Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, after eight years of this Prime Minister's soft-on-crime policies, the consequences are devastating. In Vancouver, the same 40 offenders were arrested 6,000 times in a single year. The Liberal government is fine with releasing criminals back into their communities. Shootings in Montreal are on the rise. The government is reducing sentences for gun crimes. This cannot happen in Canad…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I have a question for my esteemed colleague from Abitibi, who sits on the Standing Committee on Industry and Technology and is the best at promoting his beloved region. I have many things in common with him. I, too, am a member of the Standing Committee on Industry and Technology, and last year we witnessed the sale of a certain company, Neo Lithium, to be specific. The company, which…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Madam Speaker, in its eight years in power, the Liberal government could hardly have done worse. Inflation is at a 40-year high, and interest rates have gone up nine times in the past year even though, just six months ago, the Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance said rates would stay low. As a result, young people cannot afford to buy a house, rents have skyrocketed, and steadily rising foo…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, after eight years with this Prime Minister, our cities are becoming less and less safe. The crime rate has increased by 32%. Murders committed by street gangs have almost doubled. This is all due to the soft-on-crime approach of this government, which has made it easier for violent criminals to be released on bail and has eliminated mandatory prison sentences for crimes committed wi…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, this government is acting as though there is no problem. However, Canadians have been dealing with the direct impacts of this government's bad policies for eight years. Nearly half of the shooting-related homicides in Toronto last year were committed by one or more individuals who were out on bail. The last thing people want is for this phenomenon to spread across the country. The b…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, even after $50 million was spent on the ArriveCAN app, the Commissioner of Official Languages has reprimanded the government over the app's language issues. A Canadian travelling in the United States was unable to get the French version of the app, even though it is one of this country's two official languages. The government spent a fortune on a service that violated the rights of fr…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, people in rural regions like mine and across Canada have to heat their homes. The cold weather has set in. What happens in winter? Bills go up. The worst thing is that they will continue to go up with the Liberals' plan to triple their carbon tax. People do not need long-term measures right now. They need immediate action to help them get through the coming winter. They are stretche…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, as you know, we are submitting a dissenting report. This government went on a spending spree during the COVID‑19 pandemic. Over $200 billion of that was not associated with COVID‑19 at all. Inevitably, we cannot accept this report as is. That is why we will be filing a dissenting report.
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, ever since it was reported in the media that the Chinese communist regime tried to influence the outcome of elections in Canada, the Prime Minister keeps saying that he was not briefed on it, that he was not informed. He must know something, however, because Canada's intelligence services cannot keep the Prime Minister in the dark. That is impossible. Did he receive any briefings or m…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, Rendez-vous Affaires 2022 took place on October 13 and 14 on my initiative. It was an economic event to give us an opportunity to get to know each other in a large riding like mine. We can be extremely proud of the event's success, which was held with the support of the three chambers of commerce for the Rivière‑du‑Loup, Montmagny and Kamouraska—L'Islet RCMs. Given that 75 exhibitors …
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, Canadians are worried. They feel as though they have lost control of their finances, and they are right. Today, we learned that the consumer price index was 6.9% higher in October than it was a year ago. Here are some concrete examples. A pound of butter now costs $8.29 and a litre of gasoline costs over $2.50, sometimes even $3 in some regions. These increasing prices are having unfo…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Madam Speaker, inflation is at a 40-year high. This week, butter, which is usually a staple on Canadian families' tables, is $8.29 a pound. It has practically become a luxury good. More and more parents are being forced to make agonizing choices, or even worse, to go without meals so their children can eat. Food banks were visited by 1.5 million Canadians in a single month. That is the sad reality…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, everything costs more. The cost of food has gone up 10% and the cost of housing has doubled since the Prime Minister took office. Diesel fuel now costs over $2.50 a litre in Quebec. Rather than helping families, the government wants to take more money from workers' pay cheques. The only thing we are asking the government to do is to not increase taxes. Will it do that in 2023?
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, we are definitely not living in the same reality. Families are struggling and they are being forced to use their credit cards more and more to stay afloat and meet their basic needs. A recent Equifax study shows that the average credit card balance has reached a record high in Canada. Over half of Canadians polled said that they were concerned about their level of personal debt. The…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, because of this government's non-stop spending, inflation keeps rising and families in Quebec have to cope with ever-increasing bills. Instead of spending prudently over the past few years, the government kept spending recklessly. For example, it sank $54 million into the pricey ArriveCAN app, an app that could have been developed over a weekend for $250,000. The difference is astound…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, many Quebeckers, especially those living in rural areas, heat their homes with oil, whose price has doubled since last year. Many Canadian and Quebec families must make tough choices in order to cover the costs of food and housing, in addition to paying their heating bill, because people in Quebec and Canada have no choice. With winter quickly approaching, we are asking the government…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I have the honour to table a petition about Bill S‑223, a bill that seeks to combat trafficking in human organs. This bill has appeared in various forms in the House of Commons over the past 15 years at least, and I think we need to pass it. This petition urges us to pass Bill S‑223 as quickly as possible.
