Parliamentary Speeches
380 speeches by Xavier Barsalou-Duval — Page 1 of 8
Government Orders
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, 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, 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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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, 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…
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Madam Speaker, I must admit that I am rather discouraged by the subject of the Conservatives' opposition day motion. It seems as though they have been talking about the same issues for a really long time. I have been on the Hill for 10 years now, and every time the Conservatives have an opposition day, they say that they want more oil. It is astonishing that they are still saying that even after t…
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Mr. Speaker, the mind boggles at the Liberals' and the Conservatives' debate over which party's actions are more inspired by John A. Macdonald. What Quebeckers remember John A. Macdonald for is his statement that Louis Riel would hang though every dog in Quebec bark in his favour. That is John A. Macdonald's legacy in Quebec. I can hardly believe what I am hearing, especially on the heels of the P…
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Mr. Speaker, I notice that the leader of the official opposition and the Conservative Party tend to link oil production to sovereignty because they share the same vision, the same party and the same organization. I am not sure that this appeals to Quebeckers in general. When we talk to them about sovereignty, I do not think oil production is the first thing that comes to mind. If they do think abo…
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Mr. Speaker, I am intrigued that the Conservatives are portraying their motion and the course that they want to take today as a vision for a Canadian sovereignty act. Personally, I have always believed that sovereignty means passing laws, collecting taxes, and signing treaties with other nations. However, when we look at what the Conservatives are actually proposing in their motion, which indirect…
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Madam Speaker, I would like to build on what my colleague was saying. His speech was quite clear and unequivocal. My colleague, our party and the government are denouncing the Conservative motion. However, what I find both fascinating and disappointing is seeing the Liberal members try to redeem themselves by denouncing this motion, even though they have been doing more or less the same thing sinc…
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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, 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 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, 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, I congratulate my colleague on his speech. Obviously, I cannot agree with everything that was said. There is a reason we are not in the same political party. The question I have for him has to do with the vitality of Quebec's media ecosystem, although I presume that similar issues are being felt elsewhere in Canada as well. In the bill currently before us, the Liberal government is of…
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Mr. Speaker, my question for my colleague is about indigenous relations. I know that there are several indigenous nations in her riding and that, historically, relations have been difficult. This means that it may have been challenging to built a relationship of trust over the years. In this context, we see that the government deciding to go back on its word—
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Mr. Speaker, the amendments put forward by the Bloc Québécois and the Conservative opposition were intended, among other things, to ensure that adult applicants have a knowledge of English or French, that they have undergone a security check for national security reasons, and that they were in the country for 1,095 days over five years. There was also a requirement to report on the number of citiz…
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Mr. Speaker, my answer to that question is this: Do the child's parents speak French or English? Did the child's parents spend at least three consecutive years in the country over a five-year period? These criteria do not seem that extreme to me. Am I wrong?
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Mr. Speaker, that is an excellent question. I would say that there is a big difference between when Bill 101 was passed and the bill that is before us, which we wanted to amend. The same applies to the issue of secularism, a subject we could no doubt discuss. The main difference is that Quebec does not have a majority in this House. We do not have a majority, so the rest of Canada will decide for …
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Mr. Speaker, to sum up, what my colleague is telling us is that we should adopt anything and everything on the pretext that the deadline set by the superior court is looming. I beg to differ with his view of things, especially since work was done in committee and proposals were put forward. The committee did some serious work. One aspect had to do with citizenship applicants' knowledge of French o…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Jonquière for his very appropriate intervention. I wanted to share my time with the member for Shefford, who will certainly have a lot to say about the bill as well. As I was saying, Bill C‑3 applies equally to everyone. It applies to anyone who has obtained citizenship by birth or naturalization, whether or not they are an immigrant or, like me, someone who …
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Mr. Speaker, I already gave an explanation in my speech. The Ontario Superior Court of Justice's decision will apply by default unless we pass the bill before us today. What I said, and what my colleague needs to remember, is that the amendments we proposed were reasonable. Requiring knowledge of French is not too much to ask, nor is it too much to ask someone to spend three out of five years in t…
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Mr. Speaker, I have not done an in-depth analysis of how citizenship is granted around the world, but I know that there are several different approaches and several possible ideologies. In my view, what we proposed is reasonable. I believe my Conservative Party colleagues agree with us, since we voted together on these amendments. I urge the government to listen to what was said in committee and, …
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Mr. Speaker, today we are talking about Bill C‑3, an act to amend the Citizenship Act. I will focus on the all-important issue of citizenship, because that is the crux of today's debate. First and foremost, I would like to debunk some myths. Since the beginning of the debate on Bill C‑3, the Liberals and the NDP have repeatedly attempted to demonize the intentions of the opposition, whether Bloc Q…
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Mr. Speaker, one of the proposed amendments sought to ensure that adults living abroad who are descendants of Canadian citizens and who wish to obtain citizenship would be required to know either French or English. The Liberals rejected that amendment. Why are they against making a knowledge of French or English a condition of citizenship?
