Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for his speech. I have a great deal of respect for him. He does excellent work on the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights and is a respectable and intelligent man. I understand his criticism of minimum sentences. As our Liberal colleague said a few moments ago, the Supreme Court has struck them down, and so we are left with two options. Th…
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Madam Speaker, I am pleased to rise on behalf of the Bloc Québécois to speak to this important bill today. I am torn between being happy and surprised by the speech by the colleague who spoke before me. He does remarkable work in many ways at the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights. Unfortunately, our Conservative colleagues have been slowing down the committee's work for months by fili…
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Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague from Mirabel. I also really enjoy working with him. He is a brilliant man who excels at numbers, which is not my forte. I agree with him on that point. I also believe that, despite Bill C-16, this is not going to succeed in the short or medium term. Again, we can lie to ourselves and pass 300 bills on the issue, but the only way to resolve the prob…
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question and comments. As I said, I support this bill, but it needs to be reworked. There are things that can and must be amended. I agree with him about deepfakes. This is a serious issue that also needs to be addressed. It is a new problem, a problem that society has in 2026, and we need to address it. That said, I do not want us to lose sight of reali…
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question. I agree with him: The provinces have an important role to play, as does Quebec. The problem that I was raising is that Quebec and the provinces do not have any money. People send money to the federal government, and the federal government says that it will send it back to the provinces, but with conditions, and that does not suit anyone. We fig…
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Mr. Speaker, I wonder what my colleague thinks about the part of Bill C‑16 that says the government will address the issue of criminal organizations that recruit minors to commit crimes. I have already suggested in committee that a person who recruits a minor to commit a crime should get double the sentence they would have faced if they had committed the crime themselves. Bill C‑16 proposes a way …
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague said that he tried on 19 separate occasions to work on Bill C-14 on bail. With all due respect to my colleague, who usually works in good faith, I find that comment disingenuous. On the 19 occasions in question, the request was to stop our study of Bill C-9, which deals with hate. I know because I was there. The Conservatives did not want us to continue working on the bil…
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question. I, too, greatly enjoyed serving with him on the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights. He is a gentleman, an intelligent one, and it is always a pleasure to have discussions with him. Yes, we agree on the proposal set out in Bill C-16 regarding the issue of reasonable time limits. As I said earlier, we were approaching this issue diffe…
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Mr. Speaker, I understand that my colleague thinks it is very important to pass these bills, which will help make our streets safer. I am referring to Bill C-9, Bill C-14 and Bill C-16. I would like to ask him whether we can count on him and his colleagues to stop obstructing our work at the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights and allow us to adopt these three bills quickly, because we …
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Mr. Chair, I wonder what my colleague thinks about her party's position. It has encouraged the electric vehicle industry for many years and then the new Liberal government abandoned it just a few weeks ago. This has caused major problems for the automotive industry and for electric vehicle owners. I own one myself. The situation is not getting any easier. It takes a long time to recharge, and owne…
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moved for leave to introduce Bill C‑258, An Act to amend the Criminal Code to address the Supreme Court of Canada decision in R. v. Jordan. Madam Speaker, the purpose of the bill is to respond to the Supreme Court's 2016 ruling in the Jordan case and perhaps more specifically to the report of the Federal Ombudsperson for Victims of Crime, which was tabled a few weeks ago in November. The report fo…
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Mr. Chair, I thank my colleague for his excellent speech. He was perfectly on point, as usual. He has a good understanding and a good grasp of his files. I am hearing that we are moving forward, that we are moving backward, that we are moving too fast and that we are not moving fast enough. However, there is one thing I know for sure. The electric vehicle industry has a significant presence in my …
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his speech. It is always interesting to hear him speak, particularly when he talks about the environment. However, I do not think that these subjects are mutually exclusive. Our Conservative colleague just told us that his constituents want us to get rid of the carbon tax and to instead focus our efforts on economic measures so that people can buy homes and so…
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Madam Speaker, I would like to begin by thanking our colleague from Sudbury for encouraging us to reflect on the matter of compensation for victims of crime. We must, of course, fight against crime, which we already strive to do in various ways with various bills, but we also have a responsibility to look after victims. Let us be clear that the Bloc Québécois is in agreement with holding drug traf…
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Madam Speaker, I am hoping my colleague can explain something to me. Obviously, I understand that an unemployment rate of 14.7% is concerning. When I made the rounds of my riding, employers told me that if temporary workers do not come back, they will be forced to shut down some of their operations. In the city where I live, I have noticed that some restaurants have closed their doors permanently …
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his speech and for his interesting point of view, despite the rather unpleasant interruptions he was subjected to. That being said, we are accustomed to this kind of interruption from the government benches. Indeed, the youth unemployment rate is high. However, the national unemployment rate for the same period has come down. Walking down the street in our com…
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Madam Speaker, I can confirm that working with my colleague on the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights was a true pleasure. I consider him a man of integrity and intelligence. Working with him is always enjoyable. To answer his question, yes, we have seen the letter signed by all 13 premiers. Yes, it was a concern to us. I was concerned about the situation myself. However, my remarks re…
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for her question and I appreciate her expression of friendship. I have not yet had the opportunity to meet her, but I would be happy to be her friend, if that is possible. That said, the short answer to her question is yes. I think we need to work on the bill in committee. Now, does the bill address the concerns raised by Quebec? I am not so sure.
