Parliamentary Speeches
1,100 speeches by Andréanne Larouche — Page 21 of 22
Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, it is with a heavy heart that I rise today to speak to Bill C-233. The Bloc Québécois is obviously against the bill, which is essentially an anti-choice bill. The Bloc Québécois unequivocally defends the right of women to control their own bodies, their right to free choice and their right to free and accessible abortions. Of course, the Bloc Québécois opposes sex-selective abortion…
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Madam Speaker, polls that are taken out of context are not useful. The member said that 84% of Canadians are against sex-selective abortions. This is not a news flash, since no one supports sex-selective abortions. Does that mean that 84% of Canadians are in favour of chipping away at abortion rights and going as far as passing a law? Really? She also said 52% of Canadians were in favour of aborti…
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his presentation on Bill C-14. My colleague spoke at length about resilience. If there is one area that has been very resilient it is health care. Everyone who has worked hard to take care of COVID-19 victims has shown resilience. Therefore I say kudos to all those working in health care. My colleague also spoke a lot about the importance of preparedness and…
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Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for his speech, in which he mentioned the Canada emergency rent subsidy. What can he suggest for our farmers, who still do not have access to the program, since certain expenses are not deferrable so they are not eligible? I would like to know what he would tell them, because for some farmers, it is a real problem that they are still not eligible f…
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Mr. Speaker, the Liberals passed a resolution at their convention calling for old age security to be increased as of age 70, instead of 75, as the government wants. They are getting closer to the Bloc's position, which is to increase old age security for everyone 65 and older. That is the right position. The current proposal would create two classes of seniors: those aged 65 to 70 and those 70 and…
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Mr. Speaker, that is still discrimination on the basis of age. All seniors are experiencing a decline in purchasing power. All seniors are facing increased costs because of the pandemic. All seniors are suffering from the stay-at-home and isolation measures, and they are making sacrifices. All seniors deserve better support from the federal government. The government is finally recognizing that th…
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Madam Speaker, I request a recorded division.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his speech on this important bill, which has to do with the protection of privacy. However, as my colleague mentioned in his speech, there are still a lot of grey areas. In a recent question, my colleague from Berthier—Maskinongé brought up the cases of CERB fraud. Fraud was also discovered at the Canada Revenue Agency last fall. Some people therefore had pr…
Read full speech →Statements By Members
Madam Speaker, today I would like to draw your attention to an important campaign to promote Invisible Work Day, which was established in 2011 by the Association féminine d'éducation et d'action sociale, or Afeas. In 2010, thanks to the work of Bloc Québécois MP Nicole Demers, a motion received the unanimous support of the House to designate the first Tuesday in April as a day to reflect on this i…
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Madam Chair, I thank my colleague from Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie for his question. I would like to thank him once again for acknowledging my work, and I want to acknowledge his as well. Toxic masculinity, as I mentioned earlier, is such a huge problem. I have talked to groups like Afeas, which advocates for women's rights in Quebec. One thing we should focus on is equality, and one way to work tow…
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Madam Chair, I thank my colleague, with whom I have the honour of serving on the Standing Committee on the Status of Women. She just raised the issue of pay equity and I would like her to speak more about this. It is a major concern and symbolic when it comes to increasing women's salaries. In the end, a woman who remains below the poverty level runs the risk of being trapped in a cycle of violenc…
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Madam Chair, I think it is more crucial for women to regain a sense of safety and security. To do that, there must be adequate funding so that shelters have enough space and better measures to ensure the safety of women. We also needs laws like the one we passed last fall to ensure the elimination of prejudice and better training for judges for cases of sexual assault, and that victims report thei…
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Madam Chair, I thank my colleague very much for her question and for fighting for the feminist cause. We are members of the Canadian Association of Feminist Parliamentarians. As I mentioned in my speech, during the pandemic, some shelters said that they had not received enough funding. Organizations such as the CALACS, the sexual assault help centres that work with survivors, did not have access t…
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Madam Chair, the amounts transferred during the crisis to Quebec, the provinces and the territories obviously could have been increased. I thank my colleague for her question. I would like to commend her work as former chair of the Standing Committee on the Status of Women. This summer, the committee examined the impact of the pandemic on women and girls. We heard from some organizations that said…
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Madam Chair, I thank my colleague for her question. My God, that is a huge issue. One thing I can say for sure about toxic masculinity and violence is that men need to be part of the conversation. Education is also part of it. We have to be able to talk to our boys and our men and encourage them to seek help. That might have to be part of our education programs, but that comes under the jurisdicti…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Chair, I thank my colleague from Victoria for her question. Obviously, when we talk about help for health in serious cases, such as those involving brain injuries, for example, we need to increase funding for the entire health care system so that it can deal with the increased number of cases of domestic violence and better help victims. The reason why organizations have difficulty funding t…
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Madam Chair, it is an honour to have a woman presiding this evening. I rise with a lump in my throat to speak to this deeply tragic and heartbreaking issue: rising rates of femicide. I will read part of the motion, which, unfortunately, reflects just how sad this situation is: That the House: (a) mourn the lives of the seven women who lost their lives to heinous acts of femicide in Quebec in the p…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Chair, I thank the hon. Leader of the Opposition for his speech. Everyone here tonight recognizes that it is important to reduce the degree of politicization in a debate as emotional as the one we are having on violence against women. If there is one issue that should not be politicized right now, but rather should be pushed ahead in the interest of women's safety, it is more effective gun c…
