Parliamentary Speeches
523 speeches by Xavier Barsalou-Duval — Page 1 of 11
Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I hereby table petition e-6836, which has been duly certified by the clerk of petitions. The petition, signed by 810 people, responds to the House of Commons vote on October 8, 2024, in support of the 11th report of the Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities, entitled “Reducing the Impact of Commercial Shipping on Shoreline Erosion in the Great Lakes-St. Lawre…
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Mr. Speaker, the parliamentary secretary made a compelling case for electric vehicles. I must commend him for that, but I still cannot help but point out that his government basically gutted the transportation electrification industry over the past year, with disastrous results for the industry. Now, the government is trying to patch things up, but it is going to be difficult to turn this situatio…
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Mr. Speaker, when I opened the newspaper last week, I was surprised to see that Ontario premier Doug Ford, a Conservative, had the audacity to ask Quebec to abandon its electric vehicle sales targets. Today, the Conservatives have put forward a motion that seeks to do pretty much the same thing. It uses different words, but the message is the same: There will be no more support for the transportat…
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Mr. Speaker, I congratulate my colleague opposite on his speech. His argument in favour of transportation electrification and electric vehicles was certainly music to my ears. I could not agree more. However, over the past year, the sector has experienced a significant funding shortfall. The government unilaterally ended the EV funding program, and that caused a drop in demand. What does my collea…
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Madam Speaker, I am going to dig a little deeper into the subject I touched on in my point of order earlier. The Chair did not consider it a point of order, so I imagine this will be fine as a point of debate. In his speech, the member talked almost exclusively about our relationship with the United States and with the Philippines. He actually had a lot to say about the Philippines. I think it was…
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Madam Speaker, I have been listening to the speech by the member opposite from the beginning. I am rising because we are supposed to be discussing Bill C-13, which deals with the United Kingdom's accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership. However, most of the member opposite's speech has been focused on relations with the United States, the Philippines—
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Mr. Speaker, so far, several members of my caucus have asked Conservative members the same question, but we have not received an answer. The Conservatives are saying that existing laws are already sufficient to address these issues. However, here is a specific example. In October 2024, Adil Charkaoui called for the death of Jews in a prayer during a protest. It was an invitation to kill. The direc…
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Mr. Speaker, since the start of the discussion on this subject and throughout today's debate, all the Conservatives have been loudly proclaiming that they are against hatred. What they are ultimately against, however, is the elimination of the religious exemption. I am trying to understand why there should be an exemption saying hatred is okay if it is for religious reasons. No one should make hat…
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Mr. Speaker, the Liberals have cut $5 billion from public transit. That means $5 billion less in a fund that has yet to provide a single penny to Quebec, while Ontario and the western provinces are stuffing their pockets. Strangely enough, $5 billion is the same amount as the Cúram cost overrun. That means $5 billion more for companies that are blowing the budget on underperforming software, and $…
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Madam Speaker, I have a question for my Conservative colleague. Right now, I am working on the Driver Inc. issue, which involves dangerous truckers on our roads. It seems that some of these truckers do not necessarily have legal status in the country. Some do, but others do not. In one case, a driver killed someone on the road, fled and was brought back here to face justice. He will likely have to…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, I would like to acknowledge the 70th anniversary of the Symphonie vocale de la Fraternité des policiers et policières de Montréal, the Montreal police choir. Since 1956, this unique choir, made up exclusively of active and retired police officers, has been touching hearts with the power of its voices and the depth of its commitment. For seven decades, it has used music as a language o…
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Madam Speaker, I listened to my colleague's very impassioned speech and I get the sense that there is a topic he failed to cover. In fact, my colleague from Gaspésie—Les Îles-de-la-Madeleine—Listuguj, the Bloc Québécois immigration critic, raised this point yesterday during question period. The government reportedly accepted thousands of asylum claims without conducting any checks or holding any i…
