Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, I think I will address this question in French, with the permission of my colleague. I agree, as I mentioned earlier, that the vast majority of Quebeckers support the use of this act. I will also point out that the approval rating is even higher in Quebec than in the rest of Canada. I think that the members of the Bloc Québécois should be careful when they speak on behalf of Quebeck…
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Mr. Speaker, Canadians understand that inflation is a global phenomenon. Here are some numbers that prove it: Canada's latest inflation rate was about 4.8%. In the U.S., it was 7%. In Germany, it is over 5%. I would note that our inflation rate is lower than the G7 average, the G20 average and the OECD average.
Read full speech →Statements By Members
Mr. Speaker, I was in Quebec City last Saturday to take part in a ceremony commemorating the fifth anniversary of the tragic attack on the great mosque. I rise today to once again pay tribute to the six men who were taken from us on January 29, 2017: Ibrahima, Mamadou, Khaled, Abdelkrim, Azzedine, and Aboubaker. They were all Quebeckers and were all shot by a murderer who entered their mosque carr…
Read full speech →Speech from the Throne
Madam Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the member for Mississauga East—Cooksville. First, I want to say just how grateful I am to be here again in the House, in person, despite the protests being held in downtown Ottawa. I am especially grateful to the Parliamentary Protective Service and the Ottawa Police Service, who are working tirelessly to keep everyone safe, including protesters, MPs,…
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Madam Speaker, I know my colleague has done good work on the firearms file, but I disagree with her on this. I personally attended a solemn ceremony in Quebec City commemorating the Quebeckers we lost five years ago. With respect to our political battle over the firearms file, I would note that we have banned over 1,500 assault weapons. We have strengthened border security and added more resources…
Read full speech →Speech from the Throne
Madam Speaker, as I mentioned in my speech, I am working on the ground now to create affordable housing in my riding, as are 338 MPs in this room. It is through our efforts and funding from our government, as I mentioned, that we will build 100,000 new affordable housing units by 2025. That is a record number of units in a record amount of time. I encourage the member to work with us in order to i…
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Mr. Speaker, I was pleased and relieved to hear the leader of the NDP say that he stands in solidarity with Ukraine. However, the NDP member for Winnipeg Centre described the Ukrainian government as “an anti-Semitic, neo-nazi & fascist militia”. The NDP member for Churchill—Keewatinook Aski retweeted a suggestion that our Deputy Prime Minister's “Nazi past” is the reason that Canada is supporting …
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Mr. Chair, I would like to highlight, as many have, the important contribution of the Ukrainian Canadian community to building the Prairies in Alberta. That community continues to add so much to the vibrancy of the Prairies. Could the minister comment on what he is hearing on the ground? We know that in Alberta there are 370,000 Ukrainian Canadians living in the province. I am sure that the minist…
Read full speech →Speech from the Throne
Madam Speaker, honestly, I know sometimes we like to speak in long parables in this House. I will answer very simply: exploration tax credits.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for his concern and his dedication to the tourism sector and to independent travel agents and advisers. As I mentioned in my speech, Bill C-2 will be open and they will be eligible to apply for supports. I also note that we did extraordinary work to support Canadians when they had to cancel their travel plans last year at the height of the pandemic. …
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Mr. Speaker, with the rising threat of the omicron variant, it is absolutely crucial that Bill C-2 pass in order to bring in the supports that Canadian businesses and workers need. What we have learned over the past 12 months is that the most important and effective economic policy is one that protects the health of Canadians. I would like to remind the Conservatives and the NDP, who voted against…
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Mr. Speaker, we came forward with Bill C-2 in response to what we heard on the ground. I have been speaking to businesses and workers. The tourism industry needs the support that is found in Bill C-2. I have been speaking to caregivers, as I am sure others in the House have, and they need the supports that are also found in Bill C-2. We are also extending sick leave benefits through this bill. I d…
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Mr. Speaker, what I support is everybody in this world getting vaccinated. How we get there is very complex. It involves working with pharmaceutical companies. It involves educating populations as to the importance of vaccines. It also involves ensuring that the manufacturing capacity of these developing countries is going to produce vaccines that are safe for our populations. I fully support the …
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Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the sentiment from which the question comes, but, very respectfully, I would point out that three months ago we had never heard of omicron. Therefore, to ask what our plan is with respect to vaccine mandates for federal workers over a period of the next three years is fooling ourselves into thinking we can plan three years in advance. What the government is doing, and I b…
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Mr. Speaker, I feel quite strongly about this. I was the parliamentary secretary for international trade and worked first-hand on this issue. Canada was a leader at the WTO when we were discussing the TRIPS waiver. Many countries in the WTO did not want to have that discussion. We were actually a convening power to bring everybody to the table. Many other issues are causing countries around the wo…
