Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, indeed, everyone agrees that investments should be made in housing. The government is facing a terrible crisis that it needs to manage. Unfortunately, in the past, the federal government has always used these crises as an excuse to centralize power. We support building more housing, but we are concerned about Build Canada Homes. We are concerned that a centralizing structure will be c…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the war in Iran began while the Prime Minister was away on a trip. After backing Washington, he spent several days refusing to hold a press briefing with the media travelling with him. When he returned, he boycotted a debate on the conflict, even though the debate had been requested by the Liberals. He refuses to explain why he stayed silent regarding the Iranian strike against Canadi…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Mr. Speaker, the bill addresses a very serious issue. We agree with many aspects of the bill. First, there is the seriousness of murder, of course. It is the most serious crime one can commit, and there are also different degrees. I am also grateful to my colleague for highlighting the importance of rehabilitation, even though that can be very difficult to imagine. However, with this type of bill,…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, at the start of the conflict in Iran, Tehran launched dozens of air strikes. All of them were made public, except for the one on the Canadian military camp in Kuwait. Worse still, the Ali Al Salem base, which houses the Canadian military camp, was also hosting Italian forces. On the very same day, Italy shared the news publicly, but not Canada. Canada hid the news of this strike for t…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I want to reassure my colleague's husband. If 25 years have felt like 20 to her, that is a good sign for their relationship. It means that time is flying by. On a more serious note, I have a question for my Conservative colleague. I would like him to comment on the fact that the government is creating a new centralizing structure that will incur administrative costs, among other thing…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the Liberals cited operational security as a reason for their silence, but we are simply asking them for the same information that every other country discloses. It is only right to keep the public informed when Canada is attacked. This just raises further questions. The public does not know why the Prime Minister blindly supported Donald Trump. They do not know why he has been changi…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I congratulate my colleague on his excellent speech. It is rather shocking to see that, throughout his speech, my colleague pointed out the lack of support for the forestry industry, which will be vital for the housing construction, but nobody on the other side has responded. What does my colleague have to say about that? When he says that the $1 billion is a good thing and a good sta…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, I enjoyed my colleague's speech. I strongly disagree with him on one point, however. My colleague said that all members should be able to speak on every issue. We will soon be presenting a proposal on the circumstances in which a response from the House to the Senate is necessary. No doubt everyone remembers the infamous Bill C-234 from the last Parliament, which never made it back …
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, I will try to talk fast, because I have a lot to say this morning. No one will be surprised to hear that the first measure we are proposing is to abolish the morning prayer and replace it with a moment of reflection. Parliament must serve all its citizens, and not all of them share the same religion. Many have no religion at all. This is a matter of showing respect for each individu…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Thank you, Madam Speaker. I was saying that it is important to schedule witnesses at different times for each political party so that we can ask them questions properly. These are people we invite to appear, and we prepare our questions accordingly. We often do not have enough time to ask them questions properly. This is also a very important point. There is also the issue of members attending com…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for his speech, in which he raised some good points. For one, he said that if our interventions are shallow, we risk becoming shallow. At times, I fear it is too little, too late for that. I also liked the point raised by my Conservative colleague about the Prime Minister being in the House. It is not a matter of saying he works only one day a week…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, I am glad for the parliamentary secretary's open-mindedness, and I thank him for it. That is kind of what we are proposing in terms of a question and answer formula on Fridays or weekday evenings. We would like to have 10-minute question and answer periods where the member would have time to ask their question and the minister would have the same time to respond. That would make for…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I congratulate my colleague on his excellent speech and his excellent analysis of the situation, which clearly states that we basically want the project to succeed. However, we want it to be done properly. We want to protect the rights of our constituents. We agree with the claims that the legislation was improved in the 1980s. What concerns us are the bills currently being studied to…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I request a recorded division.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. The interpreters are saying that there is too much background noise. I myself was having a hard time hearing. Maybe people could listen first and then respond.