Parliamentary Speeches
722 speeches by Yves-François Blanchet — Page 10 of 15
Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, that is a completely different but extremely interesting question. The Bloc Québécois believes in generous immigration, which is not to be confused with opportunistic immigration. We are not here to provide cheap labour to businesses, but rather quality jobs to people who choose to come live in Quebec or Canada. In order to have a significant economic impact, this must be done with a …
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Mr. Speaker, there is no doubt that the folks at McKinsey are great at preparing answers. In Quebec, the CAQ, the PQ and the Liberals are against it, while Québec Solidaire is uneasy about it at best. In this Parliament, the Bloc Québécois is the only party that is against the target of 500,000 immigrants a year. Who agrees with this target other than the 25 people who participated in the debate a…
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Mr. Speaker, it is rarely a good idea to go after the diligence, independence or integrity of a media outlet. It is rarely very democratic, especially when the head of said outlet is Pierre Karl Péladeau. The next person I want to mention needs to be handled very carefully. Gérard Bouchard said that there is indeed cause for concern about the 500,000 immigrants the government wants to welcome annu…
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Mr. Speaker, Coalition Avenir Québec is opposed to the idea of 500,000 immigrants a year. Our own cousins in the Parti Québécois are obviously against it. Québec Solidaire, cousins to their NDP bedfellows, are very uncomfortable with the idea. The Liberals in Quebec City, the blood of their blood, are no more in agreement with it than anyone else. No one in the National Assembly agrees with this. …
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Mr. Speaker, the Quebec government has taken a firm position against the federal government's plans to bring 500,000 immigrants into the country every year. There are challenges related to the cost for the health care system, the cost for the education system, the cost for child care services, and the housing crisis. Obviously, language and culture are fundamental concerns. I would like to hear di…
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Mr. Speaker, we have a Prime Minister who is about to speak about himself in the third person, who says he consulted 3,000 organizations or people, but not Quebec, because those they intend to harm do not get consulted. What does he have to say to this growing number of people who realize, say and write that the only solution is Quebec's sovereignty?
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Mr. Speaker, the idea of a larger and therefore cheaper workforce is a McKinsey specialty called “breaking workers”. This is the same McKinsey that made no mention of French or Quebec in their proposal. The so-called progressives in this House should be ashamed of this policy. Is the Prime Minister saying that he will bring in 500,000 immigrants a year as cheap labour, yet we are the ones who will…
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Mr. Speaker, I ask the Prime Minister a question and he replies by reading a Heritage Minute. Quebec would have to take in 110,000 more people per year, but it cannot afford to do that because of the cost of services. Of course, it cannot do it because of the need to integrate immigrants in French. McKinsey did not take into account the specific reality of Quebec or the French language. Dominic Ba…
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Mr. Speaker, let us talk about interference. What interference are we talking about specifically? Are we talking about China's interference in Canada or McKinsey's interference in Canada? McKinsey is behind the proposal to increase Canada's population to 100 million by the end of the century. The Prime Minister surely must have held consultations about such an extraordinarily important initiative.…
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Mr. Speaker, that is fine, but let me try to clarify something. Yesterday, the Prime Minister said that he has had no contact with the foundation for 10 years. Let us assume we are a naive bunch and say that is true. That is not what I was asking yesterday. It was a supplementary question. If the Prime Minister's brother were to be implicated by the Canada Revenue Agency, by another authority or e…
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Mr. Speaker, I find it irresponsible at best, and perhaps imprudent, for the Prime Minister to say he knew nothing and to systematically attack the quality, integrity and service of Canada's intelligence officers. Heaven knows that coming from a sovereignist, this is no trivial statement. I would like to hear, from whoever wants to answer, if we are really sure that Mr. Trudeau, the PM's brother, …
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Mr. Speaker, here we go again. If a competent authority, be it the committee, the CRA or any other entity—who knows—were to look into possible irregularities on the part of the Prime Minister's brother, would he consider the possibility that he is not qualified to make decisions with respect to an independent public inquiry into Chinese interference?
