Parliamentary Speeches
799 speeches by Alexandre Boulerice — Page 13 of 16
Private Members' Business
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise in the House to talk about the issues and priorities that matter to Quebeckers. The bill we are debating this evening is a unique one, given that it has to do with changing the name of a riding. I sympathize with the idea and think the new name is quite lovely. “Les Jardins-de-Napierville” has a nice ring to it. However, as other members have mentioned, the proble…
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Mr. Speaker, I was talking about homeowners who are concerned about the likely rise in interest rates. I think it is our responsibility to look at how we can help these people so that they do not have to sell their homes or lose the property that they have invested so heavily in. This goes back to the issue of cost of living and inflation, which is hitting workers and families very hard right now.…
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Mr. Speaker, that is not reassuring. Life is getting more and more expensive. Families are on the verge of losing their homes, and children are going to school hungry. The crisis is hitting hard, and people are paying the price. The Liberals' response is a $7 tax credit. They could not be more out of touch. It is a slap in the face to workers, seniors and children. People need help, and the NDP ha…
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With regard to the government’s commitment to provide up to $100 million more to the provinces and territories through the Safe Return to Class Fund, as well as $10 million to First Nations for on-reserve schools to improve school ventilation, broken down by province and territory, as of November 2021: how much did each province and territory (i) request, (ii) receive, (iii) spend?
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Madam Speaker, before I begin, I am seeking the unanimous consent of the House to share my time with my colleague from Edmonton Strathcona, who, I should point out, does exceptional work.
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Madam Speaker, I am going to digress a little, but it is relevant. Caroline Rivera has been on my team from the very beginning, for the past 11 years. I am sure that Carolina, who is of Colombian heritage, would join me in congratulating the leftist winner in yesterday's presidential election in Colombia. I congratulate Colombia's new president, Gustavo Petro, and vice-president, Francia Marquez, …
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his comments and his very pertinent question. When we talk about cultural content, of course we think of the artists we see on stage, the actors and actresses in a TV series or film. They are the stars, the ones who go to galas and win awards. That is all fine, and we congratulate them. However, my colleague is quite right to point out that there is a whole …
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Madam Speaker, when it comes to Bill C‑11, it feels like Halloween. Some members tried to scare people. They disguised themselves and it was just awful. My colleague is absolutely right. The concept of discoverability is very important. We see that with the new digital broadcasters. There are algorithms that more or less decide what we see on the page when we open the app or the site. YouTube is p…
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Madam Speaker, much of the work was also done during the study of the old Bill C‑10, so we need to look not only at the study of Bill C‑11, but at all the debates on the Broadcasting Act. People in the cultural community, especially those in Quebec, told us there was an urgent need to act and warned against missing this opportunity. That is why it was so important for us to press the government to…
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Mr. Speaker, the first petition that I want to table comes from a group of citizens who are concerned about our social safety net. We saw how those most in need were made extremely vulnerable by the pandemic. These citizens are calling for a universal basic income funded with a wealth tax on Canada's wealthiest corporations and billionaires.
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Mr. Speaker, the second petition that I want to table is the initiative of three organizations, namely the Collectif Échec à la guerre, the Canadian Voice of Women for Peace and the Hiroshima Nagasaki Day Coalition. Hundreds of people are concerned about the threat of nuclear weapons, and they are calling on the federal government to finally sign the treaty on the prohibition of nuclear weapons. I…
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for her speech. I would also like some clarification as to the Bloc Québécois's position on mandatory minimum penalties. It is a little confusing because, on the whole, Quebeckers agree that they do not work and provide a false sense of security. The Barreau du Québec is against mandatory minimum penalties. Studies show that they do not work. Now the Bloc Québéc…
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his speech, but if there is anyone sensationalizing this issue, it is the Conservative Party. It has taken the position of being tough on crime with mandatory minimums even though every study has proven that they do not work. They are not a deterrent and have many unwanted side effects. Just because we want to repeal mandatory minimum sentences does not mean…
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Mr. Speaker, in the 11 years that I have been a member of this House, I have never seen this before. The government services currently being provided to the public are awful, a total disaster. People are lining up at 3:00 a.m. in the hopes of getting their passports. One woman in my riding has been waiting for her EI cheque since February. This is June. Has anyone here ever tried to speak with som…
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Mr. Speaker, times are tough for a lot of people. Today we learned that one in four homeowners will have to sell their home if interest rates go up. Yes, I said one in four. People are in debt. They are struggling to pay for rent, food and gas. Meanwhile, as oil companies, banks and grocery stores rake in massive profits, the Liberals are cutting assistance measures. They are making cuts to EI for…
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Mr. Speaker, when we talk about the rising cost of living, the Liberals keep making comparisons rather than presenting solutions to help people. They say that things are better here than they are elsewhere. Basically, they are telling us to suck it up and stop whining. Here is the reality, however. Workers are having to turn to food banks. Under the Liberals, the cost of housing rose faster in Can…
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Mr. Speaker, today the Conseil national des chômeurs et chômeuses is launching its employment insurance campaign. It highlights this government's monumental failure to deliver on its promise to reform employment insurance. The pandemic has shown that the current system is not working. For example, self-employed workers, freelancers and women are being forgotten. We need real reform so that workers…
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Mr. Speaker, I very much like the idea of a temporary tax on excess profits. My colleague says that the Bloc Québécois is not the only party to propose that idea. Indeed, the NDP is also proposing it. What does my colleague think of the idea of taking that money and increasing the GST tax credit and the Canada child benefit, which would actually help the most disadvantaged families and the middle …
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his speech. The leader of the NDP has made some interesting proposals. Banks, insurance companies and oil companies are making record profits, while people are struggling to pay their bills. Why not impose a temporary tax on excessive profits so that we can take that money and redistribute it to people through the Canada child benefit and by doubling the GST…
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Madam Speaker, oil companies are making record profits on the backs of motorists, and banks are making record profits on the backs of consumers. What does my colleague think of the idea of imposing a special tax on them, and using that money to increase the goods and services tax credit, which would help the poor and the middle class directly?
