Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, in the beautiful riding of Manicouagan, there are 7,800 seniors who are eligible for the Canadian federal dental plan, yet the member voted against it. At least she is consistent, because she also voted against increasing the GIS and lowering the retirement age to 65. At least she is consistent. Can she explain why she systematically votes against seniors?
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Mr. Speaker, it does not stop there. Everything that our government has done to reduce poverty among seniors was accomplished despite considerable resistance from the Bloc Québécois. Every effort to help our seniors, many of them among the most vulnerable in Canada, ran into systemic opposition. Let me give another example. We provided 50,000 housing units reserved for seniors and put $1.5 billion…
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Mr. Speaker, the member for La Prairie is very late when it comes to helping seniors. He voted against every measure proposed in the House that was solemnly adopted by members to help seniors, often the less fortunate seniors in Canada. I would like to know what the member for La Prairie has to say to the 6,300 constituents in his own riding who are enrolled in the federal dental care program. Wha…
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Mr. Speaker, 14,600 seniors in my Bloc Québécois colleague's riding, Shefford, now benefit from the Canadian dental care plan. Nevertheless, she has stood up in this House time and time again and voted against vulnerable seniors in her riding who are currently benefiting from this program and saving hundreds of dollars. Why?
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Mr. Speaker, that is not all. When we moved the age of retirement back down from 67 to 65, what did the member and her colleagues do? They voted against it. When we increased the GIS, a federal program helping hundreds of thousands of vulnerable seniors, the Bloc Québécois and my colleague voted against it. Yes, we proudly increased OAS for vulnerable seniors. She and her colleagues voted against …
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Mr. Speaker, unlike the Bloc Québécois, the Liberal Party of Canada has been there for seniors these past years. We increased the guaranteed income supplement by $1,000. This helped nearly one million seniors in Canada. We increased the guaranteed income supplement earnings exemption by 40% so that working seniors can keep more of what they earn. The Bloc Québécois voted against those measures.
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Mr. Speaker, I will repeat myself for the benefit of my friend from La Prairie and his political party: Quebec's seniors have the right to wake up this morning and ask what just happened to them. Bloc members have always voted against seniors. They have always voted against our plans to improve the lives of seniors, especially the most vulnerable. Recently, they voted against the dental care plan …
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Mr. Speaker, I thought we had heard everything in this House and then I heard the hon. member. This is from the party that has stood up in this House and voted no to every single support we have brought in for seniors in this country. This is after the prime minister from that party, Mr. Harper, went to Davos, to the World Economic Forum, and took the opportunity to tell Canadian seniors back home…
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Mr. Speaker, I know that my colleague likes to be precise, but we have never cut help for seniors. All we have done, despite the opposition of our friends across the way, including the Bloc Québécois, is increase support for Quebec and Canadian seniors. The Bloc Québécois has always voted against that support. I invite my colleague to correct the record. We have never cut funding from Quebec or Ca…
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Mr. Speaker, of course, had it stayed on a co-operative basis with us, the NDP would know we have worked closely with workers and businesses to find an effective and fair solution to this problem. In fact, earlier this year, we changed the Canada Labour Code to stop employers from miscasting employees as independent contractors. Any employer who knowingly misclassifies an employee to avoid obligat…
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Mr. Speaker, this government has always chosen seniors. Unfortunately for them, that is not the case for our friends opposite. Why? They voted against lowering the retirement age from 67 to 65. Furthermore, when we decided to support the poorest seniors and those most in need in Quebec by increasing the guaranteed income supplement, what did our friends in the Bloc Québécois do? They voted against…
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Mr. Speaker, we do in fact have a very important pilot project that is helping seniors live well in their own homes. We are receiving some excellent projects, including one from the Centre communautaire l'entraide plus de Chambly. We have another project called Ancrage. Thanks to a growing pool of volunteers, this project proposes to expand and add more assisted living services for vulnerable low-…
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Mr. Speaker, I know that it is painful. I know that they do not like to hear this, but actions and votes have consequences. The Bloc Québécois voted against the national dental care program that is currently under way in the member's riding. I recently had the pleasure of visiting Bromont in the Eastern Townships with my colleague. I met one of her constituents, who is one of the 14,000 people in …
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Mr. Speaker, I applaud the member for La Prairie for wanting to help seniors in Quebec because, clearly, he has not been very supportive of Quebec or Canadian seniors to date. Some may be surprised to learn that he voted against lowering the retirement age to 65, that he voted against increasing the guaranteed income supplement for the poorest seniors in Quebec and that, when we brought in a plan …
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Mr. Speaker, it is very interesting to hear my friend from Regina—Qu'Appelle, who was around in those days. In fact, he was sitting right where you are sitting, Mr. Speaker, when Prime Minister Harper went to, yes, Davos. As a reminder for some members in the back, that is the World Economic Forum. He went there to do what? He went there to tell Canadian seniors that their retirement age was movin…
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Mr. Speaker, once again, the member is raising the spectre of an unnecessary election instead of taking concrete action, like voting to help Quebec seniors, which is something she has not done since she arrived here. She voted against increasing the guaranteed income supplement. She voted against the dental care plan that 14,000 people in her own riding have signed up for. Still, the member claims…
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Mr. Speaker, speaking of clarity, can the leader of the Bloc Québécois clarify exactly what he is saying to the hundreds of thousands of Quebeckers who are currently benefiting from dental care, which he voted against?