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Madam Speaker, what I found interesting about my Liberal colleague's comments is that he said that one of the criteria the Liberals included in Bill C-3 to establish a substantial connection to Canada was the 1,095 days. We are talking about the same 1,095 days that are required for naturalized citizens. Another criterion that naturalized citizens must meet is that they must know how to speak Fren…
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Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship openly admitted in committee that she had no idea how many people would be affected by this bill. The Parliamentary Budget Officer finally gave an estimate of 150,000 people. The Bloc Québécois, with the support of the Conservatives, tabled an amendment to make sure that, after the bill is passed, a report is made to Parliament on …
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Madam Speaker, I rise in the House to mark the 50th anniversary of the Maison des jeunes de Boucherville, or MDJ. It all started in 1973 when a group of young people dreamed of a opening a youth centre in Boucherville. The community granted their wish, and it was such a success that the facilities have expanded and modernized several times. Today, more than 1,200 young people from Boucherville reg…
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Madam Speaker, after years of wilful blindness, Ottawa is finally taking action on the Driver Inc. scam, but it is not doing nearly enough. We were told that 100,000 inspections had been done in the trucking industry, but in the end, the government was forced to admit that it did only 1,000, not 100,000. That is one hundred times less. When we pressed the government further, it finally admitted th…
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Madam Speaker, let us be clear, if not for the Bloc Québécois, nothing would ever have happened. We presented 10 solutions to resolve the Driver Inc. issue. The Liberals are implementing one of them and acting as though everything is fixed. There are nine left to go. There is still no federal inquiry. Temporary immigrants are still getting permission to incorporate. Dating sharing between governme…
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Mr. Speaker, during question period on October 6, I asked the Minister of Jobs a question about the Driver Inc. scam. In her response, the minister stated that her department had "created a specialized inspection team that has already conducted more than 100,000 inspections and awareness-raising activities in the [trucking] sector." Today, in the news, we learned that her office has issued a corre…
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Mr. Speaker, today we are discussing Bill C‑227, an act to establish a national strategy on housing for young Canadians. After reading the bill, it appears that this strategy would specifically target young people between the ages of 18 and 34 who are having difficulty accessing housing. I cannot dispute the fact that young people between the ages of 18 and 34 have difficulty accessing housing or …
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague from Jonquière introduced in the House Bill C-228 to ensure that all treaties are systematically tabled before the House of Commons, so that they can be debated and amended. This bill also includes a provision requiring a 21-day waiting period after a treaty is tabled before any action can be taken toward its ratification. In relation to what we are discussing right now, …
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Madam Speaker, my colleague from Saint‑Hyacinthe—Bagot—Acton focused a lot on transparency in the process and on the fact that we need to have access to the text that we are voting on. We know that, most of the time, we end up debating texts that we do not even have yet. We cannot consult or amend them. I would like my colleague to tell me whether he thinks it is right that we have to take a stand…
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Mr. Speaker, the Canadian multiculturalism policy rejects any notion of a majority host society. What it says is that all peoples are of equal value. That is correct. Indeed, all peoples in the world are of value. It is important that they exist. Nevertheless, the Quebec people exist in only one place in the world: in Quebec. Considering the Quebec people as just one of many peoples within Quebec …
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague was quite right to point out the factor of the unknown. As the minister said, we have no idea how many new citizens this law will create. In this context, it appears that the committee was wise to ask for a report to be tabled in the House or, at the very least, in committee, to indicate how many people would be affected every year by this new law. I would like to know wh…
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Mr. Speaker, I think the reason lies in the history behind the Canadian multicultural policy, which, at the time, was put in place in a way that failed to recognize Canadian biculturalism, or the difference between English Canada and French Canada. Quebec's desire for emancipation and affirmation was drowned out by the rest of Canada, which is made up of people arriving from around the world. Our …
