Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I congratulate you on your appointment. I have a question for my colleague. All day long, the Liberals have been asking questions about the fact that certain provinces or places have a hybrid Parliament. The Quebec National Assembly is 100% in person, and it is completely safe. We can do the exact same thing here, in the Canadian Parliament. Some significant safety measures have been …
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, it is with a heavy heart that I rise to address the Chair, my colleagues and all Canadians who are watching at home. My deepest sympathies are with the grieving families, friends and colleagues of Jérôme, Vincent, Yannick and Benjamin. I learned earlier this week that a third young man in the Montmagny region took his own life. He was the fourth member of the same group of friends who…
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Mr. Speaker, the Liberal government is continuing its cover-up by preventing us, the parliamentarians, from getting all the facts about the firing of two scientists from the National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg. Yesterday, the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons even insulted the law clerk and parliamentary counsel by stating that he did not have the necessary training or expe…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, I am pleased to request a recorded division.
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, regional airlines have been devastated by the COVID‑19 pandemic. As if that were not bad enough, to add insult to injury, Transport Canada has told Aviation MH, a company in Rivière‑du‑Loup, which is in my riding, to pay $544 just to change its mailing address. Is the Minister of Transport okay with his department exacting its pound of flesh from a hard-hit business just to reprint a …
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Mr. Speaker, during question period, in one of the responses we heard from the heritage minister, the sound quality was so poor that I had to remove my earpiece. On top of that, on two occasions, two Bloc Québécois members left their microphones on at certain points, one of them continuously, which I think is totally unacceptable after 14 months of using these technologies. When I was in Ottawa la…
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Mr. Speaker, we knew the Liberals tried to give dead people the vote, but this week we found out they were perfectly willing to send cheques to dead people. That really takes the cake. How can the Prime Minister justify sending $9.2 million in COVID-19 support to dead people? This is unbelievable. This being National AccessAbility Week, I would like to know if the money that was sent in error will…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Chair, I thank the leader of the Bloc for his important and heartfelt speech. We know that in Quebec, Bill 79 is currently being studied by the National Assembly. Indigenous chiefs are asking that all sites in Quebec be secured. It is important to know that Quebec's history is not necessarily noble either when it comes to first nations. Of course, history teaches us about all sorts of things t…
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister repeatedly promised not to leave anyone behind. I repeat: not leave anyone behind. As we speak, young mothers who gave birth between the first and second waves of the COVID-19 pandemic are still not eligible for the Canada recovery caregiving benefit because of the rules this government brought in, requiring claimants to already have their child registered for child…
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Mr. Speaker, Les Viandes du Breton, a business in my riding with more than 600 employees, is in danger of having to cut back its operations or even having to move to the United States if Canada cannot bring in enough temporary foreign workers. There are over 8,000 job vacancies in the food processing industry in Quebec. Under paragraph 205(a) of the regulations, the Minister of Immigration could t…
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has repeatedly said that he will not let anyone down during this pandemic. Unfortunately, he is letting down young mothers who cannot access the Canada recovery caregiving benefit, the CRCB, because they were unable to enrol their baby in day care between the second and third waves of COVID-19 so they could return to work. Creating a national child care system in 20…
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Mr. Speaker, six years ago, former justice Marie Deschamps produced a report. The government has done absolutely nothing since then. It just appointed another justice, Louise Arbour, to analyze the situation again even though we already know the findings in the first report. Does my colleague think that the new report will contribute new insight that will change decisions and enable the armed forc…
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Mr. Speaker, the government is pushing ahead with using the Broadcasting Act to give itself the power to regulate content on social media even though social media platforms do not use public airwaves. The Internet was supposed to give people the freedom to express themselves, and even Canadian Heritage saw the value of exempting YouTube and Facebook from the new CRTC rules. Why did the Liberals en…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the retirement of my assistant of the past five years in Rivière-du-Loup, Hélène Leclerc. Hélène has been a pillar of the service we have been providing the community together since 2015. My constituents often commented on Hélène's excellent service. Her insights, her attention to detail and her careful approach over the years helped the entire team hone our …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I like my colleague, because he is mischievous and tries to make me say things I would never say. We Conservatives will not talk about cuts. We will talk about financial and fiscal responsibility. I think there is a very big difference between the two. We cannot keep going at the rate the Liberals are going now and will be going for the next few years. I would like to point out once…