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Mr. Speaker, the Bloc Québécois leader is raising the spectre of an election instead of delivering results for Quebec's seniors. It is a bit much. This is not the only thing we would like some clarity about. What I would say to the Bloc Québécois leader is that a vote is very clear. He does not vote often, as we just read, but when he does vote, the Bloc Québécois leader votes against lowering ret…
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Mr. Speaker, the leader of the Bloc Québécois has spent his life putting the Canadian pensions of Quebec seniors at risk. When he votes against lowering the retirement age to 65, it is not about interference in jurisdictions, he is voting against seniors. When he votes against increasing the guaranteed income supplement, he is not voting on a jurisdictional issue; he is voting against the well‑bei…
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Mr. Speaker, the hidden agenda has come to light. People are worried about tens of thousands of public service layoffs, and we just got confirmation of that from my colleague opposite. The Conservatives' hidden agenda is to lay off, to fire, tens of thousands of public servants here in the Ottawa-Gatineau area and across the country. What are those people doing? They are helping Canadians to get d…
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Mr. Speaker, what the Bloc Québécois does not seem to understand is that actions do matter. Votes in the House matter. They voted against dental care, and Quebec seniors noticed. They voted against lowering the retirement age to 65. Quebeckers are paying attention. The Liberal Party of Canada is always there to support the federal pensions of Quebeckers. The Bloc Québécois has never demonstrated t…
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Mr. Speaker, the next time the Bloc Québécois supports seniors, that will be the first time in the history of this Parliament. Let us look at the facts. When we restored the age of retirement to 65, how did the Bloc Québécois vote? It voted against. When we increased the guaranteed income supplement, helping hundreds of thousands of seniors in Quebec, the Bloc Québécois voted against. When we brou…
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to welcome back the Bloc Québécois, which supports seniors, just as our government's actions do. Look at what we have done. We implemented the grocery rebate, increased the guaranteed income supplement and brought in many other measures, including dental care, which is being offered to people across Quebec this year, including those in my colleague's riding, even though s…
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Mr. Speaker, as the member well knows, not only do GIS, CPP and OAS go up, but they now also go up quarterly. In fact, there are no clawbacks. The member knows full well that we have actually expanded the amount of money a senior on GIS might make before any money is clawed back. We have expanded that substantially. The member should know that.
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Mr. Speaker, I have a motion to put forward, but before I do that, I would like to thank you and all of the other chair occupants. I want to thank the clerk and all of his staff. I also want to thank all of the staff who support us so well in the House. I am, of course, talking about the pages and the members of the Parliamentary Protective Service. We are exceptionally well served by the parliame…
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Mr. Speaker, I request a recorded division.
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moved: That, notwithstanding any standing order, special order, or usual practice of the House: (a) in relation to Bill C-26, An Act respecting cyber security, amending the Telecommunications Act and making consequential amendments to other Acts, the report stage motions in amendment, standing on the Notice Paper in the name of the Minister of Public Safety, Democratic Institutions and Intergovern…
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Mr. Speaker, the Government of Canada has committed to cap and reduce greenhouse gas, or GHG, emissions from the oil and gas sector at a pace and scale necessary to contribute to Canada’s 2030 climate goals, to achieve net-zero GHG emissions by 2050, and in a way that allows the sector to compete in the emerging net-zero global economy. As the country’s largest source of GHG emissions and the only…
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Madam Speaker, the excellent speech of my colleague did not warrant interruption, but I do want to request that the ordinary hour of daily adjournment of the next sitting be 12 midnight, pursuant to order made Wednesday, February 28.
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Mr. Speaker, I request a recorded division.
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moved: That, in relation to Bill C-65, An Act to amend the Canada Elections Act, not more than five further hours shall be allotted to the consideration at second reading stage of the bill; and That, at the expiry of the five hours provided for the consideration at second reading stage of the said bill, any proceedings before the House shall be interrupted, if required for the purpose of this orde…
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Madam Speaker, that is quite the question. I am not sure who first wrote it, but the member added quite the word salad. What Quebeckers understand is that tax fairness is what counts. What we are doing is sparing everyone who earns a paycheque. Imagine: Everyone who earns a paycheque is not affected. Those who earn over $250,000 in one year will be required to pay a little bit more.
