Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the gang wars are in our streets. Gangs are taking hits out on journalists, killing innocent people by burning down businesses and shooting at each other in broad daylight. They are even killing each other in the federal prisons. What is the government doing? Where is the government? It is doing nothing. It is nowhere to be seen. The Liberals could send a strong message to the crimina…
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Mr. Speaker, last week, I introduced a bill on behalf of the Bloc Québécois, and, if it passes, it will really help fight organized crime. Not only does our bill establish a list of criminal organizations, but it also hits them where it hurts by making their members prove that their assets are not proceeds of crime. It reverses the burden of proof. It sends a clear message to criminals. Will the g…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I heard some surprising things in our colleague's speech, but I admit that I am getting used to hearing surprising things in the House. However, I would like him to explain his thoughts on two things a bit better. First, he said that this bill has to do with essential goods and then listed a few. I saw that the goods covered under the bill include alcoholic drinks and video game con…
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Mr. Speaker, it is easy, we just have to reverse the burden of proof. Let me reiterate today that the federal government has every interest in demonstrating that it takes the problem of organized crime seriously. The Americans are watching us. Our Bill C-420 makes it easier to lay charges against criminal gang members. It provides new tools to police officers for seizing the proceeds of crime befo…
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Mr. Speaker, today is a good time to tackle organized crime in our cities and at our borders. We need to hit criminals where it hurts: their wallets. This morning, the Bloc Québécois introduced Bill C-420 to create a registry of criminal organizations. Most importantly, we propose reversing the burden of proof when it comes to the proceeds of crime. We propose letting law enforcement freeze or sei…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
moved for leave to introduce Bill C-420, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (criminal organizations and proceeds of crime). Madam Speaker, I am pleased to introduce a bill today that aims to create a registry of criminal organizations. This idea has been raised in the House a number of times in recent years. This is the third time I personally have proposed it. The bill also includes provisions for…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, d'Adil Charkaoui is exhorting crowds to pray for Israel to be wiped off the map at protests where people are setting cars on fire and breaking shop windows. Protests in Montreal are becoming more and more violent, and the target of this violence is increasingly clear: Quebec's Jewish community. It is beyond intolerable that a human rights defender like Irwin Cotler has been threatened…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, we mourn the passing of the Hon. Murray Sinclair on Monday, November 4. This former lawyer, judge and senator was best known for his role as the chair of Canada's Truth and Reconciliation Commission. After graduating from law school in 1979, the Hon. Murray Sinclair was called to the Manitoba Bar in 1980 and went on to become Manitoba's first indigenous judge, appointed in 1988. He wa…
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Mr. Speaker, the biggest problem with cellphones in prisons is that they allow gang leaders to continue their criminal activities from behind bars. Gangsters can order hits on their enemies, order businesses to be burned down and broker drug deals. In short, they can continue to pose a real threat to public safety from inside a federal prison. It has been documented. Everyone knows it. The ministe…
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Mr. Speaker, one of the most powerful and dangerous criminal organizations is a group called Arab Power, and both of its leaders are rotting in federal penitentiaries. However, the leader, Youness Aithaqi, and his right-hand man, Sylvain Kabbouchi, are still running the operation from behind bars. Arson, protection rackets, murder—nothing is stopping these new criminal organizations, especially no…
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Mr. Speaker, according to crime boss Gregory Woolley, who himself was murdered in a health centre parking lot in front of his wife and child, the Arab Power group is out of control and the next gang war is going to be a bloodbath. The bosses are incarcerated with nothing to lose. They run their criminal operations from federal prisons on illegal cellphones. We know it, the government knows it and …
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Mr. Speaker, Quebec is facing another gang war. It is a war between organized crime, which has been around for far too long, and new, less organized groups. These groups are recruiting young people, teenagers, to commit serious crimes. They are luring children into crime with the promise of a chance to change their lives and a fistful of dollars to boot. Once they are in that world, these children…
Read full speech →Emergency Debate
Mr. Speaker, my colleague from Lac-Saint-Jean asked Liberal members a question twice, and we did not get an answer. That is a bit awkward for me because I think he is raising an important point. In 2020, the House adopted a motion to raise this issue and to call for a foreign agent registry because of foreign interference. The House called for that registry in November 2020. It is now 2024 and not…
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Mr. Speaker, as we speak, three vehicles have been set on fire in three days in Ahuntsic. The federal government needs to realize that Quebec has been plunged into another gang war. This war is being waged by younger and younger gang members, who are practically child soldiers. It is a war that is taking innocent lives, like those of Léonor Geraudie and her seven-year-old daughter Vérane, who were…
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Mr. Speaker, that is not good enough. This gang war is affecting all of Quebec. In Montreal, two people died in a fire allegedly linked to extortion. In Frampton, a 14‑year‑old died, apparently trying to take on the Hells Angels, no less. In Quebec City and eastern Quebec, it has been open war for months. As early as September 20, the Quebec City police were warning other police forces that this w…
Read full speech →Emergency Debate
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his excellent speech. He started off by saying, and rightly so, that the Liberal government clearly did not want a foreign agent registry, just as it did not want an inquiry. The special rapporteur was appointed instead, and in November 2020, the House of Commons adopted a motion. We have been going in circles for the past three or four years. Now, on the othe…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, let us be clear. Protesting for peace in the Middle East and mourning the civilian death toll is legitimate, but shouting, “We are Hamas, we are Hezbollah” or “Death to Canada” in protest on October 7, as we saw in Vancouver, is despicable. This echoes the problems we are also hearing about in Quebec. The Bloc Québécois unreservedly condemns such statements. There is a difference, a g…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, an interim report of the Special Joint Committee on the Declaration of Emergency.
