Parliamentary Speeches
598 speeches by Yves-François Blanchet — Page 1 of 12
Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, first, allow me pay my respects to Prime Minister Harper, who is the thought leader for both the Prime Minister and the Conservative leader. I would like the Prime Minister, in the company of someone who claimed to be sensitive to Quebec's reality, to summarize what he knows and understands about the expropriation and the trauma inflicted on residents of Mirabel during construction of…
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Mr. Speaker, I am not aware of any agricultural producer who considers their farm to be too small to be worthy of respect. Are the powers to suspend rules, laws, parliamentary privilege, environmental consultations, and expropriation rules not proof that Bill C-5 and its offshoot, Bill C-15, are heartless bills?
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Mr. Speaker, I gather that this is the sum total of the Prime Minister's knowledge of the trauma caused by the expropriations in Mirabel, which he wants to duplicate and repeat. Does he think that expropriation without mutual agreement, expropriation by email, expropriation without impact studies, and expropriation without genuine consultation are likely to ease the serious trauma suffered by the …
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Mr. Speaker, yesterday, the Prime Minister told us that China had committed to lifting its tariffs on Quebec pork. The pork industry, which did not know about this, was both surprised and very happy, understandably so. This morning, Antoine Trépanier reported that this is not in fact true. The government should not treat people this way. It should not be creating false hope. Can the government con…
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Mr. Speaker, I did not hear the words “pig”, “hog” or “pork”. There was no reference to pork in the answer. My question is simple. The Prime Minister, who is the new incarnation of God, told us yesterday that we now have a deal with the Chinese, who are lifting tariffs on pork. Can the government at least include the word “pork” in its answer? Can it quickly commit to ensuring that lifting tariffs…
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Mr. Speaker, she is talking about a "friendly" agreement. The pigs will be thrilled. That said, the minister responsible for the negotiations was interviewed on Radio-Canada this morning and he said that, while we are focusing on history, he is focusing on Quebec's forests. My goodness, what a day of revelations it has been. It is the Epiphany. Can someone tell me what this government has done for…
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Mr. Speaker, I understand that the United States has changed, and I am just as concerned as the Prime Minister. We support market diversification. We have been suggesting that for the past year. However, we do not want to turn our backs on Quebec values, which, I hope, are similar to Canadian values in some respects. The United States will still account for more than three-quarters of our trade fo…
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Mr. Speaker, please allow me to extend my best wishes for 2026 to you and all my colleagues. I would also like to share some of the very real concerns I have for Quebec and Canadian businesses and for jobs in Quebec and Canada. A speech, in and of itself, does not generate money. It does not create jobs, nor does it protect jobs. I gather that there are no negotiations happening with the Americans…
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Mr. Speaker, from what I understand, and this is meant to be reassuring, beyond certain controversies that may be relevant in many respects, most Quebec and Canadian export jobs depend on American businesses at least as much as on the U.S. President, and something serious is happening. That is what we are asking for. If the Prime Minister is more familiar with economics than he is with Quebec hist…
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Mr. Speaker, this morning, the former environment minister and former heritage minister, who is still very much a member of the Liberal caucus, published a letter that his replacements are clearly not very happy about. In it, he describes the agreement between the Prime Minister of Canada and the Premier of Alberta as a significant step backwards and a rollback. I need to know. Will the Prime Mini…
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Mr. Speaker, is Adil Charkaoui among the religious leaders who must be protected? It is like we are back under Justin Trudeau's government. We have learned that someone close to the Prime Minister, someone close to the Liberal Party of Canada, has lobbied for Driver Inc., drivers who are a danger on our roads. I would like the Prime Minister to tell me whether he will serve the interests of friend…
