Parliamentary Speeches
708 speeches by Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe — Page 14 of 15
Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the government's refusal to airlift people out is problematic in two ways. On the European side, millions of refugees are stuck in camps because there is no room for them on planes or because they simply cannot afford flights. On our side, in Montreal alone, 40 tonnes of humanitarian aid is sitting in warehouses because we cannot send it to Ukraine. At the moment, the only thing we ca…
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Mr. Speaker, for nearly four weeks, the Bloc Québécois has been co-operating with the government to help welcome Ukrainian refugees, but now we are fed up. It is unacceptable that the minister still has not chartered any flights to bring refugee families here. Air Transat has volunteered to help and is just waiting for the green light from the minister. There are other airlines that were given mul…
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Mr. Speaker, that answer is no longer acceptable. Although we are used to hearing hollow answers from the minister in the House, hollow answers are unacceptable to the Ukrainian women and children trapped in Poland without a penny to their names. The minister has no right to tell refugees that Canada will help them, only to turn around and say that they need to make their own arrangements to get h…
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Mr. Speaker, the Bloc Québécois supports some of the government's efforts to facilitate the intake of refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine. Now that the minister has invited all these families to come here, he has no right to let them languish in refugee camps for weeks or even months. What these families are going through is profoundly traumatic. They need to be reassured. They need to hear from t…
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Mr. Speaker, the minister knows he can count on us to co-operate, but we need to see some action. People do not understand why no air operations have begun with chartered flights to bring refugees to Canada. Air Transat has even indicated that it is willing to take part if the government wants to organize such an operation. If even the airlines are willing, can the minister announce today that thi…
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Mr. Speaker, there have been consultations among the parties and I think that if you seek it you will find unanimous consent for the following motion: That this House reiterate the motion adopted unanimously on January 27, 2021 and call upon the new Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, to, in the case of Raif Badawi, exercise his discretion under Section 5 of the Citizenship Act whic…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, a Liberal member told us earlier that he would vote differently if it were a confidence vote. We have been asking the Liberal members for an hour, and we are one hour away from the vote, but no one on their benches can tell us whether it will be a confidence vote or not. Is the Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons close enough to the Liberal …
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Madam Speaker, I want to thank my hon. colleague from Vaudreuil—Soulanges, a member of the Liberal Party's Quebec caucus, for that mostly English speech. We have been debating for three days, so we are familiar with each party's arguments. There is one thing we do not know. The member for Louis-Hébert said a few minutes ago that he does not know if this evening's vote will be a confidence vote. We…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague from Kildonan—St. Paul, who talked about lack of clarity. That is an understatement. With less than two hours to go until voting time, members on that side of the House are unable to tell us whether or not this is a confidence vote. One of their members, the member for Louis-Hébert, just told us he will vote differently if it is a confidence vote. We will be …
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Madam Speaker, when one is Prime Minister, one must listen to everyone who expresses an opinion anywhere in the country. I imagine that is part of the job. The main thing was that the Prime Minister needed to take action on day one of the protests. I understand my hon. colleague's question, and I thank him for it, but if certain members of the Conservative caucus had not exacerbated the crisis, we…
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Madam Speaker, at the risk of repeating myself, I would never minimize hate speech. That is just not the kind of person I am. I am worried about the future. I do not know whether, say, 10 years from now, the Reform Party will rise from the ashes like a phoenix and take over the Government of Canada. I do not know if that will happen in 10 years. I also do not know whether, 10 years from now, when …
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Madam Speaker, the debate is very passionate today, and I understand that. Personally, I prefer to examine the issues in a rational manner. Let us look at this rationally. What is happening today is that we are using the Emergencies Act, which applies to all of Canada and therefore Quebec as well. My hon. colleague, whom I thank for his speech, told us that we should listen to certain Ontario poli…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for her very passionate speech. Earlier today I was asked a question by my Liberal colleague from Hull—Aylmer. He said that he was not 100% certain that the use of the act was the best course of action, but that there were more pros than cons for confirming the order. My question is simple. Should we not be absolutely certain of the best course of action befo…
