Routine Proceedings
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…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
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 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, 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, 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, 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, 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 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.
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
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…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
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 …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
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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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, 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…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
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, 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, 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, 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, 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, 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 …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
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…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
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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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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Madam Speaker, that is yet another excellent question. Once again, I have to hand it to my colleague and thank him for the question. I too heard our colleague the Minister of Justice say this afternoon that he would seriously consider our proposals regarding the religious exemption if they were brought forward. That is great to hear. I just wonder why he did not make those same proposals himself f…
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Mr. Speaker, it is very similar. Lawyers who appear in court must wear a robe. Nurses must wear scrubs. There are dress codes for different professions. As for police officers, in my humble opinion, there should be secularism requirements in their dress code.
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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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Mr. Speaker, that is an excellent question. I am not the one deciding on specific cases today. What do we do about Jewish police officers, Sikh teachers or Muslim judges? I agree that much work remains to be done. However, just because the challenge is great does not mean we should refuse to take it on. I repeat that, in my opinion, for example, if a Muslim, displaying Muslim religious symbols, is…
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Madam Speaker, like many others, Bill C‑9 has some good and some not so good elements, but it also neglects certain aspects of the problem that should have been addressed. Obviously, we in the Bloc Québécois are sensitive to and concerned about the significant increase in hate crimes. Quebec society and Canadian society have changed in recent years, and the multiculturalism imposed by the Liberal …
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moved: That the House: (a) call on the government to fully withdraw from the legal challenge of Quebec’s Act respecting the laicity of the State before the Supreme Court; (b) call on the government to withdraw its factum filed on September 17, 2025, with the Supreme Court contesting Quebec’s right to invoke the notwithstanding clause; and (c) denounce the government’s willingness to use the Suprem…
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Madam Speaker, despite my white hair, I am afraid I am too young to have drafted the notwithstanding clause. The clause's limits are set out in the act that includes this provision, and none of those limits are like the ones that the current government wants to propose. Do the provinces have limits? They do not have any more than Quebec or the federal government. Section 33 exists, and it can be a…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the Liberals' challenge to Bill 21 goes far beyond state secularism. They are telling us with their factum that they have seen what Quebeckers have done with secularism, and at this point, they would even be capable of shutting down churches or newspapers if Ottawa were not there to stop them. The Liberals want to weaken the notwithstanding clause so that the federal government and, o…
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Mr. Speaker, amending the scope of section 33 is not about defending the charter. The Liberals want Bill 21 on state secularism to be repealed. That much is crystal clear. However, it goes beyond that. They want to have the final say and make Quebec's laws subject to their approval and that of judges appointed by Ottawa. The Liberals want to fulfill their oldest ambition, which is to decide everyt…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague and leader for his speech, which I really enjoyed. Section 33 is a tool that makes it possible for certain laws to override provisions of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Let us suppose that the Government of Quebec or another province passes a law that allows slavery. Does my colleague think that that government's legislation will be around for a long…
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question, but there is some confusion there. My colleague is right; section 33 does not help protect the Constitution. Section 33 enables the provinces, Quebec and the federal government to pass legislation that goes against, or does not take into account, the specifics of section 2 and sections 7 to 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. It …
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Madam Speaker, I rise on a point of order. With all due respect to my esteemed colleague, he is getting a bit off topic. Today is the Bloc Québécois opposition day, and we are having a debate on the Act respecting the laicity of the State and on section 33 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, its constitutionality and ways to amend it, among other things. I do not think that is what my …
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Madam Speaker, I cannot do anything about the Ontario government's slippery slope, but it is questionable. The important thing to understand about the pre-emptive use of section 33 is that it is neither preventive nor curative. That is how the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is set up. For the sake of argument, let us assume that the notwithstanding clause is not written into the bill. The…
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Madam Speaker, I am rising on a point of order. When I gave my speech, you signalled to me that my 10 minutes were up when, according to the timer that I set before I began, I still had some time left. What is more, you interrupted me. With all due respect, I am not saying that you do not have the right to do that. It is fine, but that also made me lose some time. I just rose to ask my colleague s…
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Madam Speaker, that is a good question. I mentioned it briefly in my speech. It has become clear that it is not just the Act respecting the laicity of the State, but all the laws in Quebec and all the Canadian provinces that are being jeopardized by the current government's legal challenge. The government is saying that the notwithstanding clause must be regulated, that its use must be limited. Ho…
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