Parliamentary Speeches
722 speeches by Yves-François Blanchet — Page 7 of 15
Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the pandemic is a convenient excuse for a lot of things, but it does not relieve the government of its obligations of sound management and accountability. We now know that the Prime Minister is responsible, and we know that he did not launch a specific investigation into the ArriveCAN app and the $60 million. Has the Prime Minister taken any steps to recover the money that was spent i…
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Mr. Speaker, to be clear, I presume that, henceforth, the person responsible for all the corrective work to be done is the Prime Minister of Canada. What sort of investigation has he launched, since this company had been receiving government contracts for a long time, since long before the Liberals came to power, but its contracts did not start to be suspended until November? What sort of investig…
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Mr. Speaker, contrary to common sense, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission has authorized a pit covering over a million square metres to store nuclear waste pretty much alongside the Ottawa River. Many people are concerned about this, including chiefs of the Anishinabek Nation, who are here with us today. I would like the Prime Minister to tell me, does he consider nuclear waste to be dangerous…
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Mr. Speaker, there is one important piece of information that every citizen in Quebec and Canada needs to know. The government has a nasty habit of finding scapegoats to blame for all the mistakes it has racked up over the past eight years. This time, my first question will be quite simple. Who is to blame for ArriveCAN? Whose fault is it?
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Mr. Speaker, in a cagey and roundabout way, the Prime Minister is admitting that there was misappropriation and misuse of public funds at the Canada Border Services Agency. Has he at least considered relieving the current administration of their duties and temporarily placing the agency under third-party management?
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague from Montcalm proposed something in the context of medical assistance in dying that would allow us to postpone the final decision on the issue of mental health in general, while accommodating patients, or future patients, with respect to advance requests and respecting the will of Quebec. In that context, the motion could be fast-tracked to complete the process by March 1…
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Mr. Speaker, that vote will be held right here in Parliament. Maybe he should talk to us a little. This is an opportunity to help him avoid problems with the conservative religious right and maybe even some small segments of his own caucus. This is an opportunity to show that members of Parliament can agree on important issues and respect choices that are, as he said, difficult and personal, witho…
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Madam Speaker, I really like that question. This government does two things. When it wants to take action in an area under the jurisdiction of Quebec and the provinces, it keeps the money because of the fiscal imbalance. It says that, if we want the money—for example, in health—we will have to relinquish some of our powers. It says it is going to write us a cheque and tell us what to do. It is goi…
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Madam Speaker, I am having a hard time being objective because, last week, in my absence, the Minister of Immigration blatantly lied in the House when he said that I had compared immigrants to heat pumps—
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Madam Speaker, in recent days and weeks, we have seen a significant number of highly credible economic and banking institutions point out that current immigration policies go beyond our capacity for economic integration, and compromise issues of an economic nature. This did not come from the bad, leftist Bloc separatists. So I have no problem asserting that. We have always recognized the economic …
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moved: That the House: (a) recall its unanimous vote of November 1, 2023, calling on the government “to review its immigration targets starting in 2024, after consultation with Quebec, the provinces and territories, based on their integration capacity, particularly in terms of housing, health care, education, French language training and transportation infrastructure, all with a view to successful…
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Madam Speaker, I have just heard my esteemed colleague tell us about his great passion for the French language. That is not what we heard, though, because I believe it was in English. I, too, can express my passion for English; it is easy. That said, we are in fairly constant contact with people at the National Assembly of Quebec, with whom we have a fairly long-standing relationship in some cases…
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Madam Speaker, my point still stands. Supposing that the member said something that was devoid of common sense, and that he did not mean it, that is still not a sign of competence. We will take it that way, but there is an accumulation. Insult is the argument of those who have none, and that defines the minister very well.