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Mr. Speaker, I have to admit that I do not understand what part of the Leader of the Opposition's questions was not true. I therefore support the Leader of the Opposition's questions. I have a question for the Prime Minister of a country that China holds in such contempt that it sees it as an easy target. If the person responsible for Pierre Elliott Trudeau's legacy at the Trudeau Foundation were …
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Mr. Speaker, it is unfortunate, but he has close ties to the Trudeau Foundation. The Trudeau Foundation is an incubator for Liberal circles, often unbeknownst to those who once supported it but now regret it, including some scholarship recipients. The government and the Prime Minister are tolerating interference in our institutions and the intimidation of some Canadian citizens of Chinese origin. …
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Mr. Speaker, I personally have nothing against Mr. Johnston. If I remember correctly, he was the debates commissioner when one of his moderators called Quebeckers racist, and he refused to apologize. We all remember that fondly. He still has ties to the Trudeau Foundation. The Trudeau Foundation took a cut from a donation made to the University of Montreal. The Prime Minister's brother signed a co…
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Mr. Speaker, we have a Prime Minister who boasts about his ignorance. What are things coming to? Let us say that we pretend to believe him because he is becoming more and more convincing in the role of an ignoramus. The fact that he wants to remain ignorant is another problem, as is the fact that he does not ask any questions. This just goes to show that he cannot participate in the decision on wh…
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Mr. Speaker, please forbid members from singing. Moving on, I have some big news: The Prime Minister has had no direct or indirect contact with the Trudeau Foundation for 10 years. Remind me not to go to his Christmas party, because I am guessing that it must be fairly tense. We now know that five deputy ministers were recruited to go to the Prime Minister's office to talk to the Trudeau Foundatio…
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Mr. Speaker, among the people I identified, I am not sure who should be most concerned. I am not taking issue with the Prime Minister's father because the Prime Minister's father did not receive five deputy ministers and the Trudeau Foundation in his office and then claimed he did not know what was going on. Now that the Prime Minister knows that this occurred, should he not, at the very least, te…
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Mr. Speaker, I propose a cultural moment. Remember Calimero? It was a little chick who dragged his shell everywhere he went. He was never told anything. He knew nothing. Everything happened unbeknownst to him. The Prime Minister reminds me a little of Calimero, who said that it is an “injustice”, it is always truly “too unjust”. Now that the Prime Minister knows, because he reads the papers, that …
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Mr. Speaker, it has now been established that the Chinese regime is behind the million-dollar donation that a businessman, also Chinese, wanted to give to the Université de Montréal. Unfortunately, it is also clear that, when speaking with Le Devoir about it, the university official had some doubts. It is also clear that the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation solicited funds from the Chinese Commun…
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister's Office has admitted that it sent questions to the Trudeau Foundation, which is named after his father, Pierre Elliott Trudeau. This is the same foundation for which his brother, Alexandre Trudeau, received or solicited a donation of $200,000, plus $50,000 for a statue of his father, Pierre Elliott Trudeau. By admitting that his office is in touch with the Pierre E…
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister is being grilled like burgers on the barbeque he was talking about earlier. Meanwhile, he is not doing his job, which was already not going well. I have a solution to help him put an end to the torture. Why not let Parliament choose someone to lead an independent public inquiry that he will not have anything more to do with so that he can finally try to get back to …
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister knew nothing. He does not talk to his own brother. Does he talk to his office? Back in 2016, his office asked the Trudeau Foundation for answers, but he does not talk to his office. The intelligence service has been telling him month after month about Chinese interference, but he does not listen. He does not listen to anyone or talk to anyone. Does he only work as P…