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Mr. Speaker, the leader of the Bloc Québécois met with the Prime Minister yesterday. He emphasized the need to put an end to Driver Inc. scheme. However, the battle is far from over. Not only is the federal government not doing much about this issue, but it is, in fact, part of the problem. Canada Post has contracted no fewer than 25 companies that do business with Driver Inc. drivers. The federal…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Mr. Speaker, since this is the first time I have had the opportunity to speak in the House today, and since it is the last time before the big day tomorrow, February 14, I would like to take a moment to talk about Valentine's Day. I think it is an important day for many people. Obviously, it is very important to me. I would like to take this opportunity to send my love to my partner, to whom I am …
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Mr. Speaker, in order to solve the problem, the Liberals should start by acknowledging that it exists and stop making it worse. Canada Post is doing business with at least 25 companies that hire Driver Inc. drivers. We gave the Liberals 10 solutions to get these dangerous drivers off our streets, but the problem persists. Not only are the Liberals not using our solutions, but the federal governmen…
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Madam Speaker, I think my colleague raised a good point. I do not often agree with the Liberals, but I think that we can work together on some things, and electrification is one of them. I would encourage his government to be even more ambitious, because abandoning the electric vehicle availability standards we had in the past is an unfortunate move. We know that when dealerships are forced to sto…
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Madam Speaker, the simple answer is that western Canada produces oil and has an oil-centred economy, even though the rest of the world is heading in a different direction. Ontario generally tows the same line, since it primarily manufactures gas-powered vehicles. Canada seems incapable of changing its ways. In Quebec, we produce electricity. That means we have every reason to transition away from …
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Madam Speaker, I would like to point out that one of the policies the government announced quite recently is the reintroduction of subsidies for electric vehicles. Today's Conservative motion slams those subsidies. That led me to the following thought. The government ended its electric vehicle subsidy program not that long ago, which resulted in a chaotic situation in 2025. Does the reintroduction…
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Mr. Speaker, I rarely do this, but I really want to congratulate the member opposite on his speech. He is generally not my favourite member because I find his speeches overly partisan. However, today, I am truly impressed because he really dotted the i's and crossed the t's and told the truth about electric vehicles. Since he is now such a straight talker, today, I would like to know if he is will…
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Madam Speaker, today we are debating a motion on this Conservative opposition day. On Tuesday, we also had another Conservative opposition day. I wanted to mention this because on Tuesday, when I saw the topic of the opposition day, I thought that for the first time, the Conservatives had chosen a topic that had nothing to do with promoting oil or abandoning the fight against climate change. It se…
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Madam Speaker, I find the question rather interesting. We are not, in fact, giving money to the United States. We are giving money to taxpayers to help them buy vehicles that pollute less. However, I want to ask my colleague a question. Why are the Conservatives defending the oil companies, fighting so hard for them, getting so worked up about them and thinking about them every morning when they g…
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Mr. Speaker, I note that in the last point of the motion, point (c), the Leader of the Opposition is calling for a tax cut for GM factory workers who have lost their jobs. That is very generous of him, but how could someone who claims to advocate for Canada and work for everyone not think of the Paccar workers, who also lost their jobs? Why did he not include them in his motion? In Sainte-Thérèse,…
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Mr. Speaker, this morning, I was surprised to see the official opposition's motion, because I think this is the first time in many years that we have had a Conservative opposition day about something other than oil or stopping the fight against climate change. I would like to know whether my colleague opposite wants to congratulate the Conservatives for choosing to address another subject for once…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, Canada Post has hired 25 companies that use Driver Inc. drivers. The Liberals have been aware of the problem for at least two years. We have proposed 10 solutions. Not only do they refuse to implement them, but now they are contributing to the problem. At this point, it is no longer a matter of wilful blindness. Now they are complicit. The Liberals just gave Canada Post $1 billion. Ca…
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Mr. Speaker, the federal government has been criticized for doing nothing to address Driver Inc., but it gets worse: Not only is Ottawa doing nothing to stop these drivers, it is awarding them contracts. Canada Post has done business with at least 25 companies that hire Driver Inc. drivers, including one who was directly involved in a fatal accident. Worst of all, the federal government was notifi…