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for her excellent and very interesting question. It was all good except the end, because that is not always true. I brought out some of the finer points about that in my speech earlier. What I was trying to say is that we need to sincerely and seriously examine the root of the problem, as my colleague so rightly said. That is one of the suggestions that I made to …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, it must be a good day, because there are good people on the Hill. I appreciate my colleague's comments, and I am glad he likes our legislation. He may not like what I am about to say quite as much, but I suspect that, if the law had not been passed in June, the government would have already given away something, since it has given everything away to the U.S. government so far. However…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, first of all, I did not realize that I had said the Prime Minister's name earlier, so I apologize for that. I always appreciate my colleague. He asked a very original question, because it is not often that I am accused of partisanship. I find it amusing, because he answered his own question. He spoke about a national strategy, yet Quebec is already handling these issues quite effectiv…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I know the parliamentary secretary is an intelligent man with a solid grasp of economic concepts. I would like him to tell me his opinion of the grocery industry. We know that the five major grocery store chains control 80% of the market. They appeared twice in committee last year, but we did not get any information out of them. They are very tight-lipped. They still say that margin p…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to speak to this issue this morning. I would like to say that I will be sharing my time with the hon. member for Repentigny. I said I was pleased. To clarify, I am pleased to be able to express my opinions, but I am not exactly thrilled with the content of the motion. I will explain why. Once again, our colleagues in the Conservative Party are very good at identifyin…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I listened carefully to much of my colleague's speech, but I am having a hard time understanding some of his arguments. From what I see, this bill is intended to close loopholes and ensure that serious crimes are prosecuted, including cases that did not go to trial because of the Jordan decision. The Bloc Québécois had said that the notwithstanding clause should be used because that…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I want to wish you, my constituents in Berthier—Maskinongé and all of my colleagues here a happy new year. We are starting on a rather positive note, and the Bloc Québécois supports this bill. Of course, we will have some serious and conscientious work to do at committee. Among other things, we are pleased to see provisions related to delays in the justice system. Because of these d…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, may I have my colleagues' attention?
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I will begin the second part of my speech. In good faith, Bloc Québécois members tried to clarify this issue. We asked you whether questions can be filtered and whether we can at least ensure that the answers are relevant and—
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, the Bloc Québécois agrees to apply the vote and will be voting in favour of the motion.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, the Bloc Québécois agrees to apply the vote and will be voting against the motion.
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, with all due respect, I think this assessment could be reconsidered, because the Standing Orders state that the answers must be related to the question, which is not always the case. There seems to be a disconnect here. If we place limits on one side, we should place limits on the other side. Members should be allowed to ask legitimate questions.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I would like to echo the good wishes of my two colleagues. The Bloc Québécois would also like to wish a merry Christmas and a happy new year to all Quebeckers, to the members of all parties and their staff, to all House of Commons staff, including the clerks, the law clerks, the analysts, the pages, the Parliamentary Protective Services, the friendly cafeteria staff, the maintenance t…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, after an eventful year, the holiday season is already upon us. Quebeckers are doing their Christmas shopping. Christmas tree sellers are offering us the forest's finest specimens, which we will drape with garlands. Families are planning where they will spend Christmas Eve, and children are counting down the sleeps. This season is not easy for everyone. That is why volunteers are condu…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, the Bloc Québécois agrees to apply the vote and will be voting yes.
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. With all due respect, I would like to address the questions from a Conservative Party member that were rejected earlier because they were deemed irrelevant. I would like to address two points. First, it seems to us that questions can be legitimate if they raise doubts about people who have previously served in the House, or even about people who have alread…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I will resume my speech. As I was saying, it seems to us that questions can be legitimate if they raise doubts about people who have previously served in the House or about people who might even be federal employees. We are not accusing anyone, but we think it is entirely legitimate for the people's elected representatives to raise questions here in the House, especially given that Qu…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the Liberal abuse of power continues. After Bill C-5, which gives the federal government the power to circumvent all laws for its major projects like pipelines, now we have Bill C-15. The Liberals are enshrining the right for all their ministers to break any law under the guise of innovation. That is not all. Liberal senators' Bill S-4 also allows them to circumvent the law. If the Li…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, the Bloc Québécois agrees to apply the results of the last vote and will be voting against the motion.