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague, whom I quite like. He is a true friend, someone I have known for a few years and with whom I enjoy chatting. Are more crimes really being committed by repeat offenders? That is an excellent question. Unfortunately, I cannot say I am an expert on this, because I do not have the answer. The experts I have spoken with also hesitate to say for sure. First, what is …
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Madam Speaker, the Conservatives and Liberals seem to fighting over who gets to respond to an issue that has been raised. There is an expression in French for that, but I will not say it because I am not sure that it would be parliamentary. Let us just say that they both want to be more tough on crime than the other. The Conservatives introduced their Bill C‑242, while the Liberals introduced Bill…
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Madam Speaker, I thank my distinguished colleague. It is always a pleasure to work with her. The problem we have, that she rightly raised, is the following. There are people serving intermittent sentences on weekends who are being told to go home because there is no more room. We can increase the number of inmates, but how are we going to deal with this in practical terms? I do not know. As I said…
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Madam Speaker, unfortunately, it is not up to me to decide that, and I can say that we are currently very busy at the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights. We are studying two issues at the same time and have extended our working hours. We usually meet for two hours twice a week. Now we are meeting for three hours twice a week and we are studying the bail and sentencing issues concurrent…
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Madam Speaker, I have been listening to the questions for the last while. At one point, the Liberals asked what changed. The law has been the same for a while and everything was fine. What changed? I feel like asking my colleague whether a virus is unfortunately spreading among our colleagues across the way, who all end up infected. I tend to agree with him that not much has changed. We had ethica…
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Mr. Speaker, I raised the issue of investments earlier. There is a shortage of personnel to carry out public safety inspections at ports and airports. I am very interested in this issue. Implementing these provisions also presents a number of other challenges. I wonder if my colleague can enlighten me. In his opinion, what measures should be put in place to strengthen border security, without nece…
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Mr. Speaker, it is clear that Bill C‑12 is basically Bill C‑2 with minor improvements. For one thing, the government has removed the infamous provision that allowed mail to be searched without a warrant from a judge. Does my colleague agree with us that it was a good idea to remove that provision? If so, why did her government initially propose to allow mail searches without a warrant?
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to hear my colleague's comments on the practical implementation of these measures. We all agree on the principle of strengthening border security. We may differ on how to achieve it, but we agree that it must be done. However, border officers who testified before House committees repeatedly told us that there are not enough staff to carry out the necessary searches. For e…
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Mr. Speaker, the federal government talks out of both sides of its mouth when it comes to hate speech. Canada banned Uthman Ibn Farooq from entering the country because of his hateful comments. That is true. He is too dangerous for our country. We agree. However, those same hateful comments are protected under section 319 of the Criminal Code. In Canada, hate speech is permitted if it is done unde…
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Madam Speaker, I would like to begin my remarks by reiterating my solidarity and compassion for all victims of violence, particularly victims of intimate partner violence. This morning, I am especially thinking of the family and loved ones of Gabie Renaud, whose partner is accused of murdering her. There was a demonstration in her honour yesterday, and hundreds of people came out to express their …
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Mr. Speaker, yesterday, the minister accused us of distorting his words. He is the one who referred to the Russian invasion of Ukraine when justifying his opposition to the notwithstanding clause, not me. He is the one who sent a factum to the Supreme Court in which he used slavery and summary executions as arguments, not me. He is the one who claims that the notwithstanding clause could be used t…
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Mr. Speaker, in the open letter from the five premiers, the signatories point out that the notwithstanding clause allowed for the patriation of the Constitution. What the Liberals want to do is rewrite history and make Quebec and the provinces fully subject to the federal charter. In short, the Liberals want to erase the 1982 constitutional compromise. This government is using a power grab to weak…
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Mr. Speaker, five premiers, including the Premier of Quebec, have written to the Prime Minister of Canada asking in clear terms that he withdraw the federal government's legal submission to the Supreme Court in the case against Bill 21. The five premiers refuse to allow Ottawa to weaponize the courts for its political fight against the notwithstanding clause. To quote the five premiers, “the feder…
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Mr. Speaker, when the Minister of Justice was asked this morning about the federal government's attack on Bill 21 and the notwithstanding clause, he once again got off track. He defended his crusade by saying that democracy is under strain around the world, and he used the war in Ukraine as an example. In his view, Quebec's use of the notwithstanding clause to protect state secularism is as danger…
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for his excellent question. I have never testified before a court martial or a military court, so I cannot speak from experience. That said, I am well aware that a judge who has to hear a case like this will need some guidance on what military life is like. However, that sort of thing is an everyday occurrence in the courts. A judge can hear a case i…
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Mr. Speaker, either the former minister of national defence did not have the guts and acted in a cowardly manner, or he was instructed to act in a cowardly manner. Given the accusations at the time, it makes no sense that he refused to meet with the ombudsman, refused to look at these cases and refused to make a decision. That is not why he was appointed minister.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for her speech and for offering to share her time with me. That said, I would like to know whether she can tell us why roughly 10 years came and went between the day that Justice Marie Deschamps's first report was released and the day that this bill was tabled. We know that there was a number of earlier reports and bills, but it seems rather extreme to me that it …
