Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, sound management of public finances is a concern for us in the Bloc Québécois. I would like to know what my colleague thinks about his government's recent decision to drop the digital services tax. We know that we will be facing a huge deficit. We are still waiting for the numbers on November 4. With a 3% tax on the activities of multinational web companies in Canada, the digital serv…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for her speech, which is firmly rooted in the reality of her constituents. I want her opinion because we in the Bloc Québécois also think that this government is mismanaging public finances and that—
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Mr. Speaker, our forestry industry just got more catastrophic news. Donald Trump just announced an additional 10% tariff on our lumber, on top of the existing illegal 35% tariffs. This is devastating news, especially since the funding that the Liberals announced at the beginning of August has still not been released. Unifor is calling on the federal government to wake up. Its Quebec director says …
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for his speech. I have a question for him. Although we agree on the general objective of securing our infrastructure, we have concerns related to individual freedoms and the right to privacy. What guarantees can my colleague give us that information collected by the federal government will not be used for purposes other than the purpose it was collected fo…
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Mr. Speaker, let us hope that the Prime Minister's trip to Washington next Tuesday will be more fruitful, because so far, Canada has been negotiating so poorly that it is easier to import European lumber into the United States than Quebec lumber. In the meantime, the assistance for the sector is stuck in Ottawa's coffers, while Quebec's entire forestry industry is in jeopardy. Tariffs have caused …
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Mr. Speaker, the Liberal government is promising legislation to reform the parole system and the bail system in particular. The notwithstanding clause would allow the government to exempt this law from being attacked on the basis of fundamental freedoms. Section 11 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees the presumption of innocence as well as the right not to be denied bail. Wou…
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Mr. Speaker, criminal law is always a fascinating topic of study, because two principles are pitted against one another: the imperative need for society to prevent crime versus the imperative need to avoid devolving into a police state where individual freedoms become meaningless. It is vital that we proceed with caution. The law clerks will probably ask the Conservatives whether they want to invo…
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Mr. Speaker, the underlying causes of crime are very complex. Would legislative changes impact certain individual cases? We cannot rule that out. However, the clients I represented, who were accused, never took the time to read the Criminal Code before committing a crime. Essentially, they were people who were suffering from addictions. We know that there are environmental factors that also need t…
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Mr. Speaker, what the Bloc Québécois believes is that we need to crack down on criminal organizations. That is the priority. We need to find ways to make their lives more difficult because these people destroy lives and make people feel unsafe. How can we do that? The proposals we have put forward will help to accomplish that. As for the rest, we went over subsection 515(10) of the Criminal Code. …
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his very relevant question, because there is indeed a risk. If this bill passes and I am still a criminal defence lawyer, I will certainly challenge its constitutionality from day one. It will be challenged on the grounds that it contradicts the fundamental freedoms enshrined in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. If this bill is rushed through, we wi…
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Mr. Speaker, I will be splitting my time with my colleague from Rivière‑du‑Nord. Today we have before us a Conservative motion asking us to proceed with an expeditious study of a bill that attacks the most fundamental rights of our fellow citizens. Who in the House protects every person's right to liberty? Who in the House protects every person's right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty u…
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Madam Speaker, the issues raised by my colleague and the proposal his party is putting forward today touch on fundamental rights enshrined in the charter: the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty by an impartial court, and the right to liberty. In this context, since we are dealing with fundamental guarantees that define our rule of law, it is important to remember that, even if we se…
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Mr. Speaker, I would like my colleague to comment on the Bloc Québécois's proposals. We believe the government should take aim at criminal organizations and give police forces the tools they need to do more damage to criminal organizations and do it faster. Those tools include creating an organized crime registry, prohibiting criminal organizations from parading around with their recognizable logo…
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague spoke about certain events that took place in his region. I want to talk to him about a decision handed down yesterday in my region, at the New Carlisle courthouse in the Gaspé. A man with no prior criminal offences was charged with sexual assault with a weapon, forcible confinement, assault and criminal harassment against three alleged victims over an extended period of …
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Madam Speaker, we in the Bloc Québécois already raised our concerns earlier regarding respect for provincial jurisdictions. That is a crucial point. Another important point is the protection of civil liberties. I was reading the testimony of the Privacy Commissioner who spoke at length when we were studying Bill C-26 about the risks of confidential and personal information unintentionally ending u…
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Madam Speaker, the minister's role is to bring together competing interests to come up with solutions. The minister did exactly the opposite in the Canada Post labour dispute. He dropped an atomic bomb on the negotiations by reforming Canada Post without consultation and without bothering to inform the workers. The result is that we now a full-blown general strike. No one is getting their mail. On…
