Parliamentary Speeches
598 speeches by Yves-François Blanchet — Page 8 of 12
Oral Questions
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, …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
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 …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
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?
Read full speech →Oral Questions
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. …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
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…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
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…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
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…
Read full speech →Statements By Members
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…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
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?
Read full speech →Oral Questions
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 …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
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.
Read full speech →Oral Questions
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?
Read full speech →Oral Questions
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…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
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…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
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…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
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…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
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 …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
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…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
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…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
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…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
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…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
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…
Read full speech →Government Orders
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…
Read full speech →Government Orders
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…
Read full speech →Government Orders
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 …
Read full speech →Government Orders
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…
Read full speech →Government Orders
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'…
Read full speech →Government Orders
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…
Read full speech →Government Orders
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…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, this is progress. He is no longer pretending it is $20 billion a year; it is $4.6 billion a year. The provinces were asking for $28 billion. This is a far cry from what is needed to care for people. This requires a proper assessment of what it takes to care for people. Now we see that the government is indexing underfunding. It is publicly announcing that a problem that is real today …
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, today, when Quebec parents heard what had happened in Laval, their hearts stopped. Children are what we, as mothers and fathers, but also as a society, hold most dear. We now know that a bus drove into a day care, taking the lives of two children and injuring six others. We know that the driver has been arrested, but now is not the time to speculate. Whatever the explanation may be, n…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, far be it from me to stick my nose in other people's business, but media reports suggest all is not well in the Liberal caucus. The Prime Minister is adding to an already long list of major problems. Quebec and the provinces calculated they need $300 billion in new money for health care. The government ponied up $46 billion over 10 years, which nobody thinks is nearly enough. Let us s…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
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?
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I cannot do it here, so let us imagine that I am speaking to someone from outside. I would ask him what he knows about this as someone who has never operated a health care system. That kind of rhetoric pops up in every election campaign, but let us tell it like it is. Imagine if the NDP took an actual stand, which I believe is possible. Does the Prime Minister really think this kind o…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, it is nice to see that the Prime Minister thinks it convenient that there was a pandemic to make phone calls. The reality is that, if there were any discussions, they did not go well because there is nothing to show for them so far. It better not be the same thing tomorrow. Emergency rooms are packed, people are waiting for surgeries, there are mental health problems and the number of…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, it took almost two years for the Prime Minister to meet with the Quebec and provincial premiers. The meeting will be held tomorrow and will address the issue of health transfers, which we have been talking about since my first day in this Parliament. This is an urgent matter. People are suffering, people are worried, people are afraid and people are waiting. Does the Prime Minister ag…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, since it is a question of building bridges, since some of his MPs are going to the front lines in Quebec to defend the most indefensible decisions, and since some MPs, specifically the member for Honoré-Mercier and the member for Saint-Maurice—Champlain, have expressed concerns, I would like to know what the Prime Minister said to his members from Quebec, other than that he supported …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, if we make a distinction between secularism and racism, and because what he proposed or announced falls somewhere between “not very good” and “really bad”, and without judging what anyone has to say since that is not really up to us, given that public opinion will take care of that, and without impugning anyone, I have a tough conversation to propose to the Prime Minister. Why not mee…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I agree that that is important, but it does not have to be this difficult. To reduce polarization, to really work on getting to know each other and mitigate the serious impact of these recent decisions, will the Prime Minister smooth things over and stand in the House and admit that Bill 21 is not Islamophobic?
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, in light of recent events and the tensions surrounding the arrival of the representative chosen by the Prime Minister, whom I met today at noon, in light of past and perhaps regrettable comments—it is not for me to judge—and in light of the polarizing effect this is having on Quebec and Canada, if the Prime Minister's objective is mutual understanding between communities, will he reco…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the representative appointed by the Prime Minister has a rather unflattering view of Quebec. A discussion about Quebec's history and secularism would do Ms. Elghawaby some good. The Prime Minister knew what he was doing. He and the Liberal Party will stop at nothing to strip the Quebec National Assembly of its authority, particularly when it comes to language and secularism, which mus…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, ironically, the notwithstanding clause is a legacy that was strongly endorsed by Pierre Elliott Trudeau at the time. The rooster is about to crow for the third time. According to what the minister said yesterday, he has nothing against the notwithstanding clause, he is against its pre-emptive use. The thing is, it can only be used pre-emptively. It is like a vaccine. We do not get vac…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, Ms. Elghawaby, who has described Bill 21 as Islamophobic, was unfortunately there, too. Her presence was commendable; her remarks, not so much. Rather than simply condemn her remarks out of hand, I asked to meet with Ms. Elghawaby so that we could try to understand, as parliamentarians, as elected officials, as those responsible for passing the budget that will fund her position. Can …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I am happy to be back here with you and all my colleagues. As my colleagues know, the Prime Minister made an appointment of his own, choosing Amira Elghawaby. He surely looked into her statements and positions prior to her appointment, which many perceive as very insulting to Quebec. Nevertheless, he went ahead with the appointment. Here is my question for the Prime Minister: Does he …
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, my understanding is that this is our last sitting in the House in 2022. I would like to say that a bit of fresh air will be good for our spirits. At the same time, not much was accomplished by all the shouting, which often owed more to showmanship than sincerity. As we extend holiday greetings to our constituents, it is both my duty and my desire to tell them to take care of themselve…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, how about a little holiday spirit? The Prime Minister got a generous invitation from the provincial premiers. It is like a family gathering. Maybe they will talk to him about an old aunt who is sick. They will talk about how expensive it is. He will find it tedious, but one does not turn down that kind of invitation. It is simply not done. In the spirit of the holidays, will the Prime…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister is confusing a party with a face-to-face meeting, and I am not sure which would be more difficult. I am certain he is more gracious than that. Premiers have a lot to say when they talk amongst themselves. They have cousins on stretchers in hospital hallways, an uncle waiting for kidney surgery, a friend named Guy who has pneumonia and is afraid of catching COVID-19,…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, if I may, on behalf of the Bloc Québécois, I would also like to offer our condolences to the family and friends of the former minister and member Jim Carr. The Prime Minister has skilfully calculated that Quebec should take in 112,000 immigrants based on Ottawa's goal of welcoming 500,000. In doing so, he ignored the fact that there are about eight million francophones in the country …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, in the past 24 hours, the Prime Minister said that Quebec must take in 112,000 immigrants. He says that he is not imposing that number. However, all the other times, he said that he would like to impose it. He sent a former minister and now sitting member to say that Bill 96 should be blocked, because the federal government obviously must not recognize Quebec's jurisdictions. He is fo…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, I salute the Quebec National Assembly, which is the only national parliament of Quebeckers and which unanimously chose to renounce or, better yet, condemn the oath of allegiance to the king. I salute the courage and determination of the three Parti Québécois MNAs and the government's swift action, at the very time when the Conseil de presse du Québec was condemning the moderator of th…
Read full speech →