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister says we have the wrong Trudeau. He is going to be thoroughly confused now, because I am adding a third one to the mix. Alexandre Trudeau allegedly signed a deal, one that was improper at best, with two major Chinese donors who used a company as a front for the transaction. This might interest the Minister of National Revenue. Has the Prime Minister spoken with his b…
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Mr. Speaker, how do we define the right Trudeau? The Prime Minister claimed he knew nothing about how the Trudeau Foundation was being run. I find it hard to believe that he was unaware of the donation by the Green family. In fact, I am sure he knew about it. Even if he was unaware of it, he should have at least looked into it. If not, he is not doing his job. Why does he not tell us how much the …
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Mr. Speaker, the Ethics Commissioner also should have been told that the Trudeau Foundation had just received a donation. In another example, the Chinese government wanted to donate $1 million to the University of Montreal—not out of friendship; we are not naive—so it went through Zhang Bin. Rather than protecting Quebec's largest academic institution, the Trudeau Foundation took a $200,000 cut an…
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Mr. Speaker, friendship really matters. There is an old saying in Quebec that a friend is a friend. I am not going to ask questions that the Prime Minister is not going to answer. I will assume that he knew that the Green family contributed to the Trudeau Foundation before going on vacation with them. I will move on to the ethical point. Can he tell the House, Quebeckers and Canadians the cost of …
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Mr. Speaker, In the Quebec of days gone by, English stole the words “French” and “Canadian”. Quebeckers were born. Out of a dream, anger, the street and words. Michèle Lalonde voiced the indignation of our nation in the Americas, of hard-working Quebeckers and African slaves. Speak white! Speak white! Speak the language of whites! Speak the language of the conqueror! Speak English! Speak white! An…
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Mr. Speaker, the National Assembly, which speaks for Quebec, adopted a unanimous motion asking that no more money be invested in subsidies for the oil industry. However, that is just what Ottawa is doing. Incidentally, Quebec also asked that the federal government not interfere in provincial jurisdictions, including dental care. That is exactly what Ottawa is doing. Will the government admit that …
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Mr. Speaker, as it stands, carbon capture is not green, grey hydrogen is not green, nuclear energy is not green and Arctic offshore oil is not green. Will the government admit that the big news in yesterday's budget, approximately $17 billion, is intended exclusively for oil companies?
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Mr. Speaker, although no one knows just how many there are, many Chinese nationals who are under the Prime Minister's solemn responsibility and whom Canada let in, are being forced under threat to return to China. We can imagine what is waiting for them upon their return. Our main ally is coming to Ottawa tomorrow. Is that not just one more reason to establish that the Prime Minister cannot choose…
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Mr. Speaker, allow me to make a distinction between the Communist Chinese regime and the Chinese people, as well as the extraordinary Chinese culture, which dates back five millennia. Electoral interference, illegal financing, industrial espionage and the forced repatriation of Chinese Canadians: Enough is enough. Have we not come to the point where a self-serving appointment is not going to cut i…
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister says we should not be partisan. That is rich, coming from him. If that is how he feels, why do so many members in the House get the feeling that he is willing to do anything and everything to avoid an independent public inquiry? A public inquiry is urgently needed, and it should not be conducted by a family friend.
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Mr. Speaker, my point is that the work must be done for everyone in the House and for all of our constituents. I am not convinced that that is going to happen. All opposition parties in the House want an independent public inquiry. At a time when all eyes in the U.S. are about to be on Ottawa, which tolerates interference and looks like it has something to hide, who is being partisan here?
