Parliamentary Speeches
582 speeches by Christine Normandin — Page 5 of 12
Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for her remarks and the tone of her speech. As I mentioned to one of her colleagues earlier today, we appreciate the tone—although we do reserve the right to disagree with the content. We appreciate the tone, especially since it strikes such a sharp contrast with what happened at the Standing Committee on Natural Resources. It was a hapless circus until …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, their discussions are going so well that the Government of Quebec is thinking of holding a referendum on immigration. The truth is that Quebec is so fed up with having the government laugh in its face that it is thinking of reaching out to the people. Considering the federal government's incompetence when it comes to managing its responsibilities, we all know that things would work a …
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his speech, even though I only had the pleasure of hearing the second part of it, since we were called back to the House at the last minute. The minister just tabled an update of Canada's defence policy, which will invest $8 billion over the next five years. Most of that money will be invested in the final part of those five years, however. In the first part, …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, last Thursday, the Journal de Montréal reported that police had responded to incidents involving people lining up at food banks. Food insecurity is causing chaos. Community organizations are blaming the dramatic surge in the number of hungry people on the fact that asylum seekers have to wait 21 months for a work permit. One coordinator said, “These people can't work for two years, bu…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, all day, and indeed every day for months now, the Conservatives have been blaming the carbon tax for everything. If the culture sector is in trouble, it is because of the carbon tax. If people ask for MAID, it is because of the carbon tax. If people are lining up at food banks, it is because of the carbon tax. It reminds me of Plume Latraverse, who sang “it's El Niño's fault again”.…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, the Liberals are boasting about doing something about climate change, but only a few days or weeks ago, their former minister, Catherine McKenna, said that the oil and gas lobbyists had pushed to get tax credits for carbon capture, which should never have happened. That is scandalous. That is $12.5 billion being sent to the oil companies so they can take care of the energy transitio…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, just to clarify, no one is against family reunification. We are simply against Ottawa imposing its irresponsible federal policies on Quebec. If the minister had wanted to, he could have negotiated compromises. Let us look at his record. He is forcibly increasing Quebec's immigration targets. He is largely responsible for the record increase in temporary immigration. He is also respons…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the federal government's decision to unilaterally increase Quebec's immigration targets represents a historic loss of sovereignty for the Quebec state. When Quebec sets its threshold at 50,000, it means 50,000, not 60,000 or 70,000. If the minister wanted to increase family reunification after the thresholds were set, he should have worked with Quebec. For example, he could have sugge…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, Quebec sets its own immigration targets, as even the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship has repeatedly said. That is why it is all the more unacceptable that the minister ordered his officials, two weeks ago, to exceed the threshold set by Quebec. This is a serious precedent. Going forward, the federal government will no longer interpret Quebec's immigration target as a…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to let him know that I have read it. The federal government has no lessons to give Quebec on successful immigration. The federal government is the one responsible for plunging immigrants into the worst housing crisis in recent history. The federal government is the one responsible for the lack of services that asylum seekers too often face. It is the federal government's …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague, someone I hold in high regard, for his speech. Like my colleague from Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, I would like him to discuss the issue of opting out with full compensation, but from another angle. Based on what he said at the start of his speech, the key to Quebec's success is that no other government told the province how to set up its early ch…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
I will say it again, Mr. Speaker: Quebec knows what is good for Quebec. We know that French is not only our official language, but it is also our common language and we need to protect it. We know that gender equality is non-negotiable, just like we know that the best way to protect religion is for the state not to have any. That is what Bill 21 is all about. There is a general consensus on that i…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the Quebec Court of Appeal has just handed down its ruling on the state secularism law, Bill 21. There is a fair bit of consensus in Quebec on this legislation. Quebeckers want a clear separation of church and state, which is what the law guarantees. Now that the Quebec Court of Appeal has rendered its decision, it is clear that the next step will be the Supreme Court. We saw it with …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for his speech. I would like to come back to what my colleague from Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou said about Quebec's specificity and respect for jurisdictions. She said that, although the bill does not recognize Quebec's specificity, respect its knowledge or require the government to give Quebec the right to opt out with full compensation, there is a five-year…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, I am also pleased to rise to speak to Bill C-320, which was introduced by the member for Oshawa. This bill is very much in line with other private members' bills that have been introduced by various members from various parties. These bills demonstrate that there is complete unanimity on this issue, unlike in many other areas. All parties agree when it comes to the issue of protecti…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, in response to the ruling you just made, I would invite the Chair to possibly consider the fact that using unparliamentary language about members in general is no less harmful than using it about one member in particular, in my opinion. I would like to hear the Chair on that because even if the comments were not directed at one specified member, they are no less harmful. I think tha…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, a few weeks ago, I attended the funeral of a friend's mother who had decided to avail herself of MAID. In her farewell speech to her mother, my friend said the following: Mom, when you told us about your decision, I did not agree because it was going to deprive me of a mother, but I had no choice but to respect your decision, because it was yours to make. I thought it was a testamen…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, in her speech, my colleague talked about the importance of being able to integrate newcomers. That is precisely the crux of our motion. It is to have consultations that will allow for a bit of predictability. What happens is that Canada sets targets, but then we have to try to meet those targets and we realize that we do not have that capacity. We are not the only ones saying so. CMHC…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I would like to come back to what I was saying, which is that the discussion on levels must be comprehensive and must also take place outside the provinces, because there is something called interprovincial migration. All of that has to be taken into account. The housing problem is critical, regardless of immigration categories. People who have always lived here are also struggling to…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, the provinces certainly do have a role to play in immigration, especially Quebec, because of the language issue. The problem is that despite the role Quebec already has, the system is clearly not working, since Quebec's minister of immigration, francization and integration is so fed up that she is threatening to hold a referendum to repatriate all immigration powers. This comes from a…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, it is always a bit intimidating to speak after my leader. I will try not to disappoint him so that I can still come to his office when I want to filch some of his almonds. I was the first to speak last fall during a similar debate on the issue of immigration thresholds and the capacity of Quebec and the provinces to accept immigrants. As the first speaker, I began by expressing the ho…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I can confirm to my colleague that he is not the only one getting calls about immigration. All of our offices are being contacted, sometimes even by people who live in government members' ridings, if I may take a little shot at them, because they cannot get services from their own member and they know that the Bloc Québécois is good at its job. They are calling us and asking us for he…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Lac-Saint-Jean for his speech. He spoke about the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship's very scathing tone towards the Bloc Québécois. He called us armchair quarterbacks. Politicians have a thick skin and are capable of handling such insults, but the problem is that if the minister is busy insulting us, it means he is not dealing with the situat…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the member for Beloeil—Chambly, who is the sponsor of this motion, we welcome this request for an amendment.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I would like to thank the minister for his speech. When the Bloc Québécois raised the issue of Quebec's intake and integration capacity, we were accused of being armchair quarterbacks. Even if we let that slide, there is still a recent survey that found that most Canadians and Quebeckers believe that Canada is unable to integrate newcomers properly and that its intake capacity is in…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the CMHC report confirms that the housing crisis is worse than ever. The vacancy rate is the lowest it has been in 20 years. Rents are up 8%, and finding a new home in Quebec is 17% more expensive. Why is this happening? It is because the population is growing too quickly. To be clear, immigrants are not responsible for the housing crisis. The Liberals are to blame, thanks to their ou…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, there is a shortfall of 3.5 million housing units according to the CMHC. Meanwhile, the Liberals are increasing immigration levels again in 2024 and 2025. They refuse to spread out asylum seekers among the provinces to alleviate the burden on Quebec. As a result, a heartbroken asylum seeker anonymously told the Journal de Montréal, “I'm scared because I am with my daughter. She is onl…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives make it sound like using tax policies to fight climate change is never