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Mr. Speaker, the interesting thing about the consultations is that they are more like information sessions. That is the first thing. They put up kiosks and sell the project. It is not really about listening to people and taking notes. That is not really it. It is a one-way relationship where they are selling a product. The other thing I want to note is that the people of Mirabel were surprised to …
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my esteemed colleague for her question. The government always says that it is there to protect citizens' interests, that it wants to do the right thing and that we should listen to it and trust it. However, when we look back at the past, particularly Ottawa's past, we see that, most of the time, the government acts in its own interest. The good of the people sometimes takes a …
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Mr. Speaker, our motion is as follows: That the House call on the government to apologize to those whose land was expropriated in Mirabel, to acknowledge the collective trauma these expropriations caused for thousands of Quebeckers who were forced to abandon their homes, their communities and their livelihoods, and to urge the government not to undertake such expropriations again without public co…
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Mr. Speaker, if the Liberal members from Quebec decide to vote against this motion when the time comes, it will be very apparent that they are of absolutely no use in Ottawa. That will show that sending members of the Liberal Party of Canada to Ottawa to represent Quebec means sending representatives who will take their orders from Ottawa, Toronto or the Prime Minister and who will have no say in …
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Mr. Speaker, the member explained to us how passionate and inspired she was by the much-touted Alto high-speed rail project. I did not quite understand her position on the motion being debated today. It makes me wonder. What we are criticizing is that the people of Mirabel were not part of the consultations, first of all. We are criticizing the unceremonious strategies used in Bill C‑15 to fast-tr…
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Mr. Speaker, I do not have time to name the 44 ridings, but I hope that those 44 will do some soul-searching. If they need to break party ranks to defend Quebec, then so be it.
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Mr. Speaker, at one point, I was afraid that the minister was not even going mention today's motion. He eventually did address it. What I saw, however, was that the minister used pretty much the same arguments here in the House as those presented to the people of Mirabel in 1969, namely progress and modernization. Worse still, with Bill C‑15, the government is looking to bypass the normal expropri…
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Mr. Speaker, I will ask my question quickly. My colleague's speech was quite eloquent and very clear. Despite his compelling arguments, as well as the arguments made by the member before him, the member for Mirabel, it seems that the members opposite are still unconvinced. However, it seems clear to me that the Canadian government should apologize for this. If the government refuses to apologize, …
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Mr. Speaker, I have a question for my colleague opposite, because she is not really answering the question being asked. She somewhat acknowledges that the expropriations in Mirabel in 1969 were a mistake, but she still refuses to apologize, which seems to be her government's position. Normally, elected officials are supposed to set an example. I have children, two daughters, aged three and two, an…
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Mr. Speaker, it is rather deplorable to watch what the Conservatives are doing. Every time they have an opposition day, every time they have the opportunity to contribute something to the debates in the House and to make everyone in Parliament take a position on an issue, they do the same thing. They always talk about the carbon tax, pipelines or oil and gas. It seems like they cannot talk about a…
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Mr. Speaker, I find it interesting that the Conservatives have decided to put the topic of food prices on today's agenda. I am not sold on their solutions, but I think that the issue of food prices is a relevant topic to discuss, especially since, about a year ago, one of the government ministers, the member for Saint-Maurice—Champlain, was very vocal about the fact that we could judge their work …
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to congratulate my colleague across the way on his speech today. I would say that he was true to form in that he usually tries to stick to the facts and address the substance of the speeches or arguments presented by members on the other side of the House. He does not really engage in partisanship and is able to rise above it. With that in mind, I would like to ask a ques…