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague from Berthier—Maskinongé. He spoke about the Quebec model and pharmacare, but Quebec has a hybrid system, one that is both public and private. That means many workers pay a fortune for supplemental coverage. Does my colleague not agree with the Union des consommateurs du Québec, the FTQ, the CSN and the CSQ that we should have a universal public pharmacare syste…
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his speech. I have a question for him about productivity, since we cannot keep producing fossil fuel energy forever. An agreement was signed in Paris on protecting our planet. Does my colleague agree with me that in order to boost innovation and productivity, the government should invest in workforce training so that people can get jobs in the energy sector …
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Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague from Drummond for his question. I am not yet sure if his pass will hit my stick or my skates; it depends on how fast I can get to the puck. My colleague asked an excellent question. I find it hard to understand the Liberals' stubbornness in refusing to discuss this. I am very proud that we were able to get the government to protect the 78 seats in …
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Madam Speaker, I am pleased to rise in the House today to speak to this motion, which I find interesting. We welcome it because it raises an important issue. The Bloc is calling on the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs to study the issue of the political weight of Quebec. We are very open to this possibility because it is a matter of democracy and equality, recognizing the Quebec n…
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for that excellent question. Earlier I said that I was part of the Special Committee on Electoral Reform, which travelled across the country to hear what people had to say. This is an issue that came up many times. I know that in my colleague's riding, people like to know who their MP is, sometimes so that they can congratulate him, sometimes so that they can cr…
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question. However, I am not sure about how he interpreted the start of my speech. I think that he took the rubber band and stretched it a bit. I believe that this is a legitimate and reasonable target. That is part of the discussion that we need to have. We need to see what the current situation is. Is what was negotiated in 1992 necessarily applicable t…
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Madam Speaker, apart from expressing his love for the French language, why does my colleague oppose the recommendation that a parliamentary committee review Quebec’s political weight and, by extension, its citizen representation and the foundations of democracy? As elected members of Parliament, are there other more important subjects for us than the quality of our democratic life and respect for …
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Madam Speaker, my colleague is absolutely right. If we look at the number of members that the parties get elected and the number of votes they get nationally, it creates distortions, as I was saying earlier. There was one election where it took an average of 35,000 votes to elect a Liberal member, 40,000 votes to elect a Conservative member, 80,000 votes to elect an NDP member and practically 300,…
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Madam Speaker, I would like to start by saying that I will be sharing my time with my amazing colleague, the member for Nunavut. I am eager to hear what she has to say. I would like to point out that we are currently, here in Ottawa, on Algonquin territory. Personally, as a member for Montreal, I represent a territory that was never ceded by the Kanyen'kehà:ka, a place for the nations to gather an…
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Only a small percentage of the population has access.
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Madam Speaker, I am very comfortable with diversity ideology and believe that our institutions should reflect the diversity and representativeness of different groups. Does my colleague not see that there is a fundamental problem when only 6% of researchers or professors are members of visible minorities, even though visible minorities account for twice that percentage of the Quebec population? Th…
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Mr. Speaker, we have just learned that the government has approved British Columbia's request to decriminalize drugs in small amounts. It took 27,000 overdose deaths in six years for the government to finally see reason. However, there are also families burying their loved ones in other provinces. My colleague from Courtenay—Alberni has introduced a bill that will be voted on tomorrow and that pro…
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Madam Speaker, it is rather unfortunate, but, if only 6% of the researchers who are capable of excellence are members of a visible minority, then I wonder how it is that all the excellent researchers are white men.