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Mr. Speaker, I really enjoyed my hon. colleague's speech. I appreciate my colleague in general, because I know he is sincere, honest and passionate. However, we have different opinions on the issue at hand today. Does he believe that all the legislative tools available to the various levels of government were used before the Emergencies Act was invoked today? If so, can he tell me which ones were …
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Madam Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for his speech. When it comes to using special legislation like the Emergencies Act, I think we need to be 100% sure that it is the right decision, unlike what my colleague from Hull—Aylmer believes. Earlier today, he told us that he was not 100% sure that this is the right decision, but he wanted to make it anyway. What does the act itself say? It says tha…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his speech. Earlier today, I was taken aback by certain comments. I almost fell off my chair, even though it is very sturdy. Two members of the Liberal caucus, the members for Hull—Aylmer and Don Valley West, told us that they were not 100% certain that invoking the Emergencies Act was the right thing to do. The blues will show that those were their very wor…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, first of all, I have no sympathy for what has been happening on Ottawa streets for the past three weeks. Fortunately, after 22 days of siege, the crisis may be over. As we speak, the police are dispersing and arresting the occupiers. On behalf of the Bloc Québécois, I would like to thank all the police forces for their courage, patience and professionalism. We have our fingers cross…
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Madam Speaker, I would never trivialize hate speech. I want to make sure that my hon. colleague knows that. My colleague stated that he too was not 100% certain that we were making the right decision. That is what he just said. However, when it is time to make a decision as important as invoking the Emergencies Act, it is vital to be 100% sure that it is the right decision.
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, there have been consultations among the parties, and I think you will find unanimous consent for the following motion: Whereas there is an urgent humanitarian situation in Afghanistan, that this House call on the government to proceed with due diligence for the Canadian non-governmental organizations operating in Afghanistan and assure them that they will not be prosecuted even though…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for his speech and his contribution to today's debate. I understand that my hon. friend from Perth—Wellington has a rather vibrant cultural industry in his riding. The only question that comes to mind is this: What did he say to the cultural community in his riding to justify his party's opposition to a bill that artists and the cultural community have been c…
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Mr. Speaker, I understand that my hon. colleague is giving a pre-election speech for the leadership race, but the House is currently studying Bill C-8. Freedom is important to the Bloc Québécois. That is why we want Quebec's independence.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for his speech. I would never want to silence him. I hang on his every word when he gives a speech in the House. He is one of my favourites. Now, he and I do actually agree on one thing. The government's handling of this crisis has been a disaster. We agree on that. There has been no leadership; that much is clear. I agree 100% with my hon. colleague on that.…
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Mr. Speaker, I just loved my hon. colleague's speech. I believe he spoke from the heart. He was very sincere. One of the things he talked about was division. I have to agree with him on that. Because of this government's policies, we are seeing a lot of division right now all across Quebec and Canada. However, one thing we all agree on is what was left out of the economic update: health transfers.…
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What a pleasure to see you again, Madam Speaker. I think this is the first time I have had the opportunity to address you in the chair, and it is a great privilege. Once again, congratulations on your appointment. Before I begin, I would like to thank the hundreds of people in Quebec and the rest of Canada who have expressed concern via Facebook, email or phone about a member of my family in Lac-S…
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Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for his extraordinary question, but I do not have enough time to answer, because it would take me at least half an hour. I will name one that is obvious these days, namely health transfers. That is something concrete. The federal government’s job right now is simply to transfer health payments to Quebec and the provinces. That is all we are asking.…