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Madam Speaker, I apologize. It was a slip of the tongue. I was saying that people in my riding cannot understand the current Prime Minister's deficit policy. Our children and grandchildren will have to pay for it. The Prime Minister once said that the budget will balance itself, which is unbelievable. A budget cannot balance itself. We have to work to make that happen.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, today we are talking about the 2021 federal budget. This is the Liberals' first budget in two years. I have to say that, sadly, this does not bode well for future generations. In addition to about $400 billion in unbudgeted spending over the past year, this budget includes another $150 billion in red ink for the year to come. Moreover, if everything is okay in five years, the govern…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for her question. I agree that the fact that this budget was presented by Canada's first female Minister of Finance is a huge step forward for Canada and for all Canadian women. That being said, we Conservatives definitely agree that the health transfers must be increased unconditionally. We also agree that there should not be two classes of senior…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question. We have always agreed that people who do business in Canada should pay their fair share of taxes. This is a good principle that applies to all Canadians. My colleague is correct in saying that, in accounting, there is a right-hand column and a left-hand column. The problem with the Liberals is that they only pay attention to the spending, not t…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise today to speak to Bill C-265, introduced by the member for Salaberry—Suroît. The bill focuses on EI sickness benefits, which have been capped at 15 weeks since the 1970s, whereas EI regular benefits can last up to 26, or even 50, weeks. This is not a new issue. I heard about it from Marie-Hélène Dubé, a Rivière-du-Loup resident who contacted me about it. I hear ab…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Salaberry—Suroît for her excellent speech and her excellent bill. As she indicated when she was introducing her bill, we have decided to support this legislation and we will continue to support it. I have a very simple question for her. The Parliamentary Budget Officer believes that anyone eligible could take full advantage of the entire benefit period. The r…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, last year when the Prime Minister was announcing his COVID-19 assistance measures he said that no one would be left behind. Rosalie, a young mother from Montmagny, recently finished her maternity leave and at the dawn of the third wave she is being denied the Canada recovery caregiving benefit by a Canada Revenue Agency officer because her daughter was not previously registered for …
Read full speech →Emergency Debate
Madam Speaker, I do not know whether my colleague from Edmonton Strathcona is aware of the relationship between Campus Saint-Jean and the Collège de Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pocatière. They have an agreement dating back a number of years that enables anglophone and francophile students from Campus Saint-Jean to come learn and improve their French in La Pocatière. We have that in common. For me, it is imp…
Read full speech →Emergency Debate
Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for her excellent speech. I find it very interesting that she wants to broaden the discussion on university education. I have a question for her, since she worked in university administration for about 10 years, if I understood correctly. What does she think could have happened to make Laurentian University file for protection under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency…
Read full speech →Emergency Debate
Madam Speaker, I listened closely to my colleague. As a francophone from eastern Ontario, near Quebec, these issues are obviously important to him. I have asked my question many times during this debate this evening. What are the real measures the Liberal government has been able to take in light of these problems? His colleague from northern Ontario said earlier that the financial problems at Lau…
Read full speech →Emergency Debate
Mr. Speaker, I listened closely to the speech my colleague from the region gave. He is a parliamentary secretary, as my other colleague said earlier. Apparently the situation we are in now has been in the making for months, maybe even for more than a year. The government talks about partnering with the provinces, but it looks more like the government wants provinces to shoulder the burden. In this…
Read full speech →Emergency Debate
Mr. Speaker, my question for my colleague is quite simple: Has the government already determined the amount of money that could be reinvested in Laurentian University?
Read full speech →Emergency Debate
Mr. Speaker, I will repeat the answer I gave earlier. We can judge what was done in the past and, of course, we need to change things to avoid repeating the same mistakes. The students, teachers and researchers are not the ones responsible. The only ones responsible for the present mess are the administrators. They must be held responsible, and we must replace them if they failed to do the work re…
Read full speech →Emergency Debate
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question. As I said earlier, since we cannot change the past, we must look to the future. There will be other opportunities, primarily financial ones. I agree with my colleague that the university is just as French as it is English; it may even be more English than French. The reality is that the federal government can intervene in very specific areas and …
Read full speech →Emergency Debate
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question. The Bloc Québécois is well aware that Canada is a country where English is predominant and French is the minority language. When it comes to issues that affect official language minority communities, the situation is precarious. Over the years, the Official Languages Act has helped support these communities. I agree with my colleague that there i…
Read full speech →Emergency Debate
Mr. Speaker, before I begin my speech, I would like to acknowledge my colleague from Sudbury. Earlier this evening, he gave a very important speech about his region, his city, his family and Laurentian University, an institution I am quite sure he cares deeply about. It was my pleasure and privilege to work with him at the official languages committee for several years. I want to acknowledge him a…
Read full speech →Emergency Debate
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his excellent speech this evening. Brenda Austin-Smith, the president of the Canadian Association of University Teachers, said that poor decisions on campus modernization left Laurentian with big mortgages on still half-empty buildings. I believe that reflects what my colleague just said in his speech about how universities have to adapt to new technology whil…
Read full speech →Emergency Debate
Mr. Speaker, I thank the minister for her speech. I imagine that she has known for a while that Laurentian University has been struggling. She probably knew before the university decided to seek bankruptcy protection. When was she informed that the university was experiencing difficulties? What did she do when she got this information? She certainly did not learn only at the beginning of February …
Read full speech →Emergency Debate
