Yves Perron

Mr. Speaker, I would just like to urge everyone to be mindful of something. Several times during question period, the interpreters said that they would have to stop interpreting because there was too much background noise. Perhaps you could issue a reminder at the start of question period tomorrow. We need to be mindful of this because it is important to protect the hearing health of our interpreters and ensure that francophones are able to follow the debates in the House.

Mr. Speaker, I am a bit surprised that my colleague seems unhappy and is saying that things are not moving fast enough. The changes being made with Bill C-39 are quite extraordinary. The Impact Assessment Agency of Canada is being stripped of its mandate to protect the environment, uphold the rights of indigenous peoples and emphasize collaboration, and the role of assessing pipeline projects is being transferred to the Canada Energy Regulator. The CER's mandate is to keep energy moving safely and efficiently through pipelines. What does my Conservative colleague not like about that? It appears rather contradictory to me. We, on this side, do not agree with that, because we believe that it removes all environmental protections. I would like to hear his thoughts on that.

Mr. Speaker, September 30 is International Translation Day. I would like to take a moment to commend the vital work done by the federal government's translators, interpreters and terminologists. These dedicated individuals work behind the scenes to ensure that parliamentarians can work in their own language and that francophones have access to all democratic institutions and public services. Let us face it. Most of the discussions and documents that come out of this Parliament are in English. We cannot use French as a shield against Donald Trump and then turn around and regard it as an unnecessary expense that needs to be cut. While being a useful tool, artificial intelligence can never replace human judgment and a nuanced understanding of human language. We will not attract the next generation of talent by allowing people's working conditions to deteriorate. A strong internal capacity within the public service is essential to preserving French. We have experienced people with valuable expertise. Let us take care of them.

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister claims that Bill C‑39 does not lower environmental standards. Let us imagine a pipeline project in Quebec, like Marinvest. Under Bill C‑39, pipelines are exempt from environmental impact assessments. The only assessment will be the one completed by the energy regulator in Calgary, which has never seen a pipeline it did not like. Worse still, Ottawa wants to be able to allow proponents to start their work before the assessment is complete. How can anyone claim that this is not a step backwards?

Mr. Speaker, the leader of the House is right. The goal of Bill C-39 is not to lower environmental standards. It is to eliminate them. If a pipeline were to go through Quebec, here is what Bill C-39 sets out for the environmental assessment. The energy regulator in Calgary will be the one to make the final decision. It is made up of seven commissioners, and five of the seven come from the oil industry. At the table are TC Energy, Shell, Pembina Pipeline, Canadian Oil Sands Limited and Cenovus Energy. Meanwhile, scientists and Quebeckers do not have a seat at the table. If we are not at the table, are we on the menu?