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Madam Chair, I thank the hon. minister for her intervention. I am especially touched that we are having this debate this evening because, as we know, it is a problem, particularly in Quebec, but also across Canada. I would like to hear from the minister regarding the action plan on gender-based violence. Last summer, during the Standing Committee on the Status of Women's study on the effects of th…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague opposite for his presentation. However, first I will actually commend the work of my colleagues from Rivière-du-Nord and Laurentides—Labelle, who have done an outstanding job on the ethics committee and the WE Charity file. The member for Kingston and the Islands spoke of a document. Just this morning, in his speech, the member for Rivière-du-Nord said that the do…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, today, the Canadian Medical Association released a new study showing that the cost of elder care alone will increase by $490 billion over the next 10 years. Ottawa has responded with a single $4-billion transfer. This study reminds us that, as the Bloc Québécois has always reiterated, seniors do not need national standards, they need health funding to increase on an ongoing basis. Wha…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question. When listening to the testimony at the Standing Committee on the Status of Women, I felt like I was watching a ping-pong match, with the ball flying back and forth between the ombudsman, the minister and the Prime Minister's Office. I assume my colleague is seeing the same thing at the Standing Committee on National Defence. In the end, who are t…
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Mr. Speaker, I am shocked to hear my colleague say that we are undermining the work of the committees. I would remind my colleague that with respect to the other part of today's motion regarding the WE Charity, we had a report before us and it was the government that slammed the brakes on the work of the committees by proroguing Parliament last summer. I can give other examples. A major report on …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, that is an excellent question. The reason I read out the motion is that witnesses who have not yet appeared are named in it. We had this same debate at the Standing Committee on the Status of Women. There were attempts to not summon certain people who were key witnesses. I think the key to getting to the bottom of this whole thing is letting both committees do their investigations. To…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I am on target for time. Since Tuesday, the Standing Committee on the Status of Women has resumed its study of the issue of sexual misconduct. The Standing Committee on National Defence is also examining it. Our first witness was the Minister of National Defence, who basically repeated that he found these allegations concerning and disturbing, yet he did nothing about them for over th…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I want to commend my colleague from Rivière-du-Nord for his hard work and his speech on these two files that we are talking about today, namely WE Charity and the cases of sexual assault within the Canadian Armed Forces. These two files provide clear evidence of this Liberal government's lack of transparency with regard to all of the things it is trying to hide from us for various rea…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Chair, I thank my colleague for her speech. She spoke about how we need to ensure women have safe, adequate housing to break the cycle of violence. Why is it important for the federal government to invest more by transferring more money to Quebec, the provinces and the territories to do just that?
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Chair, I thank my colleague from Saanich—Gulf Islands for her comments and her involvement in the feminist cause. We are both members of the Canadian Association of Feminist Parliamentarians, which is a cause that unites us, much like the environmental cause. That being said, a few days ago, I had the opportunity to watch some United Nations meetings. Because of the pandemic, an event that w…
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Madam Chair, I thank my colleague from Sherbrooke for her speech. She identified the problem correctly. It needs to be said again and again. When we talk about femicide, we are talking about women being killed because they were women. On top of that, there is the importance of supporting survivors. I am also familiar with the shelter sector. I am even a sponsor in my community. I would like to hig…
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Madam Chair, I thank my colleague for her speech. She talked a lot about what is happening internationally. In my speech, I mentioned that 10% of women lived in fear of intimate partner violence during the pandemic. I said that number was three times higher for indigenous women. According to the UN, internationally, that 10% is tripled, which means that 30% of women are living in fear of intimate …
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Madam Chair, I thank my colleague from Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie for his speech and his work. He named the seven victims, but I would like to take a moment to do something that has not been done. I would like to offer my condolences to the friends and relatives of these seven victims and of the 160 victims who died last year in Canada, Quebec and the territories. It is important to remember these …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I thank the hon. minister for introducing Bill C-22. I used to work for a community organization focused on alternative justice. We worked on preventing crime among young people who sometimes had drug problems. We obviously quickly learned that criminalization was not a solution in some cases. What these people needed was more support. Public health plays a very important role in th…
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his speech, and I would like to share some facts with him. Studies show that minimum sentences have actually contributed to the criminalization of certain people and have created problems within some of the more marginalized communities, such as indigenous people. They are more in need of public health supports than incarceration. Minimum sentences result in…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his comment. I would once again invite him to reconsider the attack that the Liberals and the NDP are making on the jurisdictions of Quebec and the provinces. As I mentioned at the beginning of my speech, Quebec is already looking into solutions. It is looking at what happened during the crisis in order to come up with real solutions. Long-term care homes we…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the member for Montcalm. As I rise to speak to this motion, which calls for national standards and the nationalization of long-term care homes, or CHSLDs, as we know them, I feel a sense of exasperation. As everyone might expect, we vehemently oppose the motion because it proposes outright interference in an area under the jurisdiction of Quebec and th…
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague from Salaberry—Suroît for her excellent question. I did not have time to do so during my speech, but I had planned to give some examples of times when the federal government tried to interfere in matters in Quebec by asking the province to take action in the area of health. Every time, the action the federal government asked Quebec to take was not in line with i…
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague from Battlefords—Lloydminster for her speech on this issue that affects seniors. She spoke about the important role the health care system plays in caring for seniors, and not national standards dictated by the federal government, since this is not a federal jurisdiction. Today's situation is the result of years of underfunding in health care, from both Liberal …
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Madam Speaker, as I said, there are some things that the federal government could have acted on much more quickly by looking after its own affairs. I am thinking of the issue of border security. FADOQ told me that many seniors wondered why the federal government did not act sooner. It also could have been transparent about vaccines. Seniors were first on the vaccination list, but there was a lack …
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Madam Speaker, one aspect I was not able to touch on in my speech was union leaders' support for the National Assembly of Quebec's demand for increased health transfers, which would help resolve the crisis. What are my colleague's thoughts on that?
