Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, the accusations that we just heard are absolutely ridiculous. The whip of the Bloc Québécois respectfully presented the issue earlier. This is not personal matter. It is a matter of confidence. That is what the member for Kingston and the Islands does not seem to understand or does not want to understand. I think it is the latter. He is saying that we asked the Speaker to resign. Ye…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I request a recorded division.
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, concerning grocery store prices, I would like to ask my colleague for his interpretation of the theatrical performance put on by the Minister of Industry. The minister called in the CEOs of major corporations to give evidence and asked them to change their prices. However, when they appeared before the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food, these same CEOs told us that the…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, I am pleased to rise in the House to speak to Bill C‑355, which seeks to prohibit the export by air of live horses for the purpose of being slaughtered. That is a very specific bill. I listened to my colleague who spoke before me, and I think he made some interesting points in the Conservative way, obviously. He raised concerns about where this bill will take us. This bill is one of…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his speech and his last answer in which he talked about the crickets we often get from the Conservatives. I find that very interesting and relevant. I would like him to comment on the 18‑month delay being placed on the bill's coming into force. I do not understand that. We have had similar legislation in Quebec for 47 years. I think we know how this works an…
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Madam Speaker, to begin, I would like to take this opportunity to wish a happy holiday and a good vacation to everyone in the House, but mostly to the people of Berthier—Maskinongé, who have worked so hard over the past year. I hope they get time with their loved ones. I wish the same for my colleague who just made his speech, because I know him well enough to wish him a merry Christmas. If we kno…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, 2023 was a terrible year for our farmers. Fortunately, there is an easy way to make sure that 2024 is better. The federal government can push back the January 18 loan forgiveness repayment deadline for the emergency account. That is an easy way to prevent farms from going bankrupt. It is an easy measure that will provide much relief to farmers who are working like mad, but are still w…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, 2023 has been an extremely difficult year for farmers: rising interest rates, rising input prices, floods, droughts. It is one thing after another. Meanwhile, the federal government is abandoning them. Ottawa's investments in agriculture do not even amount to 5% of agricultural production value. That is four times less than in Europe. The government must immediately set up an emergenc…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, that is a very interesting question. As I was saying earlier, we have to have another look at how we support farmers and have a serious review of the insurance programs. These programs were designed 20 or 25 years ago in a context where we had a bad year every six or seven years. These days, we have three bad years in a row and we do not know what next year will bring. The people fr…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my NDP colleague. Indeed, we do very good work together on the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food. As I mentioned earlier in my speech, what we are experiencing right now is quite ironic. People come to committee and tell us that they are not taking in any more money than they used to and that their profit margin is only 2%, yet when we look at the…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I will begin by saying that I am very pleased that my colleague from Beauce answered the call I sent out to him during my speech. I appreciate it. I will explain something to him. In Quebec, we participate in the carbon exchange with California, and agricultural producers are currently at $471 million in costs. Farms in Quebec are exempt from buying carbon credits. However, they are…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, as I do every time I am given this great opportunity, I want to say that Quebec is less familiar with the carbon tax because that is not how we do things. We participate in the carbon exchange with California. However, according to the numbers I have seen, the carbon tax is responsible for 0.15% of the inflation we are currently experiencing. Most of the inflation that we are seeing…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, as I usually do, I want to bring the debate back to the subject we were asked to address, namely a report from the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food. However, that does not mean that I disagree with the comments that have been made to the effect that the Conservative Party has been engaged in systematic and ongoing obstruction while claiming to be working for the common …
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I wonder if my colleague realizes that the dog and pony show put on by his colleague, the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, counted for absolutely nothing. I do not know whether he is following the work of the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food, but we heard again this week from the CEO of Metro. I salute him and thank him for his candour. He frankly admitted …
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for her speech. Unfortunately, she has just failed to answer the question. My NDP colleague asked her about the oil and gas companies' exorbitant, astronomical, skyrocketing profits, which are having a very significant impact on the cost of groceries. I would like my colleague to talk about oil and gas profits. I hope she heard the question.