Parliamentary Speeches
692 speeches by Yves-François Blanchet — Page 11 of 14
Oral Questions
Let us continue, Mr. Speaker. We are not talking about the integrity of institutions. We are talking about the integrity of the Liberal Party of Canada. I would like to remind the House that this Prime Minister refused to denounce China's genocide of the Uighurs and he refused to impose sanctions on China in the Uighur file. Can the Prime Minister tell us whether any of our institutions have looke…
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Mr. Speaker, let me make better use of my 35 seconds. In 2016, the Liberal coffers in Papineau, the Prime Minister's riding, got a $70,000 boost from the Chinese communities of Toronto and Vancouver. Around that same time, a new bank was created specifically to serve Chinese communities in Canada. Looking back, was that interference or influence?
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister denies Chinese interference in and influence over the Canadian government. He said in English that there was little or no significant influence over the 2019 election. I wonder at what point interference is considered to be little, medium, a lot, dangerous or too much. In 2016, within 48 hours of a Chinese bank being granted the right to operate in Canada, $70,000 f…
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Mr. Speaker, if I were to guess, I would say that there has never been a sovereignist who funded the Prime Minister's campaign. That being said, if the Prime Minister is saying that there was no interference in the Canadian election, then why did he fall over himself in front of the Chinese President? It is odd. If the Prime Minister thinks there was no interference, I have another question for hi…
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Mr. Speaker, when questioned a little more closely, the Prime Minister talks about everything, but not once did he mention the riding of Papineau. He is responsible for protecting our democracy, but he seems to care more about funding by Chinese interests and the British Crown than about democracy. I will try again. Does the Prime Minister recognize that in 2016, in 48 hours, his riding received $…
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Mr. Speaker, assuming I will not get a more specific answer than that, let me be perfectly clear. I am taking that as a “yes”. In 2016, the riding of Papineau received $70,000 from Chinese interests in 48 hours. Basically, I have two questions. Was the Prime Minister briefed on funding in his riding? Here is the second thing I am curious about. Was there an investigation into funding in his riding…
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Mr. Speaker, my fear is that it will be even more confusing in French. The head of the RCMP says that they did not investigate then, but that they are investigating now. In addition, the security agencies say that they informed the Prime Minister. I hope there are no members in the House who benefited from illegal financing. There could be as many as 11. No one wants that to be the case. In order …
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Mr. Speaker, whether the Prime Minister says that he does not know or that he is getting his information about the allegations from the media, it is not reassuring either way. This Prime Minister who wants to act tough, who jumps ahead of the Chinese president without even bothering to rally allies around him, could he tell us whether, when it comes to interference, trade, containment of China, he…
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Mr. Speaker, the government wanted to add China to the trans-Pacific partnership. It wanted to negotiate a free trade agreement with China. It seems to be ignoring the advice of its very own security services. What kind of credibility do this government and this Prime Minister have if that is their policy on China, which may very well want to keep doing these things? The government is hiding the f…
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Mr. Speaker, the shortfall in health care funding for Quebec is around $6 billion. Stretchers are piling up in emergency rooms. Surgery waiting lists are suffering a similar effect, with all the anguish that goes along with that. There is also a national mental health crisis, with its prescriptions and fears of suicide attempts. At this rate, we will not be sending help abroad; we will be receivin…
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Mr. Speaker, rather than talking about what the government is giving, let us talk about what is missing. In general, the government has begun to treat Quebeckers and health system managers as though they are no good. The Prime Minister and his ministers think they are better than everyone. The only thing the federal government has that the Quebec government does not is money. No one in the federal…