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Mr. Speaker, all the opposition parties are calling for an independent public inquiry and they want to see a commissioner appointed. We are talking about the majority of members of Parliament, which is no small thing. Many experts are recommending such a commission, including Mr. Rosenberg himself. There is broad consensus in civil society in favour of such a commission, and the intelligence agenc…
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Mr. Speaker, I know a little something about independence, and the special rapporteur who was appointed is about as independent as I am federalist. The President of the United States is going to be in the House on Friday. The fact that the government does not want to launch a public inquiry sends a rather odd message in terms of national security for the entire continent, does it not? I am not acc…
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Mr. Speaker, there are reports of two so-called police stations working for the Chinese regime in Quebec, yet the Prime Minister wants to be the one to choose who investigates. We know that the Prime Minister has had reports from the intelligence services for years, yet he has done nothing. He wants to act alone. He wants to act in secret. Was it through negligence or ignorance that the Prime Mini…
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Mr. Speaker, in the best case scenario, the Prime Minister is always three, four or five steps behind. However, he is going to have to do something. He is going to have to appoint someone. He can call that person a rapporteur if he wants. It does not really matter. What matters is that the person in question is independent, at complete arm's length from him. Does the Prime Minister not realize tha…
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Mr. Speaker, at last count, the Prime Minister had ignored two Chinese police stations in Quebec, more than 10 ridings where China is alleged to have interfered to influence the election and several intelligence reports. The Prime Minister did everything wrong on this file. Still, he wants to act alone and in secret, as though there is something to hide. Who in this government will stand up and sp…
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Mr. Speaker, on a somewhat lighter note, the arts, culture, language and communications are part of our soul in Quebec and part of what defines us as a nation. The Bloc Québécois, and the member for Drummond in particular, was largely responsible for shaping much of the content of Bill C‑11. The arts community was very appreciative of that. Unfortunately, the Conservatives turned their backs on a …
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Mr. Speaker, the territories, the provinces and Quebec asked for $28 billion a year for health care, but they got $4.6 billion. I fully understand that they did not have a choice. It was that or nothing. To rebuild a decent health care system, reduce emergency room and surgical wait times, and help people grappling with mental health issues, the provinces asked for $28 billion. My question is simp…
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Mr. Speaker, the member is quite welcome for the question, and just to show that there are no hard feelings, here is another. We were talking about $28 billion in new money, but I want to know this. If $4.6 billion is not enough, why give only that much? If $28 billion is too much, someone needs to explain why it is too much. If it is not enough, someone needs to explain why it will remain not eno…
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moved: That the House remind the government that it is solely up to Quebec and the provinces to decide on the use of the notwithstanding clause. Mr. Speaker, rest assured that I am excluding you from this argument, but I get the impression that Quebec does not have many friends in the House. This has been made particularly evident by what seems to be—and this may seem harsh—the Liberal government'…
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Mr. Speaker, the difference is that I do not read planted questions in advance, but that is another debate. Since 1982, no other Canadian government has been so intent on interfering in and encroaching on Quebec's responsibilities, especially with regard to language, values and identity. These regular and disrespectful attacks involve litigation, appointments that at a minimum are dubious, the wea…
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Mr. Speaker, I will share that acknowledgement with my colleague from Jonquière. We have raised the issue several times since that transaction, initially in private with the minister responsible. Notwithstanding the harmful effects of the transaction, if this had been an oil company, it would only have taken two shakes of a lamb's tail for Canada to stand up, invoke national security and block the…
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Mr. Speaker, can I have another 20 minutes? Even I was still young in 1982, which is when the Constitution was imposed, shoved down the throats of Quebeckers and the René Lévesque government, after the common front shown by the provinces broke down on several issues, as it would do later on. No, there is no legitimacy whatsoever. The notwithstanding clause is the only part of the Constitution that…
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Mr. Speaker, there was a self-congratulatory tone to my esteemed colleague's comments. I can see why he feels a need to defend the minority, because he is the only Quebecker in his party, as opposed to 32 members of the Bloc Québécois. All things being equal, and since everyone's voice deserves to be heard, we certainly do not speak less for Quebec than he does, so we will not remain quiet. I do n…
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Mr. Speaker, I would be surprised if he was not tempted to do so. Sometimes in politics, I think people have a nasty habit of exploiting crises or difficult situations to serve their own ends. This time, he had a lucky escape. There are so many crises, issues, failures, boondoggles and comedies of errors going on that he cannot turn them to his advantage in the short term. I would be surprised to …
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Mr. Speaker, the driver cannot really complain about the route that is taken. Members of the federal government hold more keys to the Constitution and the back rooms of the Supreme Court than Quebec sovereignists or the provinces and territories. It would be surprising if the federal Parliament were to make use of a constitutional provision that serves to protect it from itself. History being what…
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Mr. Speaker, we are making progress; the Prime Minister now understands that we need doctors, nurses, care, surgical procedures and mental health supports. That requires skills, which they do not have. It takes money, which they are holding back. Could the Prime Minister forget yesterday's negotiation-free monologue and transfer funds to the provinces and Quebec?
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