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister's comments are more cute than accurate. Let us talk about the religious exemption. Does the Prime Minister agree or disagree with his justice minister, who seems to agree with the Bloc Québécois? I want to know where he stands personally, and I think the public has a right to know that. Will the Prime Minister serve the interests of religious minorities or will he s…
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister thinks that nuclear power is clean energy. The Prime Minister is removing the caps and limits on greenhouse gas emissions, particularly for electricity generation. The former minister also said that once the support of the base is lost, it is very hard to get it back. For his own sake, will the Prime Minister abandon his oil agenda, go back to his climate agenda, an…
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Mr. Speaker, the former minister of Canadian identity and culture left cabinet and admitted that he did it to make people think, because the Liberal Party had neglected the progressive wing of the party and because the reason that the Liberal Party had won so many seats was that Bloc supporters voted for it. To replace the member for Laurier—Sainte-Marie, the Prime Minister appointed the member fo…
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Mr. Speaker, unless the Prime Minister's autocratic tendencies grow stronger, there will be another election one day. According to the former minister, people voted for voted for climate action, which the Prime Minister claimed to care about, and for trade negotiations. However, the Prime Minister is focused on neither. He is not doing things he said he would do, and he is doing things he never sa…
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Mr. Speaker, when one wants to get a party's agreement, then that party should be invited to participate in the agreement from the get-go. The contract the Prime Minister signed applies regardless, even without British Columbia. Will the Prime Minister acknowledge that he did not respect what was said in the House and that there was not much respect for the truth when this agreement was signed? Th…
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Mr. Speaker, it is a document that he signed and that creates obligations. It is a contract. He can call it whatever he likes in the language of his choice. Given the issues surrounding the oil tanker moratorium, the issues surrounding the cap on greenhouse gas emissions, British Columbia's lack of agreement and the opposition of the first nations that voted against the agreement this morning, doe…
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Mr. Speaker, last Thursday, the Prime Minister announced an agreement with Alberta that is surprising in many respects. I am thinking in particular of the fact that, the day before, I had asked the government whether it would make a solemn commitment not to allow any pipeline to pass through British Columbia without the free consent of the British Columbia government and first nations. The House l…
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Mr. Speaker, November 27, 2025, will go down in history as the date the Government of Canada completely abandoned climate issues and the people suffering because of them, both here and abroad, so it could benefit oil company shareholders, most of them American. The Government of Canada has signed an agreement that requires it, if necessary, to steamroll over British Columbia and over various indig…
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Mr. Speaker, did I just hear the Minister of Environment and Climate Change endorse an appalling agreement that scraps greenhouse gas emission caps for the oil industry and even for electricity production? Yesterday, I asked whether the government would formally and solemnly assure Canadians that no pipeline would ever be imposed without the free consent of British Columbia and indigenous peoples.…
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Mr. Speaker, we will not even pretend to say that they did not read their own document. The document is clear. It claims there is just one Canadian economy, which is not that of British Columbia or Quebec, but that of Ottawa and Calgary, with no regard for environmental assessments, indigenous peoples or provincial powers. Based on that, it looks like the Prime Minister is taking it upon himself t…
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Mr. Speaker, in 1995, a Liberal prime minister pulled a fast one on Quebec by cheating, lying and hiding. In 2025, is another Liberal Prime Minister pulling another fast one on the provinces and Quebec? He was elected on a platform of tariffs and trade, which he is now using to force an oil agenda onto the backs of Quebec and the provinces to the benefit of American shareholders and himself.