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Mr. Speaker, with a huge population and a ruthless apparatus of repression, the Chinese regime is deploying absolutely shocking policies: spying, intimidation, and interference in the electoral process, including illegal financing in 11 ridings here in Canada. More importantly, the Chinese Communist Party is literally wiping out an entire people, a thousand-year-old culture in a conquered province…
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Mr. Speaker, I am wearing the signature bow tie that reminds us of the importance of fighting prostate cancer and losing weight. The Prime Minister wants to increase immigration levels to 500,000 in 2025. For Quebec, that means something like 120,000 immigrants, in addition to the majority of the people who arrive via Roxham Road. Most of these people do not speak French. Quebec does not have the …
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Mr. Speaker, the government and the Prime Minister want to bring in something like 150,000 immigrants a year. Those individuals will not have the services they need in areas like French language learning, child care, education and health care, nor will there even be enough good jobs. If we do not welcome them, Quebec's weight within the federation will shrink drastically, and if we do welcome them…
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Mr. Speaker, we recently debated the government's policy priorities. Besides the fact that we can certainly address more than one subject at a time, can we agree that there may not be a more important subject and priority than health? In Quebec, the health care system is falling apart for lack of funding. Those who are ill languish on waiting lists, emergency rooms are overflowing, mental health i…
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Mr. Speaker, as my old man would have said: What would you know about that? Quebec is already administering a health care system that is bursting at the seams. That is true of all provinces. The pandemic has added to the already considerable pressure, and there is absolutely nothing to prove that a manager in Canada is better than a manager in Quebec or Alberta. There is nothing to prove that. Cre…
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Mr. Speaker, I am taken aback by the government's pretentious attitude. We in Ottawa are better than those people in Quebec. We know better than they do. However, the government is finally organizing a meeting with health ministers. Despite how important this is, the health ministers will be there but not the Prime Minister. Furthermore, there is an economic update this Thursday and the health min…
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Mr. Speaker, his collaborative approach is just a way of stalling so that he can impose conditions. I appeal to the Prime Minister's heart. Even the hallways of emergency rooms in Quebec are full. Imagine how distressing that is. The waiting lists for surgery are endless. We are talking about real people, people who are really sick. I know parents, and I hope the Prime Minister knows parents, who …
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Mr. Speaker, I wonder why the Prime Minister thinks he is smarter and more competent than Quebec. Is it because of the 1982 Constitution? Is it because of the fiscal imbalance? Is it because of spending power? I am getting the impression that he is telling Quebeckers that they are no good and that he and his buddies are better. I think he is confusing collaboration with taking sick people hostage.…
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Mr. Speaker, for me, being Canadian is like swearing an oath to the King. I do not have a choice. Negotiating, talking, centralizing, that all takes—
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—time. Meanwhile, doctors are waiting, nurses are waiting, patients are waiting, parents are waiting, young people in distress are waiting. What does the government have to say to people who are waiting for their own money, for health care, just because the Prime Minister thinks he is better?
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Mr. Speaker, some laws and initiatives with budget implications require a royal recommendation before they can be adopted in the House. It is a symbolic gesture, but it is in the rules. My question relates to the budget. Inflation makes seniors very vulnerable, especially those the government discriminates against, the ones aged 65 to 75, particularly if they depend on government assistance. As su…
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Mr. Speaker, I would encourage the Prime Minister to go back and listen to his answer later. This question also has a budgetary dimension, so perhaps we need to pretend to have the assent of our friend Charles, who does not need any assistance, although he is quite old. As the Prime Minister knows, hospital emergency rooms are overflowing. The most dreaded season in terms of health care challenges…
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moved: That, given that, (i) Canada is a democratic state, (ii) this House believes in the principle of equality for all, the House express its desire to sever ties between the Canadian State and the British monarchy, and call on the government to take the actions necessary to do so. Mr. Speaker, I must admit, reluctantly, that I am disappointed. I hope no one informs Charles III that his subjects…
