Parliamentary Speeches
708 speeches by Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe — Page 12 of 15
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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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, …
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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…
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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 …
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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.…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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 …
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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Mr. Speaker, it is a sensitive issue, as you know. I am asking the minister to apologize for twisting my words. I was talking about criminal human smugglers who exploit migrants trying to cross the border. He said that I said that criminals were crossing the border. Those are two entirely different things regarding a sensitive issue. I want him to apologize because he twisted my words and it is un…
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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…
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Mr. Speaker, may I speak? I was talking about smugglers, and he insinuated that I had said they were criminals—
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Mr. Speaker, every time, the minister says he is protecting refugees, but he is letting criminals exploit them. He is letting criminals rob them blind. He is also letting criminals lie to them, because the smugglers do not tell their victims that they have a fifty-fifty chance of being deported at the end of the process. Ultimately, the minister is protecting criminals, not refugees. We believe th…
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Mr. Speaker, the federal government could shut down Roxham Road tomorrow morning if it wanted to by suspending the safe third country agreement. It has chosen not to, however. The CBC is reporting that the government chose to make Roxham Road permanent. All of the agreements required to keep Roxham Road open until at least 2027 have already been signed. By making Roxham Road permanent, the governm…
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Mr. Speaker, something very unfortunate happened during question period. The Minister of Public Safety twisted my words, thereby misleading the House on an extremely sensitive issue. I think it is important to choose our words carefully—
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Mr. Speaker, Roxham Road is all about human smugglers exploiting poor families and ripping them off. Having skirted the issue for years, the Minister of Public Safety finally acknowledged it on Saturday, but when Radio-Canada asked him what he planned to do to shut the racket down, he dodged the question again. There is a solution: suspend the safe third country agreement. The minister can do that…
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Mr. Speaker, come on, that answer will make the smugglers happy, since their business model is 100% based on the federal government's inaction. If the minister suspended the safe third country agreement, migrants could cross at any border crossing in Canada to claim refugee status instead of crossing at Roxham Road. With the snap of a finger, the minister could put an end to this racket led by cri…
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Mr. Speaker, this is a whole new level of hypocrisy. Once migrants arrive in Canada, the government is unable to process their refugee claims. It leaves them wondering and worrying for years and then, after all those years, it determines that half the families do not qualify as refugees and deports them. The federal government is letting criminals lie to families and bankrupt them so that they can…
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Mr. Speaker, I want to make one thing clear. Leaving Roxham Road open is not humane. It encourages criminals who profit from the misery of others to engage in human smuggling. It is making the government complicit with a business trading on desperation where criminals use false information to convince families to pay up to $10,000 per person to cross the border. The only reason this business exist…
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Madam Speaker, I want to congratulate the new leader of the Conservative Party on his election. I just want to remind him, however, that the leadership race is over and that we are debating Bill C‑31. This bill is yet another federal encroachment on the jurisdiction of Quebec and the provinces, which brings me to the subject of health transfers. My colleague's speech was very long indeed, but it d…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague from Dufferin—Caledon for his speech. I also thank him for his hard work on this bill. He has been working on it for a long time, and he can be proud of what he has accomplished. Let me play devil's advocate so he can say a few more words. Some people are watching this debate because they plan to criticize Bill C-242. They wonder why we should bother proceeding …
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Madam Speaker, I am very pleased to see you again after such a lovely summer. I hope you were able to meet with your constituents and all the people participating in this debate in the House this evening. I do not know if the member for Saint-Jean is listening this evening, but I must commend her for the thorough job she has done. She gave a remarkable speech during the previous reading of this bi…
Read full speech →Statements By Members
Mr. Speaker, my constituents would say that Lac-Saint-Jean is a great place to live. I am well aware of that. What I did not know, however, is that there is one town in the region that keeps people young. This year, not one, not two, but three residents of Normandin are celebrating their 100th birthday. Lucien Cloutier, a former employee with Quebec's transportation and highways departments, is a …
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Mr. Speaker, our colleague from Winnipeg North always gives lengthy responses, and I like that. I like his passion, and of course it is always a pleasure to ask him questions in the House. My colleague talked about what is in Bill C‑19. I am going to ask him about what is not in it. What is not in Bill C‑19 are the health transfers to the provinces and Quebec. These transfers have been requested b…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, we in the Bloc Québécois support this motion and, of course, we support Finland and Sweden in their bids to join NATO. There is one problem, however, that everyone will need to work on collaboratively. That problem is Turkey. Turkey is opposed to Finland and especially Sweden joining NATO because of diplomatic frictions related to certain Kurdish groups. I would like to know how the…
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his speech, which was very interesting. He talked about unity with the Ukrainians. I think everyone in the House agrees on that. He talked about territorial sovereignty and national sovereignty. I am always moved when I hear people talk about sovereignty. I dream of the day when Quebec will also be part of NATO, just like Canada. However I do not want to go …
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Madam Speaker, I always enjoy the speeches given by my dear colleague from Saanich—Gulf Islands. I am not the only one, as my father also adores my hon. colleague, and I think they have a lovely friendship. That is one of the reasons I want to ask her the following question. My father, who was also an MP, always told me that we are free to take whatever position we want on a motion or a bill, but …
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Madam Chair, that is such an important question. Why was our response to the present conflict in Ukraine so rapid compared to other natural disasters and armed conflicts around the world? Right now, people are experiencing actual genocide. As a signatory to the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, there are two things we must do when we know that genocide is o…
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Madam Speaker, I have a great deal of respect for my colleague, and I sincerely thank him for his question. I am sad that he is not a member of my party, but perhaps that will happen one day. It is an important question. What should the government do for Ukraine? We must be realistic. Canada is not a military power. What can we do to get things moving, play a role and influence what is currently g…
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Madam Speaker, I agree with my colleague. Leaders cannot go it alone. What we need is multilateral action, which involves several countries working together at the same time. Leaders set an example, take the lead and inspire others to join in multilateral action. Based on what we are seeing this evening, I think Canada can be a leader and inspire others to join in. I only wish it had reacted the s…
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Madam Speaker, it is difficult to speak after my colleague from Saint-Jean. We can see how knowledgeable she is about this file. Although it would be impossible for me to match her presentation, I will try my best. I just want to say that having this debate tonight is a good thing. It has been quite some time since we have had a debate where the five parties in the House, and I imagine that this i…
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Madam Speaker, my colleague from Wellington—Halton Hills has once again demonstrated his thorough understanding of international geopolitical matters. It is a pleasure to hear him speak. He talked about how Turkey is a problem in the context of the motion we are debating. Today, he said the government should take the lead on resolving this issue. My colleague from Wellington—Halton Hills knows mor…
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Madam Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for his speech. We have heard two speeches from the government and we have been told twice that we must act as quickly as possible. I agree with that, but we have not yet heard how the government is going to deal with Turkey, apart from mentions of talking to people. The member tells me that we need to act as quickly as possible. We know that it took the go…
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Mr. Speaker, let us recap. The Prime Minister says that he will challenge Bill 21 and that Canada must be able to dictate Quebec's vision on state secularism. He then says that he wants to limit the scope of the notwithstanding clause to ensure that Quebeckers will never again have the right to adopt legislation that upsets Canada. He is saying that Quebec will never get the immigration powers it …
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