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his brilliant speech and for his continued, meaningful defence of Quebec's interests. I would like him to elaborate further because, before he arrived in the House earlier, I asked a question regarding that same issue. The parliamentary secretary replied that we were only approving the agreement and could not change it. That is exactly what my colleague has …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, it would be worth our while to discuss this bill. I would like the member for Winnipeg North to tell me about his vision for the free trade agreement with Ukraine. We obviously agree on the bill, though it still has some shortcomings. The Bloc Québécois has long objected to the fact that private companies can sue governments under free trade agreements by claiming that a government'…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, last week, more than 1,000 farmers took to the streets of Quebec City to ask for more government support. Farmers need help to deal with climate change, and yet Canada is investing almost four times less money than the United States and the European Union to support our people. This puts our farmers at a disadvantage, creates unfair competition and jeopardizes our food security. For a…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, someone was unaware that I was speaking. The member just referred to families, and I would like to know what is the Conservatives' definition of family. Are we talking about two parents with one child? Will people who have no children pay the carbon tax? I would like to understand that part. I would also like the member to tell me whether it is true that low-income families receive …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, my colleague just said again that the Conservatives wanted to repeal the tax on families. How is a family defined in the context of their motion? It is not defined. Is it when there are at least two parents and one child? Is a couple without children a family? That will be pretty much—
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, the basic problem we face, a problem that has been going on for months, is that some political parties are unreasonable and put different misleading labels on all the others. Here is a prime example of this situation. Today's opposition day was triggered by Bill C‑234, which is currently in the Senate, and by the amendment that was passed in the Senate. Last week, we voted against a…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I am going to give my colleague an opportunity to use up a bit more floor time. Joking aside, this is a very serious subject. We are seeking a fragile balance between individual rights and collective rights, the protection of society and the community. This is not an easy balance to strike. I am very interested in what my colleague had to say. He showed that people do not need to sp…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I would like to thank the minister for his statement. This is a delicate issue that must be handled intelligently. It is a matter of striking a balance between individual and collective rights, between safety and social peace. Finding that balance is a very delicate exercise, and we all have several cases we could cite. What is also important is to preserve the basic principles of l…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for that great question. My colleague said that the trade alliance represents 90% of farmers. They often say that, but it actually represents 90% of exporters. That is an important nuance. Of course the alliance is worried, because it believes that we will need these producers in order to develop other markets. What we are being told is that the governme…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, that is an excellent question, and the member basically answered it for himself. My esteemed colleague from Abitibi—Témiscamingue is absolutely right. He raised a very important point, and he provided a more in-depth explanation of what I was trying to quickly explain earlier. I am talking about a societal choice, about public infrastructure that would create an ecosystem. That is w…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his intelligent question, like the ones he often asks at the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food. That is what I was talking about earlier when I spoke about having a vision for the future. When we take action, we need to consider what things will be like in 10 or 20 years. We need to start informing, training and providing information to our you…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I really want to thank my colleague for that great question. I went over that earlier, but this will allow me to reiterate what I said. It is a public investment. It takes ongoing public support for the other small-scale sites. There are a lot of projects that exist already. There is no need to start from square one. I often say that we need to trust the people working on the ground…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, absolutely. In fact, that is one of the recommendations that I did not have time to talk about. The report recommended that in the agri‑food sector, the cap for foreign workers increase from 10% to 20%. I even proposed 30%, but the majority wanted 20%, so we put 20%. Then the government did it. That is one of the things in the 18 recommendations that was done. I say bravo, but it is…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I am pleased to take part in this discussion. I want to get right to the substance of the debate because, as usual, I have a lot to say in a short period of time. This report looked at the possibility of increasing food processing capacity. I would like to bring the debate back to the main issue in this report, which was prepared during the COVID-19 pandemic, at a time when we were …
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I understand my colleague's complaints about the fact that the House is not following the order of business each day. Then again, we are always happy to talk about farmers, so I would like to take this opportunity to ask him a very specific question. Recommendation 17 in the report we are discussing today highlights the importance of providing capital to our SMEs, our small business…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, in this study, as in pretty much every study that provides an opportunity to focus on regional transformation, we also concentrated on improving our infrastructure. As mentioned earlier, this study was done during COVID‑19, which exposed the fragility of our food processing chains. I would like my colleague to elaborate on that. What do we need to do to improve our food processing n…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, in his speech, my colleague talked a great deal about Bill C‑234 and the carbon tax. I would like to talk about another issue, namely, the effects of climate change on farm products. We can speak out against measures intended to mitigate climate change, but we still need to be aware of these changes. For example, I would like to draw his attention to the market gardening situation, …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I will start from the beginning. I was thanking my colleague for his speech and telling him that a little earlier, I had mentioned that the Bloc Québécois members feel that this bill does not go far enough in protecting head offices. However, as in everything, there needs to be balance, reasonable measures. We cannot shut down all outside investment. Several MPs have reiterated today …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his speech. I would like to know what he thinks about something specific. Earlier, I asked a question about whether enough is being done to protect our head offices. The member told me that he agreed with me but that there must be balance in all things. What we want to do locally—