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, my colleague said that he has never seen so many meetings being cancelled. I am glad to hear that. I do not know whether he was here when I gave my speech, but I mentioned that we have a lengthy report on this very subject. We are going over it now to present the statistics, and that is not normal. My colleague also said that one minister was afraid to appear before the committee. Tha…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, throughout his speech, my colleague mentioned ministers who did not answer or who refused to appear before a committee. There is a fundamental principle called ministerial responsibility. The minister is responsible for what happens in his or her department and must be able to provide clarification, particularly when elected officials ask questions. I think that is a serious breach of…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question and congratulate him on his French. Frankly, if everyone tried as hard as he does, we might end up being truly bilingual. To answer his question, and based on what I have observed during my short time as whip, I have to say that he is right. I could give several examples of chairs from the governing party who seem to be biased more often than they…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I think the member is right to criticize systematic filibustering, especially when the government does it. We received good news. It seems that the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights will finally be meeting tomorrow, after being blocked for I do not know how long. According to what my party's critic told me earlier, the committee will have resources until midnight, and we …
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I can assure my colleague that the respect is mutual. He is absolutely right. When proceedings are blocked, when there is a filibuster and when meetings are not held, we cannot work. We were elected to work, and sometimes the committee chair does not know what our intentions are. The chair can decide not to call a meeting even though I have prepared a motion and have talked to my coun…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, the message this sends is that we put him in his place and gave him a chance this time. He will not get a second chance. Let us get the message across. Beyond that, it was the perfect example of how not to behave. I much prefer the questions from the member for Winnipeg North. We do not often agree either, but at least he does not hurl insults every three words.
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased that the member for Winnipeg North answered my call and asked me a question; it lowers the temperature of our debate. Of course the composition of a committee plays a role, but that is only part of it. To be honest, calls get made, missions get organized. Earlier on, I held the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food up as an exemplary committee, but something rea…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, there is respect, but there is also the tone and aggression with which comments are made. I am offering a constructive comment to my colleague across the way. I will give him a chance. I am not looking for an apology from him. However, we know full well that I could because of the words he used. Withdrawing his remark is one thing, but apologies are more meaningful. I will not ask him…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, it is frustrating to speak on this subject because both sides are right. With respect to the substance of the issue raised by the Conservatives, it is true that the waste of resources and the limited work completed this fall is appalling. My colleague is absolutely right. However, the last question asked by the Liberals is just as relevant. I want to ask the Conservative member, whom …
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, my colleague talks about co-operation. I would like him to explain to me why his committee chairs do not consult the vice-chairs before cancelling meetings. A huge number of meetings have not been held. I am getting comments from our members, who are complaining about this. If the member wants co-operation, then he needs to co-operate too. Will he promise to talk to his members so tha…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to speak to this. I was very happy to learn that the Conservatives had moved the motion, because we are working on that right now. I have in hand reports on committee meetings held since the parliamentary session started. I have to say, the numbers are not great. We hear speeches about collaboration, yet 412 out of 468 meetings have been held as of today. If we include to…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, this morning, I would like to present petition e‑6768, which has been signed by over 4,000 people. The petitioners are calling on the government to ensure proper labelling of food made from gene-edited plants and genetically modified foods. That is important. The petition also talks about genetically engineered livestock and makes the same requests in that regard. I will read the peti…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I am pleased to see you in the chair, but I am not so pleased to speak to Bill C-15. It will come as no surprise to anyone when I say that, unfortunately, the Bloc Québécois will not be supporting Bill C‑15. We are making an effort to ask for changes, compromises and things for Quebec, but we are getting very few answers. Our key demands were left out of the budget entirely. I will …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I commend my colleague from Kings—Hants, with whom I enjoy speaking every day. A budget is a complex set of measures. Yes, this budget contains a few minor measures that may be good for agriculture, and I have already applauded them. However, I would invite my colleague to reread his budget, especially the part where the government announces funding for the AgriStability program. Wh…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I am pleased that we agree on something, and I invite my colleague to make the most of this occasion. Let us put this date on the calendar. We will be more inclined to like each other the next time we talk. As to the use of tax havens, the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics, among others, is looking into that, and the more they dig, the more suspicious t…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I have no regrets, and the reason I say that is because I attended a FADOQ event over the weekend and people told me not to abandon them. They know that the government has not yet agreed to increase OAS for seniors aged 65 and over, as demanded by the Bloc Québécois, so they are asking us not to abandon them. They feel as though everyone else is abandoning them. That is what seniors…
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