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Madam Speaker, I think it is amazing to hear one of my Liberal Party colleagues say that we must absolutely respect an agreement from 1880 and possibly amend it, while also asking us to respect the Constitution Act, 1982, which Quebec has never signed. The Liberals have never openly admitted that Quebec was betrayed on the night of the long knives. Today we are being asked to talk about an agreeme…
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Madam Speaker, that is what we call teamwork. I thank my colleague from the NDP for that very important question. Let us not forget that in the last budget the government said it would address tax evasion. It seems like the Liberals have been talking about that for decades. They say they will address tax evasion because they are good Liberals. In the meantime, there was the sponsorship scandal, th…
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Mr. Speaker, I was afraid I would not get my turn. I sense a bit of a lack of discipline on my right. I think having a leader would be good for them. Right now, it looks as though the Conservative Party has no clear position on the vaccine. I sensed some unease in the House during my hon. colleague's speech. This unease did not come from the other parties, but rather from some members of the Conse…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to the Chinook tool used by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) in the processing of study permits and temporary visas: (a) why has the use of Chinook not been publicly disclosed; (b) who developed this tool and why; (c) how does the tool work; (d) what are the different steps in its use; (e) has the tool been subject to one or more cybersecurity audits and, if so, by w…
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Mr. Speaker, the opening ceremony for the Olympic Games in Beijing is this Friday. The entire world will be celebrating the glory of China, even as the country commits genocide against Uighurs, its own people. We cannot blame the athletes. It was this government, not them, that decided the games could go ahead in China. Will this government at least muster the courage to finally acknowledge that w…
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Mr. Speaker, it is strange that Canada is participating in a diplomatic boycott of the Olympics, yet this government is unable to tell us why. It does not have the courage to tell us that it is because China is committing genocide against the Uighur people. It does not want any investigations into it. It did not want the games to be delayed or moved. It has agreed to a diplomatic boycott, but it r…
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With regard to the processing of applications by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC): (a) how many applications has IRCC processed each year since January 2017, according to the most recent available data, broken down by visa category and type of application; (b) what is the breakdown of (a) in each province and territory where applicants intend or intended to settle; (c) what are …
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With regard to the processing of study permit applications by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) in the last five years where the requested data are available: (a) for all of Canada, excluding applications for study permits for institutions located in Quebec, how many applications were (i) received, (ii) processed, (iii) approved, and what percentage of the total number of applica…
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Mr. Speaker, by renewing the lease for its temporary facilities on Roxham Road, the government is signalling its intention to let the problem get worse and worse for another five years. Who benefits from the federal government's inaction? It is human smugglers who sell refugees a fantasy. Thanks to the Liberal government, they just found out that they will be able to keep getting rich at refugees'…
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Mr. Speaker, that is a bunch of hooey. Now that we have identified who benefits from Roxham Road, let us talk about those who do not. This situation does not benefit families who pay smugglers a fortune so that they can risk their safety crossing the border. It does not benefit Quebec, which has to take on 97% of Canada's irregular claims, and it does not benefit Quebeckers, who pay for all the se…
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Mr. Speaker, we have not heard the last of Roxham Road. We learned this morning that the federal government has approved a five-year renewal of the lease on border facilities used to receive migrants who cross illegally. This means that the federal government does not intend to close Roxham Road for five years. Can we still refer to them as illegal crossings when the federal government is making t…
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his very interesting, very relevant, very focused speech. Clearly he knows his file and I congratulate him. We know that the entire Bloc Québécois caucus will vote in favour of Bill C‑5. If ever there were a free vote across the way, I am not even sure that all of the Liberals would vote in favour, but that is another story. I get the impression that our Con…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, 31 years ago, Quebec lost one of its greatest cultural ambassadors, my grandfather, Jean Duceppe. A proud sovereignist, he shared with our people the desire to gain independence and decide our own destiny. His legacy and his passion for Quebec still flow through my veins and those of my father, Gilles Duceppe. For over 20 years, Gilles made his mark as an MP, official opposition leade…