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Madam Speaker, that is an intriguing question. It raises the issue of numbers wars. We can opt for the ideological extreme of the Century Initiative proposed by the McKinsey firm, which has been paid to take de facto control of Canada's immigration department. The people in that department are so eager and are moving so fast right now that the figure of 100 million Canadians by the end of the cent…
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Mr. Speaker, we agree, Quebec should be a country and should have all the power. We will get there. In the meantime, the Prime Minister and his minister are saying that they are working hand in hand with Quebec. The Minister of Immigration says that he is working hand in hand with Quebec. However, Quebec's immigration minister wants to hold a referendum to repatriate all immigration powers. Does t…
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Mr. Speaker, indeed, there is a solution to consider. With the support of the Quebec National Assembly, Quebec has proposed that the Liberal government's legislation include a conditional provision allowing Quebec or any other interested province to authorize advance requests for medical assistance in dying. If that happens, the three-year extension would then be acceptable because Quebec could pr…
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Mr. Speaker, former minister Lametti and other members of the Liberal Party openly considered the idea of opening up the Canadian Constitution. As it happens, Quebec is considering—warning, I am about to use a dirty word—a referendum. Yes, it is considering having a referendum on repatriating all powers in the area of immigration. Why does the Prime Minister not talk to the Quebec government and g…
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Mr. Speaker, the government wants a three-year extension on its deadline to comply with a ruling on medical assistance in dying for mental illness. Imagine what will happen if the Conservatives form government. That is not what we want, but the alternative is not much better. Just imagine what will happen if the Conservatives come to power: They would delay MAID forever and a day. They would never…
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Mr. Speaker, yesterday, the Bloc Québécois reintroduced a bill to eliminate the religious exemption that allows hate and violence to be incited in the guise of religion. We saw people hide behind the religious exemption recently to justify their support for a terrorist organization. This time, will the Prime Minister vote in favour of eliminating the religious exemption with respect to hate speech…
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Mr. Speaker, in order for police to take action, the law must allow them to do so. Last time, the Prime Minister chose denial and swept the issue under the rug. Discussion ended then and there. He spoke of freedom of expression, freedom in general, as he did just now. This religious exemption is found in a bill that criminalizes hate speech yet allows people to take the cowardly way out and hide b…
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Mr. Speaker, Dany Laferrière is a master of both pen and nuance, so much so that he was honoured with the Grand Prix des Ambassadeurs francophones de France in Paris on February 1. Mr. Laferrière received this prestigious literary award for his book Petit traité sur le racisme. It is about racism, a thorny and slippery subject, but one that Laferrière handles in his own inimitable way. He deploys …
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Mr. Speaker, medical assistance in dying is profoundly influenced by a progressive idea in Quebec. Everyone agrees that a person who is suffering from a serious mental illness cannot make a decision on medical assistance in dying. There is a broad consensus about that idea, and a postponement is warranted. However, there are people who know ahead of time that their condition will deteriorate and w…
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Mr. Speaker, I am simply asking the Prime Minister to recognize that these are two different situations. There are people who are already living with a mental health condition that does not enable them to make the decision, and there are people who are currently in full control of their faculties and who would like to make the decision in advance. I think the Prime Minister may want to consider it…
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Mr. Speaker, let us say that my neighbour comes by and I ask him to do me a favour and pay the people who are coming to install my heat pump. I promise that I will pay him back the next day. The next day, when my neighbour comes to see me and asks me to give him back his $1,000, I tell him that I will not or that I will give him only a fraction of the amount. That is what is happening with immigra…
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Mr. Speaker, take a good look at his hand. The only hand he is holding belongs to the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship. Does the Prime Minister really want to make that commitment in an election year? Does he want Canadians and Quebeckers to think that when he gives his word, it cannot be believed? Does he want to make them question whether his word is worth anything, whether he i…
