Parliamentary Speeches
683 speeches by Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe — Page 11 of 14
Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I think things have been clear since the beginning of the day. From what we can see, the Liberal's plan to address greenhouse gas emissions is not working and, before the carbon tax, the Conservatives unveiled an ideological plan that will not work either. We know what the outcome of this motion will be. We already know how the parties will vote. It will come as no surprise to anyone.…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I quite agree with my colleague that the Conservatives do not really have a climate plan, but maybe he should think about whether the Liberal plan is a good one. The Liberals opened the door for the Conservative Party to criticize the carbon tax, because Canada ranks 58th out of 63 in the fight against GHGs. The problem is not the carbon tax itself, but the subsidies to the oil indust…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I join my hon. Conservative Party colleague in tabling a petition. I have the honour to present today in the House a petition that was signed by citizens who, like us, want to stand up for the rights of the oppressed. This petition seeks to have the government formally recognize the ethnic cleansing perpetrated against the Hazaras from 1891 to 1893 as a genocide and to designate Septe…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I used to eat ramen noodles when I was in CEGEP. I would like to thank my hon colleague from Quebec, whom I hold in high esteem. It is always a pleasure to work with him. Now, I agree that the federal government ranks near the bottom when it comes to protecting the environment and fighting greenhouse gas emissions. I think that is crystal clear. Statistics do not lie. Canada ranks 58t…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, as members of Parliament, we have the opportunity to speak in this House about issues that are important to us. Every day, our colleagues rise to commend or denounce a situation that sometimes brings us together and other times drives us apart. Everyone knows that I am very happy when I can jump into the political arena and debate with my colleagues from other parties. It is not new…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, in 2017, when the Prime Minister took to Twitter to invite all those fleeing persecution to come to Canada, he surely did not imagine that everyone would come through Roxham Road, but that is exactly what happened. In October alone, 3,901 asylum seekers took that route, out of a total of over 30,000 this year. Meanwhile, do we know how many asylum seekers have used regular border cros…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the RCMP were also caught off guard by the Prime Minister's tweet. The RCMP was not expecting 90% of its border agents to be tied up handling Roxham Road. There are 117 land crossings with border services officers where asylum seekers could go instead of Roxham Road, if the minister were to suspend the safe third country agreement. That would allow the RCMP to do their job, their real…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, let us talk about dignity. Thanks to Roxham Road, 62% of all of Canada's asylum claims are made in Quebec. As a result, our schools are running out of room, immigration lawyers are at their wits' end and our community organizations are stretched to the limit. We have to suspend the safe third country agreement so that asylum seekers can be given a dignified welcome by Canadians across…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, a new record has been set at Roxham Road, where 3,901 people crossed into Canada in October. All of those people could be entering Canada with dignity at the border crossings if Canada would suspend the safe third country agreement, but the federal government's inaction forces them to cross at Roxham Road, where they are welcomed by the RCMP. In fact, in committee, RCMP Superintende…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, the Liberals have been saying that for four years now, but 90% of the RCMP is stuck at Roxham Road. In theory, this should be bad news for the human smugglers who abuse refugee claimants, but no, the RCMP has not been able to lay a single charge, not one. Why not? Because the smugglers are committing their crimes in the United States, and the Americans are not co‑operating. The mini…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his speech. He talked about trust in the government or perhaps a lack of trust. In the current global context, there is interference by countries like China. We know that the RCMP has launched investigations into 11 electoral candidates. In fact, we also know that on July 7, 2016, the Prime Minister authorized a Chinese bank to do business on Canadian soil. …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, we are talking about cybersecurity. This means that there is a lot of foreign interference conducted through cyber-attacks. Speaking of foreign interference, is my colleague not concerned that, in 2016, after giving a Chinese bank a business licence, the Prime Minister received $70,000 in donations to his riding of Papineau within 48 hours? Is that not interference? In 48 hours, he re…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the federal government is doing a worse job than ever of processing EI claims. Members need to listen to this, because I could not even make this stuff up. Do members know what public servants have been telling people who have been waiting for months for their benefits because their claim is stuck in the system? They are suggesting that they ask their family and friends to pay for the…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, the Bloc Québécois does agree that this is a good bill, although it does not address all the issues. No one will be surprised to hear that we will be supporting it. However, we can all agree that the bill does not resolve all the problems with the Criminal Code. There is something wrong with the Criminal Code. Non-governmental organizations, or NGOs, that want to work in Afghanistan…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I really enjoyed my hon. colleague's speech. As everyone knows, we will be voting in favour of this bill. That said, I get the impression that anytime we talk about Canada's Criminal Code, we are always putting out fires instead of taking in-depth action. It is a bit like modernizing the Income Tax Act, which we have been talking about for several years. Modernizing the Criminal Code …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, this is helping us. It demonstrates that we truly have no business being here, in this Parliament, and that Quebec must really become its own country. I genuinely want to follow up on my honourable colleague's speech and say that I would like it if everyone could stop interrupting, even if it does give us additional ammunition to ensure that we no longer have to sit here and can inste…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, the World Cup soccer tournament starts Sunday in Qatar, a dictatorship that violates human rights. Players have the right to compete, but Canada must not send a diplomatic delegation to boost