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, what the government needs to do is support all seniors 65 and up, not separate them into two classes as of the age of 75. It is just as difficult for a 74-year-old to lose their spouse to COVID-19 as it is for a 76-year-old. It is just as difficult for a 74-year-old to be deprived of the company of their grandchildren as it is for a 76-year-old. It is just as difficult for a 74-year-o…
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Mr. Speaker, today, let us take time to remember the more than 10,500 Quebeckers we lost and were unable to mourn properly. I would be remiss if I failed to point out that nearly 95% of those who were taken from us were seniors. They were the ones hit hardest by the pandemic, by the isolation and by the death of a spouse or friend. Today, when the focus is on the struggles of those aged 65 and ove…
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for her intervention. Bill C-12 is obviously a vital bill, and I am not the only one saying so. However, the bill is not ambitious enough and we need to go further. Once again, it is not me who is saying so, it is the mothers, grandmothers and aunts of the Mothers Step In movement who are worried. I spoke earlier about the lack of transparency and the fact that …
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his speech. I would like to pick up on the previous question. The issue was lack of accountability. There is really a lack of accountability and objectivity when the minister writes his own report and does his own evaluation. I am not alone in saying that. Groups I have met with recently, such as Mothers Step In, have pointed it out too. Bill C-12 also lacks…
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague from Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier for his speech on Bill C-12. He spoke a lot about Mothers Step In. I also met representatives from this movement at an event where there were some very interesting conversations. Mothers Step In has criticized the 2050 deadline set in Bill C-12, saying that the date is too far off and that the targets in the bill are inadequate. How…
Read full speech →Statements By Members
Mr. Speaker, I wish to recognize the appointment of Lieutenant-General Frances Allen as vice chief of the defence staff. She is the first woman to become second-in-command of the Canadian Forces. This is great news, because on Monday we celebrated International Women's Day. It is also great news in a week marked by what appears to be a culture of sexual misconduct in the military running rampant u…
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Mr. Speaker, yesterday, the Bloc Québécois convinced all opposition parties that seniors' pensions must be increased. For the first time, the House of Commons voted to demand that the government increase pensions by $110 a month for seniors aged 65 and up. The House recognized that seniors are hit the hardest by the pandemic and that we are indebted to those who built Quebec and Canada. Will the g…
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Mr. Speaker, the government must stop mixing up one-time support provided during the pandemic and ongoing assistance that seniors have been waiting for since the last election campaign. Old age pensions must be increased at age 65, not 75, because we do not have two classes of seniors. People aged 65 and up are just as affected by the pandemic as people aged 75. They are experiencing the same isol…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, a year ago, we were taking turns speaking in the House to mark March 8. It was a March 8 like any other, as our political parties took turns praising the work women do and the achievements that have been made. It was a March 8 like any other, with all the parties proclaiming themselves as feminists. A year later, everything has changed in Canada, in Quebec and around the world. Men an…
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Mr. Speaker, the pension should be increased at the age of 65, not 75. Seniors are the people who have endured the longest and strictest lockdowns. They are affected the most by rising prices. They are clearly affected the most by the virus. They are affected the most by isolation, which hurts their mental health and accelerates cognitive decline in the most fragile individuals. During the electio…
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Mr. Speaker, seniors are most affected by COVID-19 but have received the least support from the federal government. It is even worse for women, who are more likely to live in precarious circumstances after age 65. That is why the Bloc Québécois is calling for a $110-a-month increase to the old age security pension for seniors 65 and over, as we think of our mothers and grandmothers in particular. …
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