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Mr. Speaker, had we proposed an environmental measure, at least there would have been one in the budget. Will the Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture, the former environment minister and a Quebecker who served as a member of the Liberal caucus under Justin Trudeau, solemnly assure Quebeckers and the people of British Columbia, on his honour as an environmentalist who scaled towers in Ontario…
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Mr. Speaker, I will need to be more specific in my question. I want to ask the Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture, a former executive of Equiterre, this question. Is he comfortable with the Prime Minister's focus, which involves weakening international relations, flouting Canada's laws and regulations, and siphoning money from Quebec and Canadians, all for an oil agenda that is detrimental …
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Mr. Speaker, on October 30, 1995, Quebec's support for sovereignty grew from the 40% seen in 1980 to just under 50%. Quebec was just a hair's breadth away from becoming its own country. History tells the tale. The so-called Canadian raison d'état served as a cover for cheating, lies and secrets, for voters who appeared out of thin air, for a love-in that smacked of hypocrisy, and much more. Now, Q…
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Mr. Speaker, the government is waiting for the U.S. to be in a better mood. It has not done anything yet. It is setting us up for inflation, a recession and business closures. It is doing nothing to bring people together so that Canada and Quebec can speak with one voice. It can say whatever it wants, but it is not doing anything to help businesses, nor is it doing anything to help people who lose…
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Mr. Speaker, despite the Prime Minister's promises and occasionally boastful claims during the election campaign, things have not improved, they have grown worse: 25% tariffs on trucks and cars, 45% tariffs and countervailing duties on lumber and forestry products, and 50% tariffs on steel and aluminum. What has the government got to say to workers, to vulnerable consumers and to investors being t…
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Mr. Speaker, Canada, and thus Quebec, is in the midst of one of the worst trade crises we have ever experienced, and rather than improving, the situation is only getting worse. The Prime Minister gave everything away and got nothing in return. Now he is in a full-fledged quarrel with the President of the United States. What I want to know, and what people need to know, is what the government is go…
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to recognize the administrators at the Université du Québec network and its president, our friend Alexandre Cloutier. They inherited one of the most precious jewels bequeathed by the great builders of the Quiet Revolution, foremost among them the late great Guy Rocher: an institution of higher learning and research that literally elevated Quebeckers, in French, to the sta…
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Mr. Speaker, Paccar, a truck manufacturer in Sainte-Thérèse-De Blainville, just laid off 300 more workers after the White House imposed a 25% tariff. This comes six months after the election that brought in this Prime Minister, who was supposed to settle the tariffs and trade negotiations with a snap of his fingers. Can the Prime Minister assure the workers and the company that jobs and the busine…
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Mr. Speaker, the word “fully” should be added in there as well. I want to talk about the forestry industry. We are no longer talking about protecting it; we are literally talking about rescuing it. The crisis hitting our forests and the forestry industries is worse than in 2008. Closures and layoffs are on the rise. Hundreds of jobs have just been lost in Saint-Michel-des-Saints. Can the Prime Min…
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Mr. Speaker, if that is the best agreement, I would not want to see the worst. It raises a lot of concerns. People need a bit of certainty. Can the Prime Minister assure us, beyond any doubt, particularly after he scrapped the 3% tax on web giants, that the cultural exemption will be protected in the tariff negotiations? Can he assure us that supply management will be fully protected, including pr…
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Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Justice is dancing around the issue, but he is not addressing the root of the problem, which is the religious exemption that remains in effect in their law. Spreading hatred is a crime in Canada, except when done under the guise of religion. Assaulting a woman captured in a war zone, for example by Hamas on October 7, 2023, is therefore something a man can do if he wan…
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Mr. Speaker, there is an incredibly easy way to solve the problem and free the government from the shame it has brought upon itself. We will work to eliminate the religious exemption through the Liberals' bill. I challenge them, as much as they may support multiculturalism, to have the courage to vote in favour of our amendment to eliminate the religious exemption and thus ban hate, the spread of …
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Mr. Speaker, the Université du Québec à Montréal wisely banned a talk by Imam Uthman Ibn Farooq, but he will be wreaking havoc in Brossard anyway. Yes, this preacher will be able to spread his message of hatred and incitement to violence in Canada absolutely legally. Why? It is because he has the right to do so. Will the Liberal government remove the religious exemption from the Criminal Code?