Qatar's image, which has been tarnished by the loss of thousands of workers' lives. The tournament is two days away, and the government is still unable to decide if it will send a delegation. I…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, that is unbelievable. That was no answer. The government has known for 12 years that the World Cup would be taking place in Qatar. It has been 12 years, and now the event starts in two days. The Bloc Québécois sincerely hopes that the government has not abandoned its values in the interests of diplomacy yet again. Qatar jails members of the LGBTQ+ community. It violates the rights o…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, what I see in the House are members of Parliament who work hard, who are honest and who represent their fellow citizens well. The member for Kings—Hants is one of those people. Frankly, I hold him in high regard. He is an honest person and I know that he will answer my question honestly, without partisanship. At my constituency office, I hear a lot of talk from seniors aged 65 to 74…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the World Cup of soccer begins Sunday in Qatar, a country whose new stadiums may have cost as many as 6,500 workers their lives. We will never know the exact number, because Qatar is a dictatorship that silences journalists, imprisons gay people and tramples on women's rights. Let us be clear. This has nothing to do with the athletes. They have every right to go. However, diplomatical…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, when I talk about forced sterilization, I am not talking about the Prime Minister, who has once again demonstrated his lack of courage. When I talk about forced sterilization, torture, arbitrary detention and political re-education, I am talking about the situation of the Uighurs and the Prime Minister's indifference. There is a genocide occurring in China. The Chinese government is a…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the House of Commons, France's National Assembly, the British Parliament, the U.S. Secretary of State and others have all characterized China's treatment of the Uighurs as genocide. The Prime Minister still refuses to get involved. How can we help solve a problem if we are not prepared to acknowledge that the problem exists? That is the situation and this is exactly what is happening …
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, the government has been setting targets for francophone immigration outside Quebec since 2004, but in all that time, it has never achieved those targets. In its response to a committee report, the government admitted that there was racism within IRCC and, as a result, students from francophone African countries have been treated inequitably. In the matter before us today, it is pret…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the government is projecting that 40,000 people will enter Canada through Roxham Road this year and that is not about to change, according to the words of U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken. When questioned yesterday, Mr. Blinken did not talk about fixing the situation at Roxham, but rather lectured Canada about having a greater sense of shared responsibility in receiving asylum s…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, Canada's collaboration with the Americans sure is working well. For example, the government is once again taking no for an answer from the Americans: no to suspending the safe third country agreement and no to modernizing the agreement. The government has been taking no for an answer since 2017. It might be time to escalate things. Article 10 of the safe third country agreement says t…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I would like to commend the speech given by my colleague from Calgary Centre. I really appreciated it, especially when he alluded to health transfers. He also spoke a bit about the various federal and provincial jurisdictions in his response to our friend on the other side of the House. One thing that disappoints me a little is that I have been asking the Conservatives the same questi…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his speech. I also want to remind all my colleagues in the House of one thing: Bloc Québécois MPs are sent to the House of Commons by Quebeckers to defend the interests of Quebec. Speaking for Quebec is priority for the Bloc Québécois. When a measure is good for Quebec, we vote in favour; all the better if it is good for the rest of Canada. When it is bad fo…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the way things are going, it is expected that there will be more than 30,000 irregular entries at Roxham Road in 2022. These are desperate people, exploited by criminal smugglers who often offer them false hope. They are intercepted by the police before they can apply for asylum. This is a situation that, purely from a humanitarian point of view, cannot continue. However, the governme…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, I want to congratulate my friend from Pierrefonds—Dollard on his speech. We know that he is very committed. Many people in the House have been working on the Uighur file for a very long time. It is unfortunate that when we say that Parliament has spoken with one voice, that is not entirely true. My Conservative friend just raised the issue. When we voted on the Conservative motion, …
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, my friend from Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan gave an excellent speech, and I want to commend him for it. It is always a pleasure to work with him, particularly on the file that we are discussing this evening. I think I am kicking this off by being transpartisan. Just last week, I was saying that we have different ideas in the House. It is not always easy working with my colleagues…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, let me start by saying that I truly appreciate my colleague from Calgary Forest Lawn. I really enjoy working with him. Now I have an idea for today's opposition day. I think I will ask the same question all day, and since I do not think I will ever get an answer, I will make a little video afterwards and post it on social media. I will therefore ask a very simple question. I have a …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I enjoyed my colleague from Beauce's speech. I have been asking the Conservatives a question for three years now, but no one is ever able to answer it. Today, that question is even more important. Do members know what has never been so high? The record profits of oil and gas multinationals. However, I have never heard one Conservative rail against these obscene profits in the House.