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Mr. Speaker, that is a very important question, but I want to correct something my colleague said. We will continue to make health transfers to the provinces and territories. That is what we have always done and that is what we will continue to do. That is how Canada's health care system works. We procured all of the vaccines, we bought the tools and equipment required to administer these vaccines…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, it is pretty obvious that I answered that question already, but to keep the debate going, maybe I can share a few important facts. Right now, Canada is already at 106% of pre-pandemic employment levels. At 5.4% in the last quarter, our economic growth leads the G7, and our perfect AAA credit rating was recently renewed. I can understand my colleague raising concerns about inflation, b…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for Brantford—Brant, congratulate him on his election and welcome him to the House of Commons. I welcome this discussion, to be quite frank. I feel that the issue the member is raising is one of the most important issues facing this country and our government. I would like to assure him that it is absolutely top of mind in the work we are doing. In fac…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, this year, like every year, I will be at this afternoon's vigil, surrounded by my grieving community. Thirty-two years ago to the day, 14 female students at Montreal's École Polytechnique lost their lives. I want to pay tribute to those 14 brilliant young women whose whole lives lay ahead of them and to the survivors, such as Nathalie Provost, who was shot that evening and who works w…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, our economic recovery is going well thanks to our high vaccination rate and the support measures put in place by our government. I am thinking of the Canada emergency wage subsidy, the Canada emergency business account, and many more. We are seeing the effects of that today with very robust economic growth in the third quarter. Would the Prime Minister like to enlighten members of the…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I wish to table a petition today signed by members of my community in Outremont and Mile End. The petitioners are calling on the government to act more quickly and decisively to reduce our emissions and make the just and green transition we all want. I am extremely honoured to be presenting this petition on behalf of For Our Kids. These are grandparents and parents who are asking the …
Read full speech →Speech from the Throne
Mr. Speaker, in the Speech from the Throne, our government laid out measures in order to ensure a strong economic recovery. We also laid out steps in order to keep Canadians safe; safe from COVID-19, but also safe from the scourge of gun violence that has been attacking our cities. We have committed to building on the assault weapons ban, on instituting a mandatory buyback and on cracking down on …
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Madam Speaker, since I have little time left, I will be brief. I believe my colleague is talking about the importance of supporting seniors, which is something we have been working on very diligently since day one. We have increased direct payments to seniors over the course of the pandemic. We are going to continue to increase, by 10%, GIS payments, and we will always be there to support our seni…
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Madam Speaker, I would like to thank the member for his work during the course of the last 20 or so months for small businesses. We did indeed have that conversation. I believe it was in February 2021. Absolutely, we have increased the number of businesses that we are including in our programs. Of course, as the member opposite knows, it is important that we make sure that public money goes to bus…
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Madam Speaker, I would like to be very clear. Inflation is a very real concern and Canadians are feeling its impacts, absolutely. However, as experts have pointed out, inflation is a global phenomenon driven by rising energy prices, a global economic rebound, supply chain constraints and many other factors. Inflation is unfortunately high almost everywhere at the moment. Yes, it is 4.7% here in Ca…
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Madam Speaker, I am pleased to rise today to speak to Bill C-2, an act to provide further support in response to COVID-19. This bill will implement some significant support measures, including measures for the sectors hardest hit by the pandemic and for the workers and small businesses that have really been struggling, for example those in the tourism and hospitality sectors. There is no denying t…
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his speech. From what I understand, he is working very closely with the Minister of Canadian Heritage on this program to help artists and self-employed workers in the cultural sector, and I thank him for that as well. There was one thing that bothered me. The member said that Bill C‑2 would help businesses that have been hit hard, including those in the arts…
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Madam Speaker, let me clarify if I was not clear in my speech that our theatres, our festivals and arts and culture are included in Bill C‑2. That is very important, and I am proud that the tourism sector includes the arts and culture sector in the bill that we are debating today. As my colleague heard last week, the Minister of Finance announced that the government was going to table a bill for s…
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Mr. Speaker, this is the first time that I have had the opportunity to stand in the House in this new Parliament. I will therefore take a minute to thank the voters of Outremont, Côte-des-Neiges and Mile-End for their renewed trust. My constituents sent me here with a clear message. They want to see progress in the fight against climate change, and they hope that the housing crisis will be resolve…
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Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to have found common ground with my colleague from Rosemont—La Petite‑Patrie. I commend the Bloc's proposal to perhaps find more resources for the interpreters to ensure that everyone can understand and hear each other in both official languages.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague. I believe that he is asking a very important issue about the functioning of our hybrid system. Of course, in our last mandate, we were all in virtual mode. Personally, I hope that there will be more than 300 members, even 338, in the House. However, I would like to make one thing clear. If someone cannot be in the House because they have symptoms or were in conta…
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Mr. Speaker, in fact, what I am arguing is that I would like to ensure that all 338 members can work all of the time. If, when I go grocery shopping, as the member pointed out, with others who are perhaps not vaccinated, and my COVID alert app tells me I have been in contact with COVID, I should be allowed to vote. However, without passing the motion that is currently before this chamber, that is …
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