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Madam Speaker, that is an interesting one. I want to acknowledge the member's, and perhaps that of other members of the opposition, devotion to following conspiracy theories online. Let us talk about economic impact. In one of the great places in Canada, which is Nova Scotia, it could add 16,000 jobs and add $300 million to our GDP alone. It is currently under construction and set to be completed …
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Mr. Speaker, my hon. friend is the finance critic, it must be said, for the official opposition. They keep talking about inflationary spending. First of all, inflation is in the target zone of the Bank of Canada and has been for some time. We have yet to see, and maybe the finance critic could help us out here, a list of proposed cuts. What do they define as inflationary spending and how do they p…
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Mr. Speaker, it is because Canada is investing in Quebec and we will also be undertaking major projects in the mining sector in Quebec. There is Nouveau Monde Graphite, which represents thousands of jobs, the designation of the Port of Québec as a first port of arrival for our country, and the expansion of the Port of Montreal, which will increase capacity in Contrecœur by 60%. These are megaproje…
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister, as we all must, all 343 of us, follows the rules, which are among the strictest in the world. These are rules that the Conservatives put in place under Prime Minister Harper. The Prime Minister has disposed of all his assets in a blind trust. He did so on the day of his election as the Liberal Party leader, five days before he was sworn in as Prime Minister. Contra…
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Mr. Speaker, of course those accusations are ridiculous. Just like us, the 343 members of this House, the Prime Minister has abided by some of the strictest rules in the entire world. These rules were put in place by the Conservatives and Mr. Harper. The Prime Minister placed all of his assets in a blind trust on the day he was elected leader of the Liberal Party, even before he became Prime Minis…
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Mr. Speaker, these are, of course, the most spurious, bottom-of-the-barrel conspiracy theories and allegations that one can possibly imagine. It is imagined, it is fake, and the members of the opposition who continue with this fantasy tale should be ashamed of themselves.
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Mr. Speaker, with regard to Government Business No. 9, I move: That the debate be not further adjourned.
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Mr. Speaker, there is a long tradition in this place and in Westminster parliaments in general that a majority in the chamber be reflected in all of the institutions of the House. This motion would simply respect and honour that tradition. Let us agree that it does not happen often that a government's status changes such that it grows to have a majority of seats in the elected chamber during the t…
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Mr. Speaker, with all respect to my hon. friend, I need to challenge this notion that anything has been stolen. In fact, many Canadians appear to agree that much has been gained. One thing that has been gained is that the government can move quickly on getting things built in Canada and move to implement an economic agenda that seeks to insulate ourselves against world events, trade shocks, trade …
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Mr. Speaker, that is an excellent question. Naturally, good questions always come from the Outaouais. We did a search and looked for examples. We have to admit that the situation before us is highly unusual: a government that changed status during its mandate. The fact that we came within one or two hundred votes of winning a majority in Canada during the last election plays a part in this situati…
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Mr. Speaker, I respect my hon. colleague from Nanaimo—Ladysmith, but her suggestion would offend the very principles of the Westminster tradition that we are all sworn to uphold, whereby a majority in the Commons would represent a majority in the institutions of the Commons. All committees are equal. There are no tier one or tier two committees. Indeed, there are committees that provide oversight.…
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Mr. Speaker, I would argue that this morning's motion is consistent with our finest parliamentary traditions, the ones we always uphold and to which we swear an oath about respecting our institutions, their precedents, their customs and their traditions. This has served our country very well. We believe that Canada is the best country in the world. The only thing we are giving ourselves is the rig…
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He may be leaving himself open on that one, Mr. Speaker. I would say that Canadians who live in Conservative ridings are increasingly asking their members of Parliament to be a positive part of the solution and a positive part of meeting these major and converging international crises, wars, supply chain issues, obviously, trade threats and climate change. All of these threats are converging, and …
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Mr. Speaker, we believe there is a very fundamental, yet incredibly simple principle at play here, which is that the institutions of our Parliament, including the committees of the House of Commons and obviously the committees we share with the Senate, be reflective of the composition of the House of Commons. This is a reasonably simple debate. We appreciate that there can be different perspective…
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Mr. Speaker, I do not know the member's constituents nearly as well as she would, but my bet is that the people of Hastings—Lennox and Addington—Tyendinaga want to send members here who respect, uphold and cherish the democracy we have built, one that has served our country so well and has helped build the best country in the world. That member's constituents, like my own in Gatineau, believe we s…
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Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague from Hamilton puts his finger on something very, very important, which is the need to fight cynicism. We must produce results in this place. Part of producing results in this place is respecting our traditions, respecting our democracy, respecting the institutions we have built together across party lines and over the years, and then implementing the plan we were sen…
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Mr. Speaker, quite the opposite. We believe that respecting democracy and our institutions means respecting the standards, conventions, traditions and rules that have been established over the years as we have built the best country in the world. I believe that the people of Rimouski, just like those of Gatineau, expect us to respect and uphold the finest traditions of our democracy. I would add t…