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, the Bloc Québécois thinks that Bill C-34 does not go far enough in protecting our economic flagships, our head offices, and the innovative efforts of SMEs, which are being bought up by foreign entities. Often, they come up with important innovations that become profitable abroad. We do not think that enough transactions are being reviewed. I would like my colleague to elaborate on tha…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I have a lot of respect for my colleague, who sits next to me and often discusses things with me. I would like to ask him a very pragmatic question. The proposal before us today seems well intentioned. Unfortunately, the numbers do not add up. The estimated cost of giving heat pumps to everyone would be at least $75 billion, if not $100 billion. The proposed tax might generate up to $…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I want to draw my colleague's attention to something important. At the beginning of her speech, she focused on the climate crisis and the fact that we must take action in light of that crisis. In the measures that the NDP is proposing, however, no distinction is made between different sources of energy. Does my colleague not believe that her party could have proposed something better …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his brilliant speech. I am going to do something I do not normally do and talk about a family member. In a few minutes, my sister-in-law Carole will be going to an extremely important medical appointment. I want her to know that she has always been there for me and I will always be there for her. She can count on my support. My question for my colleague relate…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his smart, well-articulated question. How refreshing. We could study his proposal. I said earlier that there is a major issue with the oil companies. Essentially, for years, the Bloc Québécois has been very vocal in every one of its speeches in the House about starting by ending the subsidies for the oil companies. They will have gotten $83 billion by 2035. It…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I will try to make this quick. There was a lot to her question. First of all, the carbon tax does not apply in Quebec. I have said it many times. I would like her party to get that through their heads. It is an important detail. That is why we voted against the Conservative motion yesterday. We did not want to create an imbalance between people in this country. There are ways to help …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his generous question and for helping me answer it, because he supplied half the response before giving me the floor. Indeed, Quebec has always been a leader. We saw that with child care. It took 25 years for Canada to get on board. I hope that Canada will get on board when it comes to energy as well. Quebec helps people install more efficient heating systems,…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, there is a strange atmosphere in here. There are two extremes in the House, both of which are panicking over the polls. In fact, I could even say there are three extremes. The government is starting to make last-minute decisions in a panic. If there is one point on which I could agree with the Conservatives, it is that panic has gripped the government, spurring it to make poor decis…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, we often hear the Conservatives say they want to help ordinary folks and put money back in their pockets. The huge profits oil companies are making were mentioned a number of times today. Could we not take the $83 billion that has been earmarked to subsidize oil and gas companies between now and 2035 and instead use it to increase old age pensions for seniors aged 65 and older? We h…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Mr. Speaker, I am very happy to speak to this bill. I have to say I was a little surprised to hear my friend, the member for Cowichan—Malahat—Langford and a fellow member of the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food, say that he protects provincial areas of jurisdiction. What an odd thing to say at this juncture. We could talk about that at length. I would like to go have a beer with him…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Foothills for his bill and his speech. One of the primary objections to this bill in committee was that it acts as a sort of gag by preventing whistle-blowing when there is mistreatment and that there are not necessarily other ways to blow the whistle. In fact, there are. For example, the Quebec Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food deals with complaints…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I will try to make this quick. In my speech earlier, I spoke about contempt, and I think that is what this is. The member can call it a cavalier attitude if he wants to be nice, but I think that we can call it contempt. The government does whatever it wants and acts however it wants. It launches programs and makes promises to people and then, a month later, it tells them that there is…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I thank my seatmate very much for the assist. That is exactly what I was trying to say. We are not saying that we should not take in immigrants, but rather that we should take them in properly, with the necessary resources. How can someone from British Columbia give the same example as I did about Quebec? That is because the resources are not there. We must ensure that the resources a…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, of course it is not a bad thing that there is francophone immigration. However, that is not what we are talking about today. Whether immigration is francophone or anglophone, here is what we are putting on the table: Is the government prepared to consider reviewing its thresholds after consulting with Quebec and the provinces, to support integration? Of course we always support franco…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I thank my learned colleague from Drummond for his very clear presentation. I would also like to thank him for repeating the motion, because I was just about to do so. It is easy to see that we share some ideas and that we belong to the same party. We are also serious about wanting to bring the debate back to the forefront at the end of the day. A lot of things have been said throug…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, today I wish to acknowledge Jean‑Luc Barthe, mayor of the municipality of Saint‑Ignace‑de‑Loyola, for his many years of dedication and loyal service. Municipal government is local government. To have staying power, municipal politicians must be close to the people. While pursuing his career at Bombardier and Marine Industries, Mr. Barthe first got involved as a city councillor for 21 …
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