Madam Speaker, I thank my NDP colleagues for bringing forward the very important matter of Laurentian University, in northern Ontario, and the problems it is facing. We all agree that access to higher education in French is extremely important in Canada, especially for francophone minority communities. From what I have been reading over the past few hours, Laurentian University filed for protectio…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I have a very simple question for my colleague. The parliamentary secretary, who just asked a question, said that we cannot say “yes” to the government for subsidies but “no” to the Liberals. As my Conservative colleague said, the fact is that it is very hard to trust this government. By way of comparison, if a spouse asked to spend the equivalent of $600 billion from the family budge…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the three opposition parties, including the Conservatives, agreed that there was a need to extend EI benefits from 15 to 50 weeks in the case of serious illness. We all agree on that. We will not accuse the government of overspending, because we realize that this is an extremely important social safety net for people who are fighting for their life. Is the Prime Minister committed to …
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Mr. Speaker, a Mexican immigrant has made it through the entire selection process. His employer, which is in my riding, is naturally eager to see him get here. All he is missing is his biometrics appointment, but the subcontractor in Mexico, VFS Global, is closed until further notice. If we wait until the pandemic is over, we could be waiting a long time. How does the government plan to fix this? …
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for her excellent question. In fact, many sectors in my riding have been affected. Obviously the pandemic has really hit the tourism sector. I think that is the reality. For its part, the manufacturing industry is doing relatively well right now. We are even seeing a shortage of employees in some manufacturing sectors in my riding. To add to my colleague's quest…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I thank the member who represents the riding next to mine for the speech he gave, despite his immense frustration with what is currently happening in the House of Commons. Like him, I have had conversations with people from the tourism industry over the past year. These past few weeks in particular, many of them have spoken about the need for some predictability. One of the sector's m…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I want to thank my colleagues from Edmonton Centre and Niagara Falls for their speeches earlier, as we use the tabling of this report highlighting the appointment of Marsha Walden to Destination Canada as an opportunity to talk about tourism in this country. I also wish to inform the House that I will be sharing my time with the member for Banff—Airdrie. There is no question that th…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, at present, the watchword truly is vaccination. The government must pick up the pace and stop blaming the provinces, given that the problem does not originate with the provinces, but rather with the federal government, which is not providing the vaccines. I believe that the government has once again failed in its duty to ensure that it has enough vaccines, which is why we are in a t…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague. At the start of the pandemic last spring, the government turned to CanSino to produce vaccines. This unfortunately did not go well, and we found ourselves without a solution in August. The government then signed contracts for vaccines, but five of the seven companies with which it signed contracts still do not have an approved vaccine. As a result, today, we ar…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, the Montmagny RCM has asked me about cell coverage, which is still not getting any better in the regions. There has been a lot of emphasis on 5G, but in Haut-Pays, Sainte-Lucie-de-Beauregard, Saint-Fabien-de-Panet and Lac-Frontière we do not even have 1G. Worse still, the government has ben radio silent, even though it raised $3.5 billion from the 600 megahertz spectrum auction. Whe…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I would like to congratulate my hon. colleague from Kelowna—Lake Country for her excellent speech. I thank her, as well as the leader of the official opposition, for moving the motion we are debating this morning, which would create a special committee to examine the economic relationship between Canada and the United States. For more than 200 years, our two relatively young countri…
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Madam Speaker, that is an excellent question. The fact is that Canada is a small country. Internationally, it is a minor supplier, especially in the transportation industry. We should seek to have those percentages lowered in the United States and other countries, so we can be viable partners for them. For the last decade and a half, our region has really suffered because of the Buy American Act, …
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question. I did not talk about the agricultural industry, for example, which is still extremely upset about the most recent agreement with the United States. That agreement contains provisions that are very biased, or at least very difficult for dairy producers to manage. This is the type of issue that could be quickly examined so that we can lay the fou…
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question. I agree with him on the matter of cash flow for forestry companies. We need to look at that from the perspective of our domestic relationship, the relationship that we have within Canada, in order to support our industry, and from the perspective of the relationship that we have with the United States. All of the penalties and taxation rights i…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Mr. Speaker, I am honoured to rise today in support of Bill C-208 introduced by my hon. colleague, the member for Brandon—Souris, to amend the Income Tax Act to facilitate the transfer of small businesses or family farms or fishing corporations. We already knew how important this issue was when this bill was introduced for first reading in February 2020. Who would have thought that, barely a month…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, several cases of CERB fraud have been identified in the past two weeks. Some people have had their employment insurance files frozen. Both the Canada Revenue Agency and Service Canada have completely unacceptably wait times to get through on the phone. It feels like we have gone back to the beginning of the pandemic. The government has had months to prepare, so why has it not put enou…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, Guy Drouin from CDC Ici Montmagny L'Islet, Lysanne Tanguay from the Centre d'entraide familiale de la MRC de Montmagny, Karine Jean from the Carrefour d'initiatives populaires de Rivière-du-Loup, Christiane Vincent from the Centre d'action bénévole des Seigneuries, Bernard Gaudreau from the Comité de la famille et des aînés de la Ville de Montmagny, Mireille Lizotte from Moisson Kamou…
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