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Mr. Speaker, for much of Canada's history, we have helped build the best country in the world by having committees, as the member points out, be the workhorses of Parliament, but they have done so collegially, cooperatively and by working together, and whatever the composition of the House of Commons, none of that is going to change. In fact, I would argue that we are maintaining and respecting th…
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Mr. Speaker, it may be a semantic debate, and it may be a pointless one, but there are no two tiers of committees. There may be committees with different job descriptions, as there should be when there are some 30 total committees of the House of Commons and joint committees with the Senate. Of course, committees are masters of their own agenda and their own destiny. They decide what to take up an…
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Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague and I have very different views on what it means to respect the people. I think that respecting the electorate, respecting the people, means respecting the traditions, precedents, norms and rules of our democratic institutions. I think that fighting the public cynicism that he mentioned means standing up and standing together for our democratic institutions. I think …
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Mr. Speaker, in fact, I think we agree on much more than we disagree on. We believe as well that, as my hon. colleague points out, the essence of this Parliament, of its institutions and of its committees is to hold governments to account and perform these kinds of examinations of laws, budgets, estimates and differing matters in terms of public policy, to ask probing questions and to demand accou…
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Mr. Speaker, that is an excellent question from my hon. colleague, who comes from a region of this great country that is very special to me. The committee composition that the government is proposing does two things. It ensures that the chair of each committee will not have to routinely cast tie-breaking votes, because committee chairs, like the Speaker of the House, should not be settling debates…
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Mr. Speaker, there is no such thing as a supermajority. That is an American term. Parliaments with a certain number of members do not have more power than Parliaments with a lower number of government members. What I would say in response to my hon. friend is that the current majority is no less legitimate than any other majority that has existed in Canadian history. We elect members of Parliament…
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Mr. Speaker, since we have not altered the Bloc's representation on the committees in any way, there was no reason to consult them.
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Mr. Speaker, inflation has been in the Bank of Canada's target zone for some time, but we are continuously intrigued by the notion of inflationary spending. I want to ask, and have the Leader of the Opposition answer with absolute clarity, is it the Canada child benefit that is inflationary? Is it the Canada disability benefit? Is it the Canadian dental care plan? Is it the groceries and essential…
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Mr. Speaker, even for the Leader of the Opposition, it is pretty hard to say that money that has not been spent yet is inflationary. We have not done it yet, although we will be building high-speed rail as part of our plan to build Canada strong. Let me keep going down the list. Is the Canada workers benefit inflationary spending? Is it the national school food program? Is it the Canada student lo…
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Mr. Speaker, contrary to what the Bloc Québécois claims, we are going to build up all the regions of Canada and all the regions found within Canada. That is why we are taking part in developing our ports, like Contrecœur and the Port of Québec, as announced last Friday. We are going to invest in our mines and in our mining sector. Yes, even against the member for Mirabel's wishes, we are going to …
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Mr. Speaker, we know that my colleague has a big heart. That is why we were a bit surprised that he voted against the OAS increase, the dental care program, the school food program and the Canada child benefit. He voted against all that, despite his big heart. We have challenged the Conservatives to tell us what cuts they are proposing. Will my colleague table in the House of Commons a list of the…
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Mr. Speaker, Quebeckers will also benefit from our plan to build a very strong Canada. There was the announcement for a new graphite mine. We saw the opening of the Contrecoeur shipyard, a megaproject that will create thousands of jobs in the Montreal region, continue to fuel our supply chains and lower costs for Canadians. Quebeckers will be involved in re-energizing the Canadian economy, and we …
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Mr. Speaker, I have no doubt that my colleague, the Minister of Finance will bring in an exciting update that will tell Canadians about the major progress that we are making in building Canada strong. Yesterday, I asked Conservatives to table a detailed list of spending cuts they propose, because they talk about inflationary spending. I hope my hon. colleague can help me. Is the Canada child benef…
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Mr. Speaker, Canada will remain a leader in conventional energy and renewable energy. Canada will continue to build major projects that make us proud. I have an update. My colleague, the Minister of Government Transformation, Public Works and Procurement is currently in Quebec City announcing more big news for the people in the Quebec City region, namely the designation of the Port of Québec as a …
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Mr. Speaker, as the member knows, all 343 of us must abide by some of the strictest ethics rules that exist in the world. The Prime Minister disposed of all his assets in a blind trust on the day of his election as Liberal Party leader, five days before he was sworn in as prime minister. He took this step on day one. Let us contrast that with the member's leader, who has been in the House for 20 y…
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Mr. Speaker, we continue to engage with the Quebec government concerning temporary foreign workers. We know how much the regions of Quebec need workers. Nothing is sadder than an order going unfilled because of a shortage of workers. We are keenly aware of the situation described by my Bloc Québécois colleague, and we continue to engage with the Government of Quebec on this matter.
