for the federal government to create our child care system. It has been around for 25 years. The same goes for our other social programs, such as the Quebec parental insurance plan, which has been around for many years. Quebec has a …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, with this budget, the federal government is responding to a crisis, namely, the housing crisis. My question for my colleague is this: Does she agree that the money earmarked for housing should be managed by the people who understand the housing crisis? Here is an example: CMHC collects data. I have the honour of representing 39 municipalities. Out of those 39 municipalities, CMHC coll…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, it is not easy for Canada to have any credibility on the international stage when it comes to security. A major player in the government told us that “Canada is back”, but it is definitely not. Canada was eyeing a seat on the United Nations Security Council, but it lost the bid. When it comes to security, Canada has had problems, especially with the Winnipeg lab, a maximum-security fa…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to funding for research at universities and associated organizations: (a) what is the amount of funding, in Canadian dollars, that is provided directly by the granting agencies and is used to fund research projects (i) in universities, (ii) in research organizations affiliated with universities, (iii) by researchers affiliated with a university, (iv) in total; and (b) what is the distr…
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With regard to funding for research at universities and associated organizations: (a) what amount of funding, in Canadian dollars, is provided directly by the various federal government departments; (b) what amount of funding, in Canadian dollars, does not come from the granting agencies, used to fund research projects (i) in universities, (ii) in research organizations affiliated with universitie…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to mark the 80th anniversary of the Institut maritime du Québec in Rimouski. This great national institution was founded on May 24, 1944, under the leadership of Jules‑A. Brillant. Eighty years later, the Institut maritime du Québec remains the only marine labour force training centre in Quebec, the largest in Canada, and the only francophone institution of its kind in No…
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