…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, I would like to start by congratulating my colleague from Calgary Forest Lawn. I really enjoy working with him. The bill before us today, Bill S‑245, seeks to correct an injustice for people who did not deserve what happened to them. It is rare for a Bloc Québécois member to rise in the House on a matter involving Canadian citizenship. We are more likely to rise in the House on a ma…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, even though I do not always agree with my colleagues from the other parties who sit here in the House, I tend to avoid getting into partisanship. I think I am even transpartisan, and often being transpartisan allows me to do my work properly for the people of my riding, who, since 2019, have allowed me to proudly represent them in my corner of the country, Lac‑Saint‑Jean. Today I wi…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, if the federal government were taking a humanitarian approach at Roxham Road, it would not be squaring off against refugee advocacy groups before the Supreme Court. Because of the government's inaction, people who should be welcomed with open arms are forced to sneak across the border. As a result, they are being extorted by criminals and arrested by the RCMP at the border. This wou…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, the government will have to change its tone on Roxham Road. We have the right to ask why it is not shutting down human smuggling networks. We have the right to ask why it is refusing to close a loophole that allows asylum seekers to be exploited. We have the right to ask why it takes years to process refugee families' claims. That is our right; more importantly, it is our duty. When…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, my colleague spoke of tax havens, and I think it is important to spend some time talking about that. Not only is the government not doing anything, but it actually participated in the creation of these tax havens. In 1994, the Chrétien government gave companies permission to repatriate income that they were earning in Barbados without paying tax in Canada. From that moment, Barbados…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the federal government refuses to discuss immigration powers with Quebec. Let us look at what happens when the federal government is in charge. It is responsible for refugees, and 64% of refugee claims in Canada are made by people who come through Roxham Road. In other words, becoming a refugee in Canada in 2022 means being exploited by smugglers at the border and being arrested by th…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, let us continue to look at what happens when the federal government is in charge of immigration. The federal government is the one that takes care of temporary foreign workers. It is always the same thing. Businesses pay for workers who never arrive because their file is languishing in Ottawa. Just today, the newspaper Le Journal de Montréal reported that businesses such as Nationex h…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the members opposite will have to change their tone because we are saying the same thing as they are. However, asking these people to wait three years for a work permit is not helpful. Let us continue examining what is happening with immigration. Do members know how long it takes to process the file of a francophone skilled worker in Quebec who wants to become a permanent resident? Tw…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, every time we ask about federal action for Roxham Road, the government answers that it is negotiating the modernization of the safe third country agreement with the U.S. Roxham Road has been an issue for five years. The federal government has been negotiating for years. It was even in the Liberals' 2019 election platform. At this point, we have every right to ask how the negotiations …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, so everything is as it should be at Roxham Road. That is what they just said. Does is seem as though negotiations are moving forward? I do not think so. The safe third country agreement is a seven-page document, not a free trade agreement. The Liberals have been telling us for five years that they are in negotiations. Meanwhile, what is obvious on the ground is that they are making Ro…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, we have only been telling them for three years now to suspend the safe third country agreement. If that is not a solution, I do not know what is. Let us talk about the negotiations with the U.S. They have been going on for a long time. This was in the Liberals' 2019 electoral platform. They said they would continue to work with the United States to modernize the safe third country agr…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Minister of Public Safety said that he was very proud of the work the government is doing to protect the rights of refugees at Roxham Road. What is he proud of? Is he proud that families are being exploited by criminal human smugglers and that it is costing them $10,000 a head? Is that a good price? Is he proud that these families are being welcomed to Canada by the poli…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, all the human trafficking going on at Roxham Road would disappear immediately if the federal government suspended the safe third country agreement. However, the minister is doing exactly the opposite. He is expanding it. He is building a city. Radio‑Canada recently reported that the federal government is not suspending the agreement, but rather expanding its facilities in response to …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I believe that the Conservatives are moving this motion today because real solutions are much more complex. There should be more thought put into how to create wealth while protecting the environment and, above all, how to share this wealth. We heard about populism today and, to my great surprise, a Conservative colleague said he was proud to be a populist. I almost fell off my chai…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, we do not understand. We do not understand how the minister thinks that the situation at Roxham Road is normal. His government is letting thugs fleece disadvantaged families out of all the money they have managed to take out of their country. Thanks to his government's actions, human trafficking has become the primary way of claiming asylum in Canada in 2022. Refugees are being brough…
Read full speech →Statements By Members
Mr. Speaker, September 28 is British Home Child Day. This day is dedicated to the memory of the more than 100,000 British children brought to Canada as indentured labourers between 1869 and 1932. The British home children, as they would come to be known, were under the age of 17. Most were between the ages of seven and 14, but some were just toddlers. These young children were sent to Canada, most…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, yesterday it was clear that the Minister of Public Safety did not know the difference between an asylum seeker and a human smuggler. Let me explain it to him. Asylum seekers are families who migrate to Canada to claim refugee status. Human smugglers are people who exploit these families and take all their money in exchange for getting them across Roxham Road. Human smugglers are crimi…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, this is proof that they cannot stay on top of their files. They do not understand anything. Aside from smugglers, the only people who will benefit from the decision to make Roxham Road permanent are those who receive federal contracts. We know that Roxham Road has already cost at least half a billion dollars. The exact amount is unclear because the federal government refuses to disclo…
Read full speech →