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Madam Speaker, if we say that we do not need to focus on equity outcomes, if we think that access is basically equitable, we are forgetting that access is ultimately not so equitable if the outcomes are not there. Otherwise, there would be no reason for it. Therefore, we need to take proactive and affirmative steps to be able to have those role models. As my colleague said earlier, it is important…
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Madam Speaker, indeed, I do think that progressive movements have always worked to achieve equity and equality. Sometimes that requires restrictive measures. That is okay, because what I am hearing from the Conservative Party and the Bloc right now makes me think of Margaret Thatcher when she said: There is no society; there are only individuals. However, that is not how it works. I feel that, as …
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Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for his pleasant question. I need only give him the Université de Moncton as an example, where the majority of students have been women for years now. We learned recently that in the Université de Moncton's faculty of science, women make up barely 15% of the faculty.
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I apologize, Madam Speaker. We need to do some collective soul-searching. Why is it that women make up only 20% of corporate boards and only 25% of senior management in Canada? According to an Osler report, a university professor looked at 2,000 senior management positions in Canada. Of the 2,000, he found seven indigenous people and six people with disabilities. That is it. Among senior managers,…
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Madam Speaker, my colleague is absolutely right. The Liberal government is preaching, not practising. Worse still, the Minister of Environment and Climate Change, who is a francophone and a Quebecker, does all his communication in English. They have sunk pretty low. I also agree with my colleague that Bill C‑13 is a step in the right direction and that it could go much further. I would like to kno…
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Madam Speaker, it is not the Official Languages Act that will apply to federally regulated businesses in Quebec, but the use of French in federally regulated private businesses act. These are two completely different laws.
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Madam Speaker, the NDP agrees that it would have been much simpler to impose Bill 101, the Charter of the French Language, on all federally regulated private businesses. However, I disagree with my colleague on the choice that businesses will have to make. I found his comments a bit harsh. Forty per cent of federally regulated business have already voluntarily adopted the Charter of the French Lan…
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Madam Speaker, there is a groundswell of anger. Thousands of people are frustrated, worried, anxious and sometimes desperate. Why? The reason is that the federal government is incapable of answering their questions or processing their files. The number of horror stories is growing. Whether it is immigration, passports, visas or employment insurance, the government seems incapable of taking action …
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Madam Speaker, roughly eight months ago, we had a federal election. That was not very long ago. It is not a stretch to think that we could take more time to study Bill C‑13. That said, francophone communities outside Quebec have been waiting for the modernization of the Official Languages Act for 30 years, not eight months. Let us not forget how critical this file is for them and their vitality, a…
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Madam Speaker, it is an honour for me to rise in the House to talk about the important bill introduced by my NDP colleague from Courtenay—Alberni, Bill C-216. COVID-19 took the lives of thousands of Canadians over the past two years, and we have devoted a lot of time and energy to helping those affected by the virus and preventing the loss of even more lives. Meanwhile, another crisis has been hap…
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Madam Chair, I am so happy to see so many people rushing into the House to listen to my speech. That is very kind. I will take the next few minutes to review the purpose of this new bill introduced by the former Conservative leader. It is essentially designed to give more work to the Office of the Auditor General of Canada, but to do what? To investigate the Bank of Canada? Why? As my colleague be…
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Mr. Speaker, last month, inflation hit a 31-year high at 6.8%. Meanwhile, wages increased by an average of just 3.3%. I doubt anyone needs a diagram to understand the resulting decrease in purchasing power. The worst part is that while the big chains are making hundreds of millions of dollars in profits, everyone's grocery bills are going up by 9%. More and more families are turning to food banks.…
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Madam Speaker, I wish I could say that it is a pleasure to rise in the House to speak to this bill, but, quite frankly, I have been in this place for a few years now, and rarely have I seen such a hare-brained, preposterous bill as the one presented to us by the former leader of the Conservative Party. Worst of all, this bill was introduced by someone who ran to be prime minister, but who is now s…
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Madam Speaker, I would like to talk about this government's inability to deliver basic services. The immigration department has been a disaster for years. There are incredibly long, intolerable delays. We recently saw that the government is unable to issue employment insurance cheques, making people wait three or four months. Anyone who wants to travel abroad must first have a passport. However, g…
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for the question. I would remind him that the evidence I provided him shows that this is not reliable technology, and that carbon capture has not proven successful. What is more, if he insists on listening to the International Energy Agency, does he not agree with the agency that all fossil fuel products should from now on stay in the ground?
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Madam Speaker, we would support it if it worked and if we had scientific evidence that it could be used and would help us make progress. Some 80% of greenhouse gas emissions come from the burning of oil, not the life cycle fraction of the barrel of oil when it is extracted. In the United States, 80% of carbon capture projects have failed. There is even a Shell carbon capture operation near Edmonto…
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Madam Speaker, I just want to say that I will be sharing my time with my hon. colleague from Cowichan—Malahat—Langford. I am very much looking forward to his speech. I think we will have a lot to learn from him on this vital topic. I am very proud to rise in the House to talk about the environment, the climate emergency and the crisis that is affecting us all and will, unfortunately, continue to a…
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