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Madam Speaker, Quebeckers in the regions are concerned about the Canada Post reform, because every time Ottawa talks about modernization, it means cuts to services in the regions. Yesterday's announcement that the government is lifting the moratorium on the closure of rural post offices is being seen as a betrayal, and the end of home delivery outside major centres, especially in winter, is very b…
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Madam Speaker, I also congratulate my colleague on her speech. She raised a number of very relevant points, particularly regarding the centralization of power within cabinet, which has ultimately resulted in a law marked by numerous ambiguities. Of course, the Bloc Québécois wants to ensure that we have the means to deal with cyber-attacks, but we are very concerned about Quebec's jurisdiction bei…
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Mr. Speaker, I am pleased that we are able to talk about the cost of living, because it is true that there is a lot of financial insecurity. I may have said this before, but before I was a member of Parliament, I was a legal aid lawyer. I served the most vulnerable people. I am thinking of one of my clients, who was between 65 and 75, lived alone and was having a hard time paying her mortgage. I f…
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Madam Speaker, I salute my colleague, who represents a neighbouring riding. Between us lies the magnificent Chaleur Bay. We have something else in common. Our ridings have aging populations. Seniors are particularly vulnerable to financial insecurity. Many of them cannot increase their income, so the rising cost of living is hitting them hard. They are having to make virtually impossible choices. …
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Mr. Speaker, this government is obviously against the Act respecting the laicity of the State. Essentially, with the path it is taking, it does not need to attack secularism head-on. That is what it decided. It said that there are several other parties before the Supreme Court who will do so. However, by attacking the notwithstanding clause, which was perhaps a way for the Liberals to avoid adding…
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Mr. Speaker, for as far back as we can remember, Quebec has wanted freedom, the power to express its distinctiveness and the ability to make its own choices. This desire for freedom and democracy was behind the Patriotes movement in the 1830s and the Quiet Revolution in the 1960s. It is this desire for freedom and democracy that motivated the significant reforms made by René Lévesque's government …
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Mr. Speaker, I took the time to read Jean Chrétien's comments. Mr. Chrétien kind of answered my colleague's question by saying that the notwithstanding clause is a compromise. It is a compromise that Mr. Chrétien and Mr. Trudeau could both live with. What Mr. Chrétien said to those who feared that things would get too out of hand is that vigilance is always required and that there are ways for lob…
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Mr. Speaker, I wish to inform my colleague, although I am sure she already knows, that Alberta currently wants to use the notwithstanding clause. It is considering it. What the government is doing here, like with this debate, is far from being a distraction. We are in the process of discussing to what extent the provinces will be able to decide for themselves how they want to live and how they wan…
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Mr. Speaker, the Liberals' bias against Quebec's laws is clear from their stance against the notwithstanding clause. Ottawa's response is beyond belief. In its factum, the federal government justifies its attack against the notwithstanding clause by bringing up the possibility that Quebec could use it to “allow arbitrary executions or slavery”. Let me start by reassuring the government that Quebec…
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Mr. Speaker, the notwithstanding clause in Quebec has been used to protect fundamental aspects of Quebec's identity, such as the French language and secularism, but it has also been used for much more utilitarian purposes in other areas, such as small claims court and employment equity. To suggest that Quebec would use the notwithstanding clause to authorize slavery, executions and censorship and …
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Mr. Speaker, crime is up. Statistics show this to be true, in both Quebec and Canada. Between 2015 and 2024, there was a 47% increase in violent crimes in Quebec and a 63% increase in Canada. Between 2015 and 2024, there was a 138% increase in sexual assaults in Quebec. If we look at the figures per 100,000 inhabitants, they are slightly lower, but still, we see that crime is on the rise and that …
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Mr. Speaker, crime reduction is an important issue that is worth discussing. I have a question for my colleague. This act seeks to incarcerate more criminals for longer periods of time. Can my colleague provide us with even one statistic showing that this type of legislative measure eventually reduces crime in places where it is implemented?
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Mr. Speaker, I will ask my colleague the same question I asked earlier. Is there any evidence to prove that keeping people behind bars longer reduces crime? The member for Edmonton Gateway gave a rather simplistic answer to my question. He said that when someone is behind bars, they cannot commit crimes in the community. That is true, but eventually they will be released and re-enter society. In 1…
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for her speech, which was eloquent. I heard what she said about environmental factors that can partly explain crime, such as overcrowded housing and problems related to poverty. My question for my colleague is this: Why does she think rehabilitation is a better way to reduce the crime rate than lengthy prison sentences?
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Mr. Speaker, I agree that giving judges some discretion and allowing the justice system to identify the most appropriate solution on a case-by-case basis, according to the criteria set out in the Criminal Code and therefore based on the legislator's intent, is the right way to ensure that our justice system works properly. I will give an example. I once represented a woman who had a child to raise…
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Mr. Speaker, once a person has served part of their sentence, a decision is made by the Parole Board of Canada. As far as I know, it is not automatic. It depends on how the person behaves. We could potentially discuss improvements we could make, because it is true that we see articles in the media and do not understand why the person was released.