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Mr. Speaker, for months, the Liberals refused to invite Driver Inc. victims to testify in Ottawa. This week, we finally managed to meet with mothers who have lost family members to this public menace. What were these mothers asking for? They were asking the government to do its job. We submitted 10 requests to the government, but so far it has taken up one of them and continues to sit on its backs…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, today we are discussing Bill C‑222, which was introduced by the member for Burnaby North—Seymour, a riding in British Columbia that I have not had the opportunity to visit. I assume that this bill was introduced with good intentions. We will be able to discuss the bill in more detail later. The reason I say that is because the member himself was once the minister of citizens' servic…
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Mr. Speaker, only one of our 10 requests has been taken up. Mélanie Séguin and Nathalie Poulin are victims of Driver Inc. who testified before the committee. They have one thing in common: They do not understand the Liberals' inaction. Ms. Séguin said, “You have families. If it were your sister, your daughter, your mother, what would you do?” Ms. Poulin said, “No one wants to hear what we have to …
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Mr. Speaker, when Quebeckers and truckers from Quebec asked the Liberals to put an end to the Driver Inc. model, the Liberals ignored them. As a result, the Americans are now the ones asking the federal government to take action. The embassy said that simply targeting companies allows individuals who commit violations to create a new company under a new name. There are 10 measures to be taken. The…
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Mr. Speaker, the Association du camionnage du Québec supports our 10 measures. How many measures have the Liberals implemented? They have only implemented one. The Liberals are doing nothing because they have been being infiltrated on all sides by Driver Inc. truckers. The Prime Minister's campaign organizer and donor was the spokesperson for a new Driver Inc. advocacy association. Not one, not tw…
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Mr. Speaker, we wondered why the Liberals were protecting Driver Inc. truckers by shifting their responsibilities to the provinces. Imagine this: One of the Prime Minister's closest organizers, Tej Dulat, works for the companies that hire these truckers. This generous Liberal donor was even seated right next to the Prime Minister during his swearing-in ceremony. There is no risk of mistaking him f…
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Mr. Speaker, the Association du camionnage du Québec also says that there are still things the government can do to resolve this situation. When it comes to Driver Inc., the Liberals once again seem to be protecting the interests of their friends, or possibly the interests of their own pocketbooks. In addition to the organizer close to the Prime Minister who is lobbying unofficially, the Liberals …
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Mr. Speaker, Washington is asking the federal government to do more to fight the scourge of Driver Inc. truckers. Even the Americans are fed up with the public menace these drivers pose on roads on both sides of the border. Yes, the Liberals have echoed our call to force companies to report the income of independent drivers, but the U.S. embassy is saying that, while this is a step in the right di…
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Mr. Speaker, if the Liberals had done enough on the Driver Inc. issue, the Americans would not be demanding that they do their job now. Washington is getting impatient. We need a formal inquiry to get to the bottom of the exploitation of drivers in the trucking industry, particularly foreign drivers. It is spreading like a cancer. We need to stop temporary immigrants from incorporating in the truc…
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Mr. Speaker, today we have the opportunity, or maybe the misfortune, to speak to Bill C‑15, which aims to implement part of what was in the federal budget. Budget implementation bills are always interesting. In theory, the goal of a budget implementation bill is to implement what is in the budget. However, sometimes other measures are included as well. The government sometimes uses this opportunit…
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Mr. Speaker, I think it is clear to everyone that the Bloc Québécois is not going to vote for this bill any more than it voted for the budget. We voted on the budget, and the Bloc Québécois's position is clear. The Bloc Québécois's demands were all denied by the government opposite, a minority government acting like a majority government. It is sad to see this government do absolutely nothing to d…
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Mr. Speaker, I find my colleague's comments interesting. The federal government is a bit like a wolf in sheep's clothing when it comes to culture. It keeps the community on a tight leash and tries to keep a close eye on everything. Those who misbehave will lose their subsidies. Everyone has to sing O Canada at the top of their lungs. The sector is being watched closely. At the end of the day, what…
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Mr. Speaker, I listened to the speech by my colleague. I am fortunate enough to sit with him on the Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities, and that is actually what I would like to ask him a few questions about. Essentially, his speech was a plea for deregulation. I understand his logic: Too much regulation ends up smothering businesses and hurting productivity. On the ot…
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