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister and his team, the ambassador and the ministers involved, we are prepared and ready and stand willing to negotiate in good faith a deal with the United States. It will not be any deal; it will be a deal acceptable for Canada. Contrast that with the Conservative position, with the member's colleague going to Washington and saying that Canadians are having a hissy fit …
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Mr. Speaker, the minister's advisory council includes the president of Unifor. It includes the president of FTQ. Workers' interests will absolutely be represented on the advisory council. I was proud, just a couple of weeks ago, to visit Sault Ste. Marie, with my incredible colleague from Sault Ste. Marie, to visit Algoma Steel and to meet with the steelworkers to talk about the exciting future of…
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Mr. Speaker, with respect to the consideration of Government Business No. 9, I give notice that at the next sitting of the House a minister of the Crown shall move, pursuant to Standing Order 57, that debate be not further adjourned.
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Mr. Speaker, I would ask the member to table immediately a list of the cuts she would like to make, and we will look into that.
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Mr. Speaker, we can believe the deputy leader of the Conservative Party, or we can believe the International Monetary Fund, which says that Canada has the best fiscal situation in the G7 and has lots of fiscal capacity. Do colleagues know what we are going to do? We are going to use that fiscal capacity to build Canada, to build it strong, to build with Canadian products and with Canadian men and …
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Mr. Speaker, as I just indicated to the member's colleague, we are more than willing to hear what cuts the member opposite might propose, and we look forward to receiving his suggestions.
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Mr. Speaker, we are a bit puzzled over here. Is dental care an inflationary expense? Are school meal programs an inflationary expense? Is support for Quebec workers and industries that are feeling the pinch from the U.S. tariffs an inflationary expense? What exactly are these inflationary expenses? Where is the document that the member intends to table to provide a detailed list of the inflationar…
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Mr. Speaker, perhaps a multiple choice question would help the member. Is it the Canada child benefit? That is $6 billion. Is it Canada's national school food program? That is $400 million. Is the Canada groceries and essentials benefit an inflationary expense? The Canada workers benefit is $3 billion. The old age security program is $7.5 billion. Which of those choices do the member and his leade…
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Mr. Speaker, I have taken careful note of those questions from my hon. colleague, and perhaps I could offer a challenge in return. If he could work with his colleagues over the weekend so that we get a list, a very precise list, of all of the things that constitute, in their minds, inflationary spending, we would certainly rush to agree to have them table that document and would take a look at it …
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moved: That, for the duration of the 45th Parliament: (a) Standing Order 104(1) be amended by replacing the words "consist of 10 members" with the words "consist of 12 members"; (b) paragraph (a)(i) of the order adopted on June 5, 2025, be rescinded, and Standing Order 104(2) be amended by replacing the words "consist of 10 members" with the words "consist of 12 members" and by adding after the wo…
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Mr. Speaker, I think my speech speaks for itself.
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Mr. Speaker, since the Speaker of the House of Commons is not called upon to break a tie on every vote here in this chamber, we also do not believe that a committee chair should systematically be called upon to break a tie. That is why we added two members from the party in power, without diminishing the Bloc Québécois's or the Conservative Party's representation.
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Mr. Speaker, I spoke about this at length in my speech. The principle is the same: A majority in the House of Commons means a majority on all House committees. A minority situation for a government in the House of Commons would obviously require a re-evaluation and a re-ordering of those committees.
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Mr. Speaker, my hon. friend was in your chair at one point. He knows that over the years the House of Commons has decided to give three committees, the government operations, public accounts and ethics committees, the ability to be chaired by an opposition member. We of course will be continuing that practice, and those committees, guided as they are by opposition members of Parliament, will be ab…
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Mr. Speaker, I know that the Bloc Québécois cares about the rules of the House. That is why it is rather disconcerting that the Bloc Québécois is not saying whether it will abide by the principle that dates back to the very origins of our parliamentary system, namely, that a majority in the House of Commons is recognized in all its bodies, including House committees. I hope that the Bloc Québécois…
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Mr. Speaker, the Board of Internal Economy, which makes the decisions, has decided on a funding formula, indeed, for parties of the House, which has no connection to the item at hand. I would simply say to my hon. colleague that we are all equals in the House. The member and I, the Leader of the Opposition, and the Prime Minister are all equals when we meet in this place. We all enjoy one vote eac…
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Mr. Speaker, that is a very good question. We have searched the annals of history, not just in Canada, which, of course, goes back to 1867 and our House of Commons, but indeed in Westminster Parliaments from time immemorial, and we are unable to find an example where members from one party constituted a majority of the seats but did not constitute a majority in the other institutions of that House…
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