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Madam Speaker, given my colleague's question, it is very tempting to respond that basically they are not capable and they are not competent. I do not think so. They are probably quite capable, but they do not want to. They say this is not important and they have other priorities. However, the reason is that they do not want to. They do not want to because Alberta will want to have its jurisdiction…
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Madam Speaker, I forgot to acknowledge the absolutely amazing role the Queen played during the pandemic. She helped us so much. How could we possibly have gotten through the pandemic without Her Majesty? If we really need to set priorities, the member could have chosen to stand with the Bloc tomorrow rather than ask me a question that does not really have any bearing on the issue. It would have be…
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Madam Speaker, I have no qualms about recognizing that, when the Conservative Party has priorities, they are clear: The Conservative Party talks about inflation and oil, and that is all. However, there are parliamentary committees discussing many different subjects simultaneously. During question period, we ask questions about many different subjects on the same day. It is a big challenge, and the…
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Madam Speaker, in 2015, the Prime Minister said it would be the last time Canadians voted in that kind of election, but once he got comfortable on that branch, he realized that chopping it off would bring about his own downfall. As a result, the system has not changed since then, and I fully agree that we should consider some form of proportional representation. Unlike a New Democrat, however, I m…
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Madam Speaker, we would gladly take part in a discussion of this nature at any time. I would immediately rule out giving any more powers to the current Prime Minister. A little trouble is fine, but to ask for more would be madness. Furthermore, some degree of independence is needed, and I think that is feasible. As members know, one nation, or better still, two nations, that have the technological…
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Mr. Speaker, for the Prime Minister, submission to the monarchy is not important. However, as an intelligent man, the Prime Minister can think about more than one subject in a day. As an intelligent politician and, of course, a man of the theatre, he can pretend that he does not. It is a shame, but he is going to have to vote tomorrow. Does he support Canada's status as a lackey state of the Briti…
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Mr. Speaker, we will give him the benefit of the doubt. We will assume he is sincere when he takes his oath to the King because who would want an MP, let alone a Prime Minister, who is insincere? What good would that do? As such, we assume the Prime Minister, all MPs, the Conservatives, everyone, are all sincere when they take an oath of allegiance—allegiance, mind you—to the British Crown. Torn b…
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Mr. Speaker, I want to set the record straight. My oath of allegiance to the British Crown was insincere. An oath made under duress—
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Mr. Speaker, an oath made under duress when one's heart is not in it is meaningless. My only allegiance is to the people of Quebec and the Quebec nation, not to the foreign king. People can tell that to the Prime Minister and the King.
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Mr. Speaker, Quebec is currently having a debate on the oath to the King of England. It is also a debate on the general principle of the monarchy. We are told it is not a priority. What is likely a priority is challenging Quebec's secularism law. What is surely a priority is challenging a stronger Charter of the French Language. This raises a fundamental question and I would like a clear response.…
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Mr. Speaker, what I heard the member say is that swearing an oath to the King of England is like swearing an oath to a symbol and a democratic institution, even though the king is in fact an actual person. Now I have heard it all. This is not a trivial thing. We are in a country where no one can tell me who the head of state is. That is quite something, yet they are saying that it is normal. A dem…
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Mr. Speaker, the minister gives the Governor General a pension. I do not know one Bloc member who would not give up their pension. Tomorrow, we will bring about independence. Now that the minister is here in the House, he could also act accordingly. I will remind him that he swore an oath to the British Crown. To whom is he loyal? To Charles III or to the public?