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the average Canadian family will have to pay $1,200 more for food this year. This is simply impossible for some families. Parents are going without meals in order to feed their children properly, and demand for food banks is skyrocketing across the country. The Liberal government is about to triple the carbon tax and increase the EI tax. As a result, the cost of food, goods and servic…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, following hurricane Fiona, which hammered the Magdalen Islands and Atlantic Canada, it is now time for action. Extremely violent winds and rain have left behind incredible damage: flooded buildings, impassable roads, ports and boats destroyed. I know that the residents of the Magdalen Islands are resilient and are helping each other admirably. Will the government make sure that any in…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, I am pleased to take part in the second reading debate on Bill C-238, An Act respecting the French language. This bill was introduced by the member for Salaberry—Suroît, and I thank her for her work on it. The member has concerns about the future of the French language, as do I, and as do we all. I am proud to be a long-time member of the Standing Committee on Official Languages, wh…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, according to Statistics Canada inflation remained above 7% last month. Why? It is because of this government's incompetence and its failure to understand the economy. As long as the Liberal-NDP coalition is in place, Canadians and Quebeckers will have to deal with this inflation. Will the Liberals promise to at least cancel the tax hikes? If not, why not?
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the passport crisis is quite simply shocking and unacceptable. Mario Dumont, the well-known TVA host, said that the government is treating Canadians like cattle. Let us think about that. People are exasperated and desperate, but the minister says that everything is fine and has been repeating the same platitudes from day one. She needs to get every employee back in person, and open pa…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, up until last week, people had to bring a lawn chair with them to the passport office. Now they have to bring along a tent, because they have to camp out all night just to get a passport. That is outrageous. When we ask the minister questions, she tells us that there are far more applications now than there were last year. That is not true. There are currently fewer applications than …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, we often hear that we cannot do indirectly what we cannot do directly. Nevertheless, the government has all the options in front of it to help the agricultural sector and farmers through this crisis. The Conservative Party fully supports the idea of Canada imposing tariffs on Russia as a result of the situation in Ukraine. That is not the issue. Farmers agree with that decision, but…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, I want to share the story of Clovis, a talented and imaginative little boy from Saint‑Cyrille‑de‑Lessard. The first summer of the COVID-19 pandemic, when he was two years old, Clovis started experiencing strange symptoms, which led to hospital visit after hospital visit, where he was poked and prodded. It was a very painful, emotional and worrisome time for both him and his family. Fi…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I will be sharing my time with my colleague from Niagara Falls. Niagara is a beautiful spot in Canada, but not as beautiful as Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup. I am very pleased to rise in the House this evening to share my thoughts on Bill C-19, an act to implement certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on April 7, 2022 and other measures. The first thin…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I seldom rise in the House, and so I hope that you will listen to me, as my colleagues obviously will. The Conservative Party proposed very concrete solutions to address inflation and the cost of gas, food and housing. Yesterday, our interim leader moved an opposition motion that was debated and voted on. The motion called for the implementation of simple, sensible and concrete solu…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague. I did not say my colleague's name. I did say the name of her riding, which I am entitled to do. One solution is to give people a break on the cost of gas. We need to have a tax rebate or cut taxes right before the construction holidays. We will be on summer vacation soon. The weather is really nice here tonight in Ottawa. We are starting to see tourists in the …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for that excellent question. Grocery bills for an average family of four are out of control because of food prices. I saw the same thing when I was young. That was 40 years ago, and the fact that young families are going through this again is outrageous. Government revenue is growing exponentially. The government is in a position to give all Canadian families a …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, shootings are happening more and more often in the greater Montreal area. Fear is taking hold in some neighbourhoods, and children have been traumatized by shootings in broad daylight. What is the government doing to address this? With Bill C-5, it is eliminating mandatory prison time for armed robbery, armed extortion and weapons trafficking. What is the world coming to? Why is the g…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, farmers in my region and throughout Quebec are being squeezed. Not only is the price of diesel skyrocketing, but the price of fertilizer is soaring too. As if that were not enough, farmers are facing unending immigration delays at Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. Foreign workers cannot even enter Canada. Some farmers are afraid they are going to lose their crops, the th…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Madam Speaker, this is Tourism Week in Canada. I have the privilege of being the proud representative of a special region blessed with a river, monadnocks, countless lakes and streams, a variety of fauna and, especially, super nice people. There is so much to do back home that you could spend the entire summer there, either whale watching from Rivière‑du‑Loup or bird watching on L'Île‑aux‑Lièvres …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the wait times for passports are absolutely ludicrous. The situation is out of control. Last week, people went to passport offices with their lawn chairs. People do not want to vacation at passport offices. They want to go on vacation somewhere in Canada or somewhere else in the world. The solution is very simple. All we need to do is get staff into the passport offices. What is the g…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, an entrepreneur in my riding, Tony Ouellet, president