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Mr. Speaker, we are making progress. I get a sense that, in a month or a month and a half, my colleague, the leader of the official opposition, will be ready to talk about Quebec's independence. We are making progress. Meanwhile, medium- and heavy-duty trucks will be subject to a 25% tariff starting November 1. Lumber is subject to various types of tariffs at a rate of 45%. Aluminum and steel are …
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Mr. Speaker, I will take the Prime Minister at his word regarding what he said during the election campaign. He said that soon after the election, there would be no more tariffs, and that tariffs should not be used to retaliate against friends, allies and partners. He said that the tariffs would be eliminated quickly and that in the week following the election, he would go there and sign the free …
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Mr. Speaker, we are well past the deadline the Prime Minister set for himself when he was campaigning. I guess the situation is understandable. Now he is telling us that negotiations are under way to lower tariffs. It has been six months. They keep going up. The United States is adding new tariffs. This can hardly be called a great success right now. Can he at least, in the meantime, roll out the …
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Mr. Speaker, June 24 is Quebec's national holiday. This year, it was also a day of collective mourning for an entire nation. Serge Fiori, the great Serge Fiori, Fiori the wise, Fiori the madman, Fiori the gentle, affectionate soul, our friend Serge Fiori is now among the angels, singing the most beautiful melodies they have ever heard. Fiori of Harmonium, Fiori with Séguin, Fiori solo, Fiori the Q…
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Mr. Speaker, wow. The Prime Minister was not scolded. That was the bar—to avoid getting attacked by the U.S. President with the whole world watching. That was the bar, and he certainly cleared it. Better yet, he got told that he was good and strong. The Prime Minister was supposed to get more and speak less. We are getting the opposite of what we got with his predecessor. Does the Prime Minister t…
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Mr. Speaker, that is not what we were told during the election campaign. It was supposed to be so much better. The truth is that the Prime Minister has come back empty-handed. He got zip, nada, zilch, nothing at all. To make matters worse, there are new tariffs on trucks and higher tariffs on softwood lumber. The great negotiator keeps striking out. When is he going to hit a home run?
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Mr. Speaker, the “best deal in the world” does not seem to be working for the aluminum or forestry sectors. Spouting nice words seems to be enough for the Prime Minister. A gentleman named Jean de La Fontaine wrote The Fox and the Crow, which says, “Flatterers thrive on fools' credulity.” Does the Prime Minister think that Quebeckers will be satisfied with the sly fox's words for much longer?
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Mr. Speaker, if Quebeckers and Canadians had wanted Conservatives, they would have voted for more Conservatives. The Liberals are adopting a Conservative fiscal approach. The Liberals are adopting a Conservative approach to climate change and the oil sector. The Liberals are adopting policies that look very much like Conservative-style austerity, with direct borrowing. Will the Prime Minister scra…
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Mr. Speaker, I suspect that the deficit the government is running up is going to be a lot bigger than that. If this is an essential service, and if the goal is consistency, why does the government want to drastically reduce this service? Why was it done in such a way that the workers had to turn on their televisions to find out what was going on with this? Why did the government not consult people…
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Mr. Speaker, the government has just interfered in the already complex negotiations going on at Canada Post to the point where its actions seem like nothing less than pure provocation in a dispute already fraught with complications. The uncertainty the government has sown is affecting not only workers, but many families as well. It is fomenting uncertainty in villages in the regions of Quebec and,…
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has, of course, read the factum filed on behalf of his government with the Supreme Court to attack secularism as it is understood in Quebec and the notwithstanding clause. He has, of course, approved it. This factum was, of course, ultimately signed by his Attorney General. This is the man who sought the solemn support of Quebeckers and who believed in their judgmen…
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Mr. Speaker, I want all Quebeckers to see all the Liberals rise to insult them all as a whole. I want the Prime Minister to explain to me why, in his brief, he felt the need to mention the possible return of forced labour or slavery. I want him to explain to me why his members talk openly of racism. I want him to explain to me why he believes that Quebeckers, members of North America's most progre…
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Mr. Speaker, the Constitution we have was imposed on us. It contains a notwithstanding clause that we have the right to use, much to the government's consternation considering the crass insults that it has been hurling not only at Quebec, but at other Canadian provinces as well. Will the Prime Minister do the decent thing: withdraw this brief and apologize to Quebeckers?
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Mr. Speaker, we must read up on the specific application of the notwithstanding clause, but I feel I should tell my esteemed friend and colleague that there are many free and democratic societies around the world that, even without being monitored and crushed by Canada's moral supremacy, do not have the death penalty, do not interfere with freedom of the press and do not use forced labour.
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Madam Speaker, I would like to begin by asking “what is up with them?”, or, to put it more informally, “have they lost the plot?” The factums submitted by the government's lawyers include statements that would shock even the most radical people across the border. I will elaborate on that later. In more polite terms, the government has made a fool of itself, but in doing so, it has highlighted the …
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