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Mr. Speaker, I am not sure Canadians see it that way. I think that, instead of swearing an oath to the King, we should get with the times and swear an oath to the truth. If people here told the truth a little more often, that would completely change the work we do in the House. In the space of a few days, the government granted 28 million dollars' worth of contracts to a friend. The government eng…
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Mr. Speaker, in January, the Prime Minister decided to invoke emergency measures during the trucker protests without any attempt at dialogue and, as we have learned, without anyone asking him to. In so doing, he exacerbated the crisis rather than resolving it. Would he admit, at his convenience, that his actions were either very heavy-handed or politically motivated? If he did it for political rea…
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Mr. Speaker, not so long ago, the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister would consult one another before announcing a position. At one point, there was talk of bringing workers in via Roxham Road, cheap labour, essentially. If the government is worried about the workforce, there are people out there who are on their way to becoming highly skilled workers and who want to come here. The peopl…
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Mr. Speaker, a friend of the Liberal Party was handed $28 million in contracts supposedly because the land that was being leased is next to Roxham Road. However, we have found out that this is simply not true. Instead of giving taxpayers' money to friends of the Liberal Party, why does the Prime Minister not invest that money in qualified teams at the immigration department? That way, he can ensur…
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Mr. Speaker, it is a well-known fact that Quebec has genius, but Quebec also has geniuses, real ones. I want to pay tribute to Gilles Brassard. Mr. Brassard was born in Montreal and is now a tenured professor in the Department of Computer Science and Operations Research at the University of Montreal. He is also the Canada research chair in quantum information science. Gilles Brassard has been desc…
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Mr. Speaker, I will continue to speak out against policies that promote what is known as “cheap labour”. Instead of investing half a billion dollars in hiring qualified public servants at the Department of Immigration, the government is spending it on buildings and contracts, including an undisclosed amount that went to big Liberal Party donors. Will the Prime Minister order the immediate tabling …
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Mr. Speaker, here is what the Prime Minister intends to do at Roxham Road: increase the number of immigrants to Quebec, without Quebec's consent; secure contracts for generous Liberal Party donors; and, now, address the labour shortage by bringing in highly vulnerable workers who do not speak French and who will not get work permits for over a year. Is it not obvious that there is absolutely nothi…
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Mr. Speaker, under the circumstances, I would like to mention the presence of the member for Richmond—Arthabaska. I will now talk about trios. In Quebec, there are now three big political players. On immigration and the French language, the Prime Minister is in the minority there too. Is Roxham Road not a humanitarian issue that sometimes gives the government ideological comfort when, in reality, …
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Mr. Speaker, Quebeckers voted for a majority government on Monday, a majority the Prime Minister twice fantasized about but failed to even come close to winning. The Quebec government wants more power in matters of immigration, while some want all immigration powers and others, like us, want to have absolutely all the power, period. Let us look at the first scenario, more powers in immigration. Th…
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister himself is saying that giving Quebec more immigration powers is out of the question. The only thing this government wants to see Quebec get more of is immigrants. I agree, but only as long as we can successfully integrate them in French. Has he thought about discussing this with a premier who holds about three-quarters of the seats in Quebec rather than pretending t…
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Mr. Speaker, what is happening at Roxham Road is, first and foremost, a humanitarian issue. The humanitarian thing to do would be to have migrants come in through regular border crossings, not put them in handcuffs and expose them to human smugglers and criminals. Would it not be better to invest half a billion dollars or more to hire qualified staff at the Department of Immigration rather than sp…
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Mr. Speaker, Roxham Road is a many-headed beast of a challenge because of the sheer numbers, the Liberals' failure on the humanitarian front, finding jobs for people, cultural integration, health care and education, but tens of millions of dollars' worth of contracts have been awarded privately without a bidding process, especially to generous Liberal donors. Therefore, I would echo the ethics com…
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Mr. Speaker, I am certain that all members of the House agree that Roxham is not a labour issue, but a humanitarian one. Let us then start over: Will the Deputy Prime Minister make sure that, as requested by the ethics committee, all the unredacted contracts awarded privately, in particular to generous Liberal donors—which brings back memories—are tabled, analyzed and, if necessary, denounced?
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Mr. Speaker, I borrowed some lemons from the Governor General and have $150 worth of lemons in my glass. More seriously, what is more humane: Welcoming tens of thousands of desperate asylum seekers knowing that most risk being deported after they have had time to make a life for themselves in Quebec, or investing an astronomical half a billion dollars in competent staff at the immigration departme…
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