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Mr. Speaker, Bill C‑11 gives us something we have been hoping for for a long time, namely an opportunity to improve the military justice system. Acts of sexual misconduct have been widely reported in the media over the past few years, severely affecting the reputation of the Canadian Armed Forces and its leaders. Although I have not been able to find data on this, it goes without saying that the s…
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Mr. Speaker, that is an excellent question. I understand very well why female members of the armed forces may have been quite hesitant to file a complaint against a superior for sexual assault or misconduct. I would have been too, knowing that the person conducting the investigation is largely subject to the orders of that individual and that the judge who will handle the case is also a member of …
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Mr. Speaker, the question raised by our Conservative colleagues' motion is of particular concern to me today. The body of a young woman, Gabie Renaud, was discovered in my riding this week. I offer my deepest condolences to her family. I must say, I am shocked and dismayed by this incident. Her partner, the man who allegedly killed her, was on his 16th parole violation. I do not get it. I think we…
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Mr. Speaker, yes, of course, we can work on the Criminal Code. However, a large part of the issue falls within the jurisdiction of the provinces. In Quebec, we need to invest in prevention efforts, but we have no money. We run deficits year after year. Where does the money go? I am not the minister of finance or even the finance critic, but we need to revisit how we do things. The federal governme…
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for the good question she asked. That is a concern. She was right to mention it. As I said earlier, I believe in the principles set out by the Supreme Court in the Jordan decision. They are essential and they must be preserved. However, until we can try people within the time limits set out in the Jordan decision, we have to ensure that the justice system …
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Mr. Speaker, with all due respect, I do not agree with my colleague. I do not believe that Bills C‑5 and C‑75 are responsible for femicides, homicides or all the crimes committed in Canada. I believe there are a number of things we need to work on and focus on. Prevention measures must be taken and the presumption of innocence must be upheld, but we must also make the judicial process more account…
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Mr. Speaker, as I said earlier when I was asking our Conservative colleague a question, I think it is absurd to ask for the gas tax to be cut as a way to lower food prices. I would like my colleague to tell me what the Liberal Party plans to do about the cost of food. Is it considering imposing a price cap through legislation, or increasing transfers to Quebec and the provinces to improve funding …
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Mr. Speaker, today we are studying a motion that seeks to eliminate the fuel tax. However, the government already decided to eliminate the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act in Bill C-4. Apart from these measures, which seek to produce more oil, does our colleague's Liberal government have any tangible measures to propose for combatting rising consumer prices? I am thinking of a price cap on gro…
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague is saying that the Bloc Québécois did not do the work in its ridings. Are people in Lac-Saint-Jean really asking their MP to eliminate the gas tax because of rising grocery prices? That seems a bit strange to me. In my riding, people are asking whether prices can be capped, whether we can get inflation under control and whether we can subsidize food banks, but no one has …
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Mr. Speaker, the Government of Quebec announced that it wants to prevent the Hells Angels from displaying their colours. Quebec would not need to take action if the federal government did its job by making patches illegal under the Criminal Code, which falls exclusively under federal jurisdiction. The Bloc Québécois even introduced a bill to that effect in 2017, Bill C-349. Every party voted again…
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Mr. Speaker, the government's Bill C-9 would make it illegal to wear the swastika. It would also make it illegal to wear symbols associated with groups that appear on the list of terrorist entities. However, the government does not have the courage to do exactly the same thing for criminal groups, such as the Hells Angels. Their patches represent organized crime, murder and the rise in gang-relate…
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Mr. Speaker, we know that inflation is driving up the cost of food. We could pass legislation to set a cap on grocery prices. We could increase transfers to the provinces and Quebec. We could do a lot of things to fund food banks. However, as we speak, oceans are warming, icebergs are melting and forests are burning. There is more and more smog everywhere. The planet is suffocating, yet the Conser…
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That is a great question, Mr. Speaker. As I was saying in my speech earlier, the definition of hate is a bit— I hesitate to say ambiguous because I must admit that, if I were to write this myself, I would not have known where to start. That said, I will repeat the definition: “the emotion that involves detestation or vilification and that is stronger than disdain or dislike”. That description is r…
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Madam Speaker, my colleague's riding, Thérèse-De Blainville, is next to mine. I am quite familiar with the folks who live in her riding, and I can say that she is right. Like my riding, Thérèse-De Blainville has a large immigrant population. In my riding, there are organizations in Saint‑Jérôme that are responsible for integrating newcomers. One that comes to mind is Le Coffret, which does tremend…
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Madam Speaker, it is quite a challenge. This needs to be clear. That is why I tried to make it clear in my speech that people are free to wear their respective religious symbols. If I walk down the street and cross paths with someone wearing a kippah, I have no problem with that. On the contrary, it sparks my curiosity and makes me want to talk to them and learn more about their beliefs. What we a…
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