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Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for his question. I did not want to offend my Conservative colleagues by bringing up what happened in 2014. I like them far too much for that. There is indeed an emergency, and that is why this motion is inadequate in its current form. What we want to do is to repatriate these people. We want to figure out how to do that and how to help them. We wi…
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Madam Speaker, I will try to measure up to my very dear colleague from Saint-Jean. Some things are important in politics, but sometimes, in the House, we lose sight of what is important. To begin with, I would like to point out two things we need to bear in mind throughout this debate. First, throughout all our discussions, we must remember that more than one million children could die from malnut…
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Madam Speaker, I know that discussions are currently under way. We will want to propose amendments to this motion, and I am convinced that we can reach an agreement. I am eager to see what my Liberal colleagues are going to do when they see the amended motion. They will realize that, as elected officials, we need to vote in favour of this motion as amended to simplify the general idea behind the c…
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Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my hon. colleague from Edmonton Strathcona, whom I like very much. We are working together on several files, and I must say that she is fully invested in international human rights. I find her sincere and extremely dedicated. To answer her question, I would say that that is precisely why we need a special committee. We can then call representatives of these org…
Read full speech →Statements By Members
Mr. Speaker, today is the International Day for the Abolition of Slavery. I want to take this opportunity to talk about the Uighurs, a people who are victims of slavery. At least 500,000 Uighurs are being forced to work in cotton fields in China. No less than one in five articles of cotton clothing sold in the world is made in part by Uighur slave labour. Yes, I said one in five articles of clothi…
Read full speech →Speech from the Throne
Mr. Speaker, I congratulate my hon. colleague on his election and thank him for his speech. Our Conservative colleagues seem to have a problem with oil's place in the throne speech. A few minutes ago, the Conservative member for Lethbridge made a comment that puzzled me a little and left me feeling concerned about my future. She said that a future without oil would entail living naked in the fores…
Read full speech →Speech from the Throne
Madam Speaker, I understand. I just wanted to congratulate my colleague on his fine work. Let us come back to the Speech from the Throne. There is no mention of human rights in the speech, even though the Liberals keep telling us that they are the champions of international human rights. I saw that a motion was rejected by the Liberals on Tuesday. They were unable to get it passed, even though the…
Read full speech →Speech from the Throne
Madam Speaker, as everyone knows, before I was elected, I worked at a paper mill in Alma. I would like to send out greetings to my colleagues at the Resolute Forest Products plant. I also want to thank my colleague from Calgary Skyview. I gather that, thanks to him, a lot more paper brochures were produced during the campaign by both Liberals and Conservatives. I really appreciate him doing that. …
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Mr. Chair, the forestry and lumber industry is critically important to my region and to Quebec. If we look around, we are surrounded by wood. Everything I touch here is made of wood. If wood is so important to the Liberal government, can my colleague explain why the federal strategy for oil and gas from 2018 to 2020 was allocated $14 billion a year, but the federal strategy for Quebec's forestry i…
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Mr. Speaker, when the federal government banned irregular border crossings at Roxham Road, asylum seekers began to use other, more perilous routes, even if it meant putting themselves in danger. Something had to be done. What did the government do? Did it suspend the safe third country agreement so that asylum seekers could use regular, secure border crossings? No. Instead, it reopened Roxham Road…
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Mr. Speaker, we have the solution and we are handing it to them. It is quite simple. Article 10.3 of the safe third country agreement states that the Prime Minister may unilaterally suspend the agreement for up to three months and renew this suspension for as long as necessary without asking for anyone's permission. It is safe for the asylum seekers and reassuring for Canadians, and it takes the p…
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Madam Chair, we must be serious and continue the debate. I absolutely agree with you. We know that the pulp and paper industry is struggling. I want to thank my colleague from Calgary Skyview, because I heard that during the last election campaign, he had a lot of paper flyers produced for both the Liberals and the Conservatives. What do the Liberals propose as a concrete solution to help the pulp…
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