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, I also deplore the fact that important documents and information are being hidden. The Bloc Québécois deplores it as well. It is typical of our Liberal colleagues across the way, although I cannot explain why. We saw it with the WE Charity scandal. We saw it with SNC-Lavalin. We have seen it on I do not know how many occasions over the last two or three Parliaments. Right now, the pol…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I see that this bill proposes transferring matters involving military tribunals to common law court judges. I agree in principle. I think it is an excellent idea, and it will solve a lot of problems. However, it will also add to the workload of the common law courts. Take the Superior Court, for example, which is already overwhelmed. Then there are the vacancies that I have repeated…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, I would like to ask my colleague a question. He just answered a question about the Supreme Court decision and indicated that it was constitutional. However, I would like to read an excerpt from that Supreme Court decision: The decision not to criminalize such conduct is not grounded in devaluation of the child, but in a concern that to do so risks ruining lives and breaking up famil…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, not surprisingly, the Bloc Québécois is skeptical about this bill, to say the least. I already mentioned this during consideration at second reading. I want to say that I proposed an amendment, which was rejected, that would have allowed for reasonable force to be exerted in order to ensure the safety of a child or third party, or the education of a child. Today, I have no choice bu…
Read full speech →Emergency Debate
Mr. Speaker, the subject of our debate today is important. The Bloc Québécois is concerned about it too. I read a lot about the events that have brought us here tonight and that occurred just about everywhere in Canada except Quebec. That being said, Quebec is not free from this type of violence and injustice. There have been cases like that of Sindy Ruperthouse. Unless I am mistaken, my colleague…
Read full speech →Emergency Debate
Madam Speaker, I would like to let my colleague continue answering the question. He is off to a great start. I would just say, after listening to the speeches over the past little while, I think almost all of us would agree that the situation that brings us here this evening is unacceptable and that more needs to be done. I also note that the report by the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdere…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, we have lost a great patriot. My friend Marcel Tessier, who shaped the imagination of Quebeckers for several decades, passed away on August 26. Some heard him sing opera with gusto. Others watched him charm audiences on television or read some of his books. The really lucky ones had him as a teacher. Without exception, anyone who spent time with him would be left spellbound, hanging o…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to the April 7, 2021 decision of the former Minister of Justice, Hon. David Lametti, ordering a new trial for Jacques Delisle: (a) what are the details of all legal advice received by the former minister regarding the holding of a new trial, including, for each instance, (i) the identity of the person who provided the advice, (ii) the mandate conferred by the minister, (iii) the eviden…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Mr. Speaker, we should give careful consideration to this bill and study it in committee. That said, neither the Bloc Québécois nor I are prepared to vote for it in its current form. Make no mistake: We need to tackle the problem of auto theft. In 2022, according to the reams of figures I have looked over, 10,595 car thefts were reported in Quebec. Over the same period, 70,000 were reported in Can…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I welcome the remarks of my colleague opposite. I would like to know what his position is. There are some good things in this bill, but there is also the date change. Earlier my colleague from Montcalm asked a question about changing the date for a religious reason. I see two things here. First, the religious reason raises a number of questions. How many religions are there in Canad…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, when the Bloc Québécois leader's office informed me that I would be delivering a speech in the House about Bill S‑224, I thought it was a joke, but it is not. Apparently I really have to do this. Bill S‑224 is quite simple. It contains a single clause. The committee worked hard on this. We heard from witnesses, and we ended up deciding to delete the clause in question as well as the…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, there have been discussions among the parties and, if you seek it, I believe you will find unanimous consent for the following motion—
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, Allah, take care of these Zionist aggressors. Allah, take care of the enemies of the people of Gaza. Allah, identify them all, then exterminate them. And don't spare any of them. That is what Adil Charkaoui said in Montreal on October 28, 2023. He did not suffer any consequences because, in Canada, the law allows a person to ask for the extermination of an entire people under the cove…
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Mr. Speaker, the government tells us that Canada is secular, but that is not true. The religious exemption is the opposite of secularism. It allows for the commission of a crime that would otherwise be punishable under the law. Hate speech incites violence. Is it normal to be able to hide behind a god? Should the Criminal Code include religious exemptions, as in the current case, that justify call…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, there are two things I would like to point out about Bill C-69. First, there is the much-touted open banking system provided for in division 16 of the bill, which my colleague from Joliette mentioned earlier in his speech. That is a real problem for Quebec. Should the Leader of the Opposition become prime minister, I would like to know whether he will repeal that division in order to …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, the Bloc Québécois obviously supports Bill C‑20, but we have to wonder. Neither of the two former bills, Bill C‑3 or Bill C‑98 was prioritized by the government, so they died on the Order Paper. The next election campaign is fast approaching. Next winter will be the last before the next election. Can my colleague assure us that, this time, her government will make this bill a priority…