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Mr. Speaker, according to the Parliamentary Budget Officer's estimates, approximately 150,000 new people would get citizenship, which means that they would also get the right to vote. A Conservative member raised an interesting point last week in this regard: We still do not know how it will be determined in which riding these people will be registered and vote. That could become an issue if there…
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague is talking about two different battles. Our bill specifically targets Quebec only. There really is no direct effect on other provinces. Of course, Quebec's integration model includes the concept of passing on the French language to Quebeckers. If a French-speaking Quebec becomes stronger and thrives, it can only be a positive thing for francophone communities outside Queb…
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Mr. Speaker, I believe that my colleague mentioned in his speech that the amendments made as a result of serious work in committee by my colleague, the member for Lac-Saint-Jean, are falling apart because of collusion between the Liberals and the NDP. One of the amendments in question had to do with the tabling of an annual report in Parliament on the bill's impact. What does my colleague think ab…
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moved that Bill C-245, An Act to amend the Canadian Multiculturalism Act (non-application in Quebec), be read the second time and referred to a committee. Mr. Speaker, I am proud to start debate on Bill C‑245, which I tabled on behalf of the Bloc Québécois. The purpose of our bill is to exclude Quebec from Canadian multiculturalism so that Quebec can apply its own model for integrating immigrants.…
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to circle back to my Conservative colleague's question, which has still not been answered. It was a very good question. My colleague asked why the government did not include official languages in the bill's criteria. The purpose of this bill is to define what constitutes a sufficient connection to Canada. This seems like a perfectly normal condition, given that we operate…
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Mr. Speaker, at the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration, my colleague from Lac‑Saint‑Jean, who represents the Bloc Québécois, asked the minister about this issue. He asked how many more people would be granted citizenship as a result of this legislation. The minister was utterly unable to answer or provide a figure. My question for my Conservative colleague is this: How can this gove…
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Mr. Speaker, Quebec is already doing its job to solve the problem. The chief coroner ordered a public inquiry, which the federal government is unwilling to do at this time. The Government of Quebec is going to equip highway traffic controllers with firearms. The Government of Quebec is going to make driver training mandatory. However, the problem comes from Ontario, not Quebec. Almost all the Driv…
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague across the floor says that the amendments are designed to ostracize immigrants and that they are anti-immigration. I would therefore like to ask her the following question. Suppose I go abroad and my children are born abroad, if they decide to stay abroad and then have children of their own, will this law also apply to them, or does it only apply to immigrants?
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Mr. Speaker, despite what the government refuses to say, the Parliamentary Budget Officer tells us that this bill should allow 150,000 new people to vote. These are people who do not live here. We wanted to propose amendments to limit the scope of this bill. Second-generation individuals who do not live here, who live abroad but were born to Canadian parents, are required to have resided in Canada…
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Mr. Speaker, members across the way keep saying that it is because of an anti-immigration attitude that people are critical or would have preferred that the amendments tabled in committee be adopted by the House. I find it really interesting that they are telling us this. I am not an immigrant. If I go abroad and my children are born abroad, their children will not have Canadian citizenship if the…
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Mr. Speaker, Driver Inc. truckers are not just a danger to the public on our roads. They also pose a threat to Quebec workers. Over the past three years, 1,000 Quebec truckers have lost their jobs. Meanwhile, the industry is booming in Ontario. In the last five years, 77% of new truckers in Canada have been part of the Driver Inc. scam. We are losing our Quebec truckers to the benefit of Ontario c…
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Mr. Speaker, my question is simple. Serious work was done in committee. The Conservative Party and the Bloc Québécois proposed some amendments. Now the government is joining forces with the NDP to get rid of all the amendments and all the work done in committee. I know that a party that does not sit on committees and is not recognized in the House is allowed to propose amendments, but normally, wh…
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