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Mr. Speaker, this is going to take a while. The House unanimously adopted a motion calling on the government to consult Quebec and the provinces on immigration targets. However, the government seems to be using the policies suggested by McKinsey and the Century Initiative, and even more, because at this rate, the population will hit 100 million by the end of the century. Is the government disregar…
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Mr. Speaker, if things are stabilized at the current number, then things will be good in the coming decades. It seems to me like we are hearing the same thing as we did at the end of the last session. We are beginning a new session. Let us do so with a new state of mind. The Premier of Quebec sent a letter asking the Canadian government to ensure the fair distribution of asylum seekers across Cana…
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Mr. Speaker, my call to the Prime Minister is this: Let us end 2023 with dignity. If everyone here in the House were to unanimously vote for peace, including peace in our own streets, and if everyone were to eliminate hate speech under the guise of religion, then everyone would win. Our streets would be safer, and we would all have a clearer conscience. Will the Prime Minister accept my suggestion…
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Mr. Speaker, yesterday at the UN, Canada voted in favour of a ceasefire in Gaza. I wholeheartedly commend the Canadian government's wisdom in choosing to join a major international movement. That said, an important nuance needs to be made. This is not a rejection of Israel's right to defend itself. This is not an endorsement of Hamas, but an indignant response to the loss of human life. To foster …
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Mr. Speaker, that is pretty much what we were told about dental health back in grade three, but that does not explain the program. However, I get that it is hard to explain. The government announced a slapdash program that puts the private sector front and centre, which is surprising coming from the NDP, and that interferes in an area under Quebec's jurisdiction, although that part is no shocker c…
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Mr. Speaker, I tried to understand the government's new dental care program, but it is not simple. There are three types of dental insurance: private insurance for those who have it, the federal program and Quebec's program. However, there is only one jurisdiction, and that belongs to Quebec. Since it should be easy to explain if it is simple, and since the Liberal government keeps compulsively to…
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Mr. Speaker, I hope we are not supposed to think that Liberal cuts are better than Conservative cuts. More people in Canada tune in to Radio-Canada than the CBC. Radio-Canada generates more advertising revenue in Canada than the CBC. In fact, French-language Radio-Canada subsidizes CBC's English-language services. Nevertheless, Ms. Tait is calling on French-language Radio-Canada to absorb half the…
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Mr. Speaker, while there are people who see themselves as prime minister but then have the crazy idea of grinding Parliament to a halt, there is work to be done. For example, the government appointed Catherine Tait as interim CEO of CBC/Radio-Canada. Her mandate is to fight against disinformation; fight against disinformation by cutting jobs in French in the regions. Does the Prime Minister agree …
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Mr. Speaker, that is obviously grossly inadequate. The government just got $100 million from Google through an agreement that we would really like to get our hands on. That is great news. Private media already had to cut more than $100 million from their operations, however. CBC/Radio-Canada not only wants to dip into the $100 million from Google, but it also wants to cut French-language and regio…
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Mr. Speaker, while those two members are bickering about amateur cinema, the media industry is in crisis. Media outlets no longer have the means to fulfill their mandate. News organizations are collapsing. The regions are in decline. Arts and culture are being eroded. The French language is in decline. Does the Prime Minister realize that this is the worst possible time to cut 800 jobs at CBC/Radi…
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That was not so hard, Mr. Speaker. Perhaps we can almost agree. The creation of a national culture involves bringing people in and being welcoming. It does not involve excluding people or undermining the host society. A few dozen immigrant Quebeckers will be attending a Christmas celebration that I am hosting in my riding in a few days. Do I have to cancel that event because the Canadian Human Rig…
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Mr. Speaker, the Canadian Human Rights Commission falls under the federal government's jurisdiction. I am therefore asking the Prime Minister of Canada to show some backbone and respond.