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Madam Speaker, the member sure represents a beautiful part of Canada. The last time I was there, one could almost choke on the forest fire smoke. People in Kelowna and the Okanagan expect action on climate change. They also know that eight out of 10 of them pay less in the price on pollution than they get back in rebates. That is the case across the country where the tax applies. We are acting on …
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Madam Speaker, let me begin by thanking the Bloc Québécois. Yesterday, we passed a very important bill on foreign interference at third reading. This is one more measure in a long series of solutions and initiatives that our government has put in place to counter foreign interference. We know that every country in the world is facing this challenge. Canada stands out for the series of initiatives …
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Madam Speaker, we certainly want to allow Justice Hogue to do her job. That is why the House and the House leaders negotiated a very clear and very broad mandate. Obviously, we are eagerly awaiting for Justice Hogue to show us her work. I do not know if this happened, but I note that the Bloc Québécois leader offered to consult the confidential documents. The NDP leader did the same. The Green Par…
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Madam Speaker, the current environment minister is the first in history to put forward a credible plan to meet our net zero 2050 objectives and our Paris commitments. What should the member do? What would he have preferred remain secret? The premier of his province, who scoured the universe, looked on the Internet, got out his calculator and did all of the analysis that Scott Moe does, said the pr…
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Madam Speaker, there are a lot of great farmers in Chatham-Kent—Leamington. It is shameful that the Conservative leader, who has never seen the top of a combine or a hay baler, hides behind farmers and workers to justify his opposition to our plan on tax fairness. We are increasing the capital gains sheltering for farmers—
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Madam Speaker, it is shameful. The leader of the Conservative Party has never been seen on a hay baler. He is opposing our program to give tax fairness to farmers. We are increasing the capital gains sheltering for farmers by boosting the lifetime exception for qualified farming properties to $1.25 million per owner. The member over there should be standing up and celebrating tax fairness for farm…
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Madam Speaker, as the member well knows and as has been repeated many times, the minister took an hour to answer the questions from, among others, my hon. colleague opposite. The minister lives under the most stringent conflict of interest and ethics guidelines in the world, and he has completely answered all of the questions that have been posed.
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Madam Speaker, in an age of climate change, in an age of ensuring tax fairness, in an age of a number of major issues facing the country that we continue to work on, it is amazing to me that every time the member gets up, he asks a question that has been asked dozens of times in this chamber and answered dozens of times in this chamber and in committee. The minister has responded to all of them.
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Madam Speaker, an agreement could not be reached under the provisions of Standing Order 78(1) or 78(2) with respect to report stage and third reading of Bill C-69, an act to implement certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on April 16, 2024. Under the provisions of Standing Order 78(3), I give notice that a minister of the Crown will propose at the next sitting a motion to allot a s…
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Madam Speaker, an agreement could not be reached under the provisions of Standing Order 78(1) or 78(2) with respect to second reading stage of Bill C-65, an act to amend the Canada Elections Act. Under the provisions of Standing Order 78(3), I give notice that a minister of the Crown will propose at the next sitting a motion to allot a specific number of days or hours for the consideration and dis…
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Madam Speaker, I would like to request that the ordinary hour of daily adjournment of the next sitting be 12 midnight, pursuant to order made Wednesday, February 28.
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Mr. Speaker, the government is very proud of the environment minister, who put the first credible plan in history on the table to meet the Paris Agreement, the Paris Agreement that the Conservatives want to rip up. It is no surprise, and the Conservatives got all of the data today, that eight out of 10 Canadians are better off. The Conservatives are standing up for the more well off in our society…
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Mr. Speaker, it is no surprise that the Conservatives want to move on from the fiasco of two days ago when they voted for 0.13% of taxpayers and set aside the 99.87% of taxpayers who are not affected by a capital gains change. They want to stand up for people who have made $250,000 on investments in a given year, and they will not stand up for the electricians, the farmers and the janitors, who ea…
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Mr. Speaker, that member from Quebec will never do what the other member from Quebec, the Minister of the Environment, has done for Canada by submitting a credible plan for lowering greenhouse gas emissions. The minister has also complied, and will continue to comply, with the Paris Agreement, which the Conservatives want to take us out of. It comes as no surprise that this member wants to pull us…
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Mr. Speaker, the Conservative leader does not stand with workers, and he certainly does not stand with Canada's farmers. It is shameful that the leader of the Conservatives hides behind farmers and workers to justify his opposition to our plan for tax fairness. We are in fact increasing the capital gains sheltering for farmers by boosting the lifetime exemption for qualified farming properties to …
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Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition has not seen a hay baler or the top of a combine in his life. What we have done over here is make things better for farmers by increasing the lifetime exemption and extending new provisions to farmers to ensure that capital gains do not affect them. Farmers will, in fact, be better off under this plan for tax fairness, just like waitresses, just like airli…
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Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition does not know how to milk a cow or how to help farmers. In our plan, we put new limits in place to help farmers. The exemption for farmers was extended. We know that farm succession is a major issue in Canada. I encourage the member to do his homework, because things are going better for farmers thanks to the Liberal plan.
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Mr. Speaker, I am going to teach the member a little lesson, since he has likely not read the Conservative Party's rental housing plan. His party's proposal, believe it or not, is to maintain the GST on rental housing construction projects. That is unbelievable. When I talk to people in my community and those who build housing, they tell me this is what makes the difference between a profitable pr…
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