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…
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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…
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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.
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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…
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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 …
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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…
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Mr. Speaker, the Bloc Québécois agrees to apply the vote and will be voting against the motion.
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Mr. Speaker, the Bloc Québécois agrees to apply the vote and will be voting yes.
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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.
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Mr. Speaker, the Bloc Québécois agrees to apply the vote and will be voting in favour of the motion.
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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…
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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…
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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—
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Mr. Speaker, may I have my colleagues' attention?
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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…
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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…
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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…
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Mr. Speaker, the Bloc Québécois agrees to apply the results of the last vote and will be voting against the motion.
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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 …
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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…
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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 …
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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.
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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…
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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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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 …
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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…
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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…
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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…
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Mr. Speaker, it is an honour for me to rise in the House, and I am very humbled to follow on from the member for Abitibi—Témiscamingue, with his great eloquence and the heart he puts into standing up for the residents of his region and of Quebec as a whole. I thank him very much for all he does. As my colleague said, the Bloc Québécois is going to oppose Bill C-4. There is nothing surprising in th…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Kings—Hants, who I really appreciate. He was right to bring this up, but I think that he is going to be disappointed with what I have to say. There are two things. First, when he says that the government eliminated carbon pricing for individuals to replace it with something else, that is false, because it was not replaced with anything. No new environmental m…
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Mr. Speaker, I really appreciate my colleague, who always has good, intelligent and well-thought-out questions. I have to agree that, yes, he seems to have woken up. At the same time, I cannot criticize the guy. He was trying to change things from within. There are two ways to work in politics. The first is to come in and toe the line, and the second is to try to get inside the system and make cha…
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Mr. Speaker, that was quite the assist. Yes, I agree with my colleague. Her comment basically demonstrates what I was saying in my speech. I was saying that this government is all about looking and sounding a certain way. It talks about a generational budget, saying that it is an investment. However, when we scratch beneath the surface and take a closer look, it is clear that they are spending mon…
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Mr. Speaker, on the same point of order, with all due respect, I would like to say that we still have the right, in our opinion, to take information that is in the credible news media, like CBC/Radio-Canada and TVA, and bring it to the House to ask legitimate questions.
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Mr. Speaker, if you seek it, I believe you will find unanimous consent for the following motion: That, for the duration of the tribute that will be paid to him in a few moments, the member for Bécancour—Nicolet—Saurel—Alnôbak be allowed to sit in the seat of the member for Mirabel.
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Mr. Speaker, the Mauricie region recently lost one of its pioneers. Jean-Paul Diamond dedicated many years of his life to his community and region. Not only was he committed to social causes like the Association des personnes handicapées du comté de Maskinongé, the Festival de la truite mouchetée de Saint-Alexis-des-Monts and the Festival des neiges, Mr. Diamond was also a prominent figure in the …
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Mr. Speaker, I want to begin by thanking my colleague for her excellent, heartfelt speech, as usual. We used to have a Liberal government that drafted budgets to please the NDP. Now we have a Liberal government that drafts budgets to please the Conervatives. They never draft budgets to please Quebeckers. I would like to know how my colleague feels as a Quebecker in this Parliament. What would our …
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Mr. Speaker, I do not know if it was intentional, but my colleague just gave me a great assist. First, for businesses, I mentioned the wage subsidy. I would like my colleague to work behind the scenes to implement this, because our businesses need it to avoid losing legacy knowledge. My colleague asked me a question, but I will turn it back around on him. I am well aware that he has worked in Queb…
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Mr. Speaker, the Liberals used to draft budgets to please the NDP. Now they are drafting budgets to please the Conservatives. However, there are never any budgets to meet the needs of Quebeckers. What Quebeckers want is a health care system that works. They want to be able to age without losing their purchasing power. They want affordable housing. They want young people to be able to buy a home li…
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Mr. Speaker, I begin this speech in good spirits because my esteemed colleague and I just did some pretty impressive stickhandling there. I, too, am pleased to speak about the budget today and provide some explanations to the public. This is important because misinformation is going to circulate and, unfortunately, the two major parties are going to throw around empty slogans. They will say that t…
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Mr. Speaker, my very esteemed colleague does indeed represent a magnificent region. The regions have been neglected. The current government is only tending to the things that might pay off come election time. That is the answer. The government thinks it has nothing to gain from the regions. It threw some crumbs at the Gaspé Peninsula because it just lost a seat. That is all. The government used to…
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Mr. Speaker, when it comes to investments in the Magdalen Islands, it is pretty ironic that there was a minister in that riding for over 10 years, that these investments were promised for 10 years and that they were never made. Now that a Bloc Québécois member has taken over the riding, the government has suddenly decided to keep its promise. Sometimes we wonder whether the budget is being used fo…
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Madam Speaker, I would like the leader of the Bloc Québécois to tell us more about the rhetoric we heard this week. The government constantly claimed that it would be the fault of the nasty opposition parties if an election were to be triggered following a consultation process that was, let us face it, rather dubious and practically non-existent. I would like to hear his thoughts on that.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to reassure my colleague. I find her point of order a little strange, since I am talking about myself. I try to be a statesman. I am willing to try to be a stateswoman, but I think that would be difficult. I want to reassure my colleague that I am one of the most feminist members of this Parliament, I assure her, and I always defend women in politics. I will even share a bit of…
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