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Mr. Speaker, a few years ago, the cover of Croc magazine stated, “Just because people laugh does not mean it is funny”. According to the Canadian Human Rights Commission, the simple act of celebrating Christmas with a tree, family, music and gifts is systemic racism. I wonder if good old Santa Claus is racist. I wonder if snow has become racist. Does the Prime Minister think that Christmas is raci…
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Mr. Speaker, when we agree with something, it is always important to say so. We need security for military members and good jobs. However, why rule out Bombardier? The people at Bombardier are capable of doing this. They are capable of providing this. We could at least check with them. The government is ruling out a modern Quebec and Canadian company in favour of the American dinosaur, Boeing. We …
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Mr. Speaker, according to media reports, the government is still refusing to launch a competition for the replacement of the surveillance aircraft fleet. What is worse, it has no interest in finding out what the results of a competition would be. Instead, it is taking on that role itself and, based on its own analysis, it has chosen an American company. We have nothing against the Americans, but w…
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Mr. Speaker, Quebeckers should take note of the fact that, according to the Minister of Immigration and his friends who applauded him, an elected Liberal member is worth more than an elected Bloc Québécois member. I invite him to take note of the fact that the federal government has an agreement with Quebec. Quebec spends $460 million and honours its part of the agreement, which is essentially to …
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Mr. Speaker, it seems I am not getting anywhere. I do not know who he thinks he is, but he owes Quebec $460 million. If I do not pay my credit card bill, I would not say that I am not an ATM. That is a bit of a smart-alecky answer. It is unworthy of a parliamentarian. It shows a lack of respect for parliamentarians. It shows a lack of respect for Quebec. Why is he not sitting down with Quebec, rea…
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Mr. Speaker, over the past few days the Minister of Immigration has made disrespectful comments about members of the Bloc Québécois who are asking questions, which is our job, and has even impugned Quebec, which is highly questionable. Can we put all this behind us? Can the minister show the high-mindedness he is known for, which his office demands, and acknowledge that based on his own government…
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Mr. Speaker, gunfire has been heard in Montreal over the past few days. Windows have been broken, and graffiti has been directed specifically against the Jewish community. There are fears that these actions were in some way encouraged by an exception in the Criminal Code that allows hate speech and the incitement of violence. In light of recent events, would the Prime Minister agree to remove the …
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Mr. Speaker, I am cautiously optimistic about this. I hope that we will get somewhere quickly, but we need to reach agreement. The bill is very short. All that we need to do is remove the exceptions, two sections of the Criminal Code, which are used to excuse, permit and perpetuate hate speech. Does the Prime Minister agree that we should move quickly on a bill that is necessary and easy to pass i…
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moved for leave to introduce Bill C‑367, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (promotion of hatred or antisemitism). Mr. Speaker, it seems to me that a modern Parliament worthy of its name needs to address certain things that we are long overdue in addressing, things that perhaps never should have happened in the first place. There is a cost to living together and to living in harmony in society. Tha…
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Mr. Speaker, we did not need an economic statement to tell us this kind of information, especially considering that in 2026, when the money becomes available, there is no reason to believe that the Liberals will still be sitting on that side of the House anyway. A lot will happen between now and then, and other budgets will get made. What was the point of this whole business except to waste our ti…
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Mr. Speaker, that is fascinating. I asked a question about yesterday's economic statement, and the answer I got had to do with an announcement that was made two years ago. That in itself is proof that there is nothing in the economic statement. Why did the government present an economic statement, then? When I was young, I was told, “if you have nothing to say, then say nothing”. We are talking ab…
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Mr. Speaker, the government has been rehashing the same $900 million for two years now to try to look good. That announcement certainly predates yesterday's economic statement. That response only underscores how vacuous the economic statement is. We have a saying where I come from that goes something like this: If you cannot help, at least do no harm. The government is creating a department of hou…
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Mr. Speaker, I hope that things will go as smoothly as possible at the border, particularly in the current global context. That being said, yesterday, the government delivered an economic statement. Smile, good people. Bring out the marching band and have a parade. We are saved. The problem is that there is no substance to the economic statement. There is absolutely nothing in there. The Liberals …
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