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Mr. Speaker, it seems as though the member intends to support this bill. Although I am not a member of the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security, it is my understanding that the Conservatives filibustered during the study of Bill C-20. That being said, I would like to ask my colleague whether his party really intends to make this issue a priority. If his party does take office …
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Mr. Speaker, Quebec's justice minister informed us in March that there had been 109 stays of proceedings for unreasonable delays in Quebec alone last year. How can we expect the public to have confidence in our justice system when the course of justice is being impeded? We have been sounding the alarm for years now about this government's careless attitude when it comes to appointing judges. There…
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Mr. Speaker, the Bloc Québécois is obviously in favour of holding trials within a reasonable time, but when people charged with murder or other crimes against the person escape justice due to the backlog in our courts, we are not on board. The minister's statistics aside, releasing violent, dangerous people because there happens to be a shortage of judges has serious consequences on public safety …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I do not think that the leader of the Bloc Québécois has any designs on leading Quebec, but we shall see. I will leave it to him to respond to that. We do not want to further tax people in order to provide them services. We want efficiency. We want every penny paid by Quebeckers in taxes, whether to Quebec City or Ottawa, to be used 100% efficiently. There is a captain of health and t…
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Mr. Speaker, the answer is that we do not want discussions. There is nothing to negotiate in the Constitution. It has been signed for 150 years. It is important to remember that. Everyone should reread it and it should be respected. Health is a provincial jurisdiction. The government needs to transfer the money to Quebec, the provinces and the territories, and stop meddling in areas that are none …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I would say that in Rivière-du-Nord, as in the rest of Quebec and probably across Canada, everyone is happy to have social measures that help people. However, no one is happy when that is done in such circumstances, where there is no respect for anyone in this House. When we stand up and ask the government to respect us, we are told that we like picking fights. That is all this govern…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, today's motion reads as follows: That the House: (a) condemn the federal government's repeated intrusion into the exclusive jurisdictions of Quebec, the provinces and the territories; (b) remind the Prime Minister that, despite his claims, it is not true that “people do not care which level of government is responsible for what”; and (c) demand that the government systematically offer…
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his speech. I would like his opinion on a certain budget matter. Nothing in this budget addresses the situation facing our seniors by trying to correct what was done before. In fact, the government created two classes of seniors: Those aged 65 to 75 and those 75 and over. Bill C‑319, however, was studied, unanimously passed in committee and sent back to the …
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Madam Speaker, with all due respect, I do not think that it is necessary to listen to the recordings because we all heard the member repeat the word three times. The question is whether or not, in your opinion, the word “disgusting” is acceptable in the House. If it is unacceptable, then you must take immediate action. Every time you give the member the opportunity to explain herself, she says, ri…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Mr. Speaker, this feels a bit like Groundhog Day. I have sat in the House since 2015, and there is a recurring debate between the Liberal and NDP vision of opposing mandatory minimum sentences and the Conservative vision of applying this policy to as many offences as possible. I think we need to reflect on the issue, which is no small matter, but we also need to find ways to be effective, to adopt…
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Madam Speaker, my colleague from Montcalm's speech was extremely interesting. I have been listening to all this and observing the federal government's spending spree in provincial areas of jurisdiction over the past few weeks, which is obviously terrible. I wonder if the real problem we are having with this bill and with the way the NDP-Liberal government is behaving by investing in provincial are…
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Mr. Speaker, we know that greenhouse gas emissions are the cause of considerable climate change and have led to significant increases in the price of vegetables, grains and fruit in recent years. The whole point of the carbon tax is to lower greenhouse gas emissions. That is one thing. For another thing, Quebec decided to join the Western Climate Initiative, which is a kind of carbon exchange. Cal…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, doing nothing twice as fast still amounts to doing nothing. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and the Federal Court are telling the government that the number of vacancies is preventing our justice system from working properly. The Chief Justice of Canada wrote, and I quote, “Access to justice and the health of our democratic institutions are at risk”. It is not just anyone who i…
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Mr. Speaker, a year ago, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court criticized the government on its judicial appointment process. He said, and I quote, “The government's inertia regarding vacancies and the absence of satisfactory explanations for these delays are disconcerting.” Since then, the Liberals have been dragging their feet. There were 85 vacancies; now there are 68. In February, the Federal…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Chair, my colleague and the other Liberals who rose before her, be they ministers or not, have been saying for some time how important it is that Canada help Ukraine in this conflict. We are on board with that. We agree with it. However, we also all know that, to date, Canada has delivered on only about 42% of its commitments. I asked a question earlier and I did not really get an answer. Th…
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Madam Chair, according to the Liberal member who spoke before my colleague, Canada is having trouble keeping its promises because the weapons and equipment are not always available, the soldiers are not always available, the money is not always available and so on. Would my colleague not agree that the problem is really that the government made too many commitments and should have been more realis…
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