of Feuillages du Québec, relies on temporary foreign workers to run his business. Unfortunately, only one of the three workers he hired has arrived. Nothing is happening at Immigration Canada with respect to the other two. Many planting contracts must be completed by June 15, which is in two weeks, or he will have to pay severe pen…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the price of houses in Canada has jumped from $434,000 to $868,000. That is basically double. Young families who hope to one day buy a reasonably priced home close to work and near schools to raise their children find themselves in a completely impossible situation. The dream of home ownership is being shattered by the exorbitant cost of housing. However, the government keeps repeatin…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, it is five minutes to midnight. I wonder why, after a debate on the importance of French in Canada, the minister responsible for this file is giving a speech at 11:55 p.m. I honestly think I know the answer: “on s'en sacre comme de l'an quarante”. That is a French saying from Quebec that basically means that they could not care less. I cannot believe it. Why did the minister not giv…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, it could be done by simply adopting a law that really meets the needs of francophone communities across the country, including in Quebec. The problem with this government is that it has dragged its feet for seven years now. It has not taken any of the measures necessary to protect the French language in Canada. These are actual facts. I did not make them up. The numbers speak for th…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I am pleased to contribute to the debate on Bill C-13, an act to amend the Official Languages Act, so that I can express how the Liberals are disappointing everyone who is concerned about the decline of French across Canada and how the current government does not seem to be taking this seriously. The evidence shows that we have been asking for weeks to move this bill forward so that…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for his question. The government has never met its own targets for francophone immigration, particularly outside Quebec. We have not even reached 2%, when we should be around 4.4%. The Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne du Canada, or FCFA, has proposed increasing the target for francophone immigration to 12%, 15%, or even 20% in Canada's f…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I am not entirely against this idea, but respect for both official languages in Canada must fundamentally be achieved with the collaboration of all of Canada's provinces and Quebec, which could most certainly take charge, to some extent, of efforts to increase the number of francophones throughout Quebec and Canada. We agree. I am currently replacing my colleague from Richmond—Artha…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, inflation is affecting everyone and every sector. The price of diesel is verging on $3 a litre. It is awful. The impact is real, and it is especially hard on farmers who rely on fuel for transportation and for their farming equipment. They were being choked by Liberal taxes, and now they are being suffocated by them. The government blames external factors, but in reality, the govern…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the pandemic has affected all of us, and all Canadians, in one way or another. The stress and uncertainty have had a devastating impact on Canadians' mental health. In the spirit of Mental Health Week, the time is long overdue to take action to address the impact the pandemic has had on all Canadians and ensure adequate mental health care for everyone. However, there is absolutely not…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, many projects of all sorts in our ridings had to be shelved because of the pandemic. For over two years now, town celebrations, festivals, dances and many other events have had to be postponed or, in most cases, cancelled. Today, I am happy to say that, just as we are now seeing signs of spring, we are also beginning to see signs of a return to normal life. I am also pleased to announ…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I am not looking to stir up trouble, given that I am not a member of the Bloc, but the majority of Canadians are starting to return to in-person work after two years of a pandemic. However, certain federal workplaces are still largely shuttered, and Passport Canada is no exception. Visits are by appointment only, but if anyone wants to make an appointment, they had better be ready to …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I rise today to discuss what disappoints us the most, as Conservatives, in the wake of the tabling of what could be described as a very bad budget on the Thursday before Easter break. I remember a time when the Conservatives were accused of acting in bad faith for tabling bills or budgets just before a long break. The transparency of this Liberal government leaves something to be de…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, my answer will be very brief. Considering the NDP's showing in my riding, I would hazard a guess that it was not such a great idea.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague from Laurentides—Labelle. She is right to point out that the government can hold as many summits as it wants, but the provincial governments, through the Council of the Federation, have demanded an increase in health transfers. The Conservative Party promised to unconditionally increase health transfers during the last election campaign. Based on this budget and…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, as I said in my speech, like the government, we had no choice but to support the pandemic spending. Obviously, we are not disputing that. We think that the government did far too much, but that is another issue. Then there is the matter of young people. I am a businessman, and I have some young employees. They are not getting paid $80,000, $100,000 or $200,000 a year, but these youn…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I am very proud to present a petition today on behalf of the members of Development and Peace in Quebec, but also across Canada. This petition is signed by several hundred people who are calling on the government to ensure that Canadian businesses that invest in the mining sector in developing countries prevent adverse human rights impacts and environmental damage throughout their ope…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Madam Speaker, April is cancer awareness month. I was very happy to become the honorary co-chair of the 2022 Leucan shaved head challenge in the Montmagny region together with Jean‑Philippe Dumas, sales manager at Planchers Mercier. This important annual event is an opportunity to raise awareness of the fact that our children also experience health problems. Leucan provides services tailored speci…
Read full speech →