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Mr. Speaker, that study, which was conducted by the U.S. attorney general in 1999, came to two conclusions. First, after looking into the history of 300,000 prisoners, some of whom came from places where there was a “three strikes and you go to jail for a long time” rule, and others from places where there was no such rule, they realized that there was no effect on the recidivism rate. However, wh…
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Mr. Speaker, it has been mentioned several times that our justice system wantonly releases people who commit crime. I just want to come back to subsection 515(10) of the Criminal Code. A person accused of murder is held in custody, naturally. The Criminal Code states that a person can continue to be detained “where the detention is necessary for the protection or safety of the public” and if there…
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague is talking about changing conditional sentences or house arrest. Section 742.1 of the Criminal Code states: If a person is convicted of an offence and the court imposes a sentence of imprisonment of less than two years, the court may, for the purpose of supervising the offender’s behaviour in the community, order that the offender serve the sentence in the community...if …
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Mr. Speaker, obviously, everyone here is against crime. I have personally known a number of victims of crime and I am well aware of the unfortunate consequences that can arise, which can be tragic, sometimes even fatal. However, when my colleague mentions that community-based sentences need to be changed, I would like her to tell us what she thinks is wrong with section 742, since community-based …
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Mr. Speaker, today we honour the life and contributions of Gail Shea, a former Conservative minister and, more importantly, a dedicated citizen of Prince Edward Island, who passed away on August 21 at the age of 66. Ms. Shea came from a fishing family in western P.E.I. She had a knack for bringing people together across political lines, first by being elected to the Legislative Assembly of Prince …
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Mr. Speaker, last summer, the Conservatives called for a 100% surtax on electric vehicles manufactured in China, and a few months later, the Liberal government imposed that surtax. Of course, we share the Conservatives' concern about the cost of electric vehicles. I would like to know the government's position on this. According to an Abacus poll released yesterday, 53% of Canadians would prefer f…
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Madam Speaker, I would like to talk to my colleague. In our opinion, Bill C-5 is a major democratic setback. It is also a step backwards in our environmental protections. My colleague must know that supporting the closure motion and eventually the bill will not just put this on the Liberals' record; it will also be on the Conservatives' record. What will Bill C‑5 do? When a major project is propos…
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Mr. Speaker, I have a question for my colleague. The idea behind Bill C‑5, a bill that the government is determined to pass quickly, is to allow certain major projects to move forward without too many checks and balances. That is a matter of deep concern to the Bloc Québécois because we believe that the environmental protections put in place over the years serve a purpose. Why is the part of the C…
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Madam Speaker, to summarize what is in Bill C-5, once cabinet has decided that a bill is in the national interest, 13 laws will be set aside. They say that the ministers thought this bill had to move forward, regardless of all the legislation that has been passed over the years. Section 21 of the bill is quite alarming. It allows the government not only to set aside 13 laws and several regulations…
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister is imposing a gag order on Bill C‑5, which would give him the power to make decisions about energy projects by order in council, with no regard for Quebec or social licence. He is also rushing the passage of Bill C‑4. He is appointing ministers without a mandate letter stating his intentions, and he has ended Justin Trudeau's tradition of answering all questions in …
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Mr. Speaker, when we pass a bill, there is usually a reason. When we pass environmental protection measures, there is usually a reason. It is to protect the environment. My question for my colleague is this: What part of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act section that deals with disposal of pollutants in marine environments is unnecessary? Why do these protections need to be bulldozed to al…
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Mr. Speaker, earlier, I was telling the story of a law-abiding couple who made an honest mistake and yet were pursued relentlessly by the federal government. They still need to pay back that debt, so some clarity is in order regarding the legal action the government says it wants to take against GC Strategies. Has a notice been sent? I might remind members that we have been waiting for this for ov…
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to share a story with my colleague. It is the story of Jean‑Claude Martin and Gaétane Cyr, both residents of Baie‑des‑Chaleurs. I represented them as their legal aid lawyer. When they started living together, they filed a tax return as a couple. To get their guaranteed income supplement, they simply called and explained their situation to a public servant, without filling…
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Mr. Chair, Via Rail is funded by the federal government to provide regional rail service. The rail line will be operational in the coming weeks. Does the minister agree with me that, under the circumstances, Via Rail should resume service to Port-Daniel—Gascons?
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to follow up on my colleague's question. If this bill moves forward, what criteria would allow Canada Post employees to open mail: suspicion? Reasonable grounds?
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Mr. Speaker, I have a question for the minister. With regard to asylum claims, I understand that the problem related to the 14-day period has been resolved and that the period from which a claim for asylum can no longer be made has also been limited. Now we see, at first reading at least, that a new discretionary power has been given to the minister. When an asylum claim is deemed eligible by the …
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Mr. Speaker, I have a question for my colleague, who is very critical of the bill. One of the things he talks about is the importance of cracking down on fentanyl trafficking. What we see in the bill is that the Canada Post Corporation Act will now allow people who work for Canada Post to open not only parcels, but also letters, when they have reasonable grounds to suspect that something is not ri…
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Mr. Chair, the runway at the Magdalen Islands airport is too short, impeding our ability to send cargo by air. Can we work together to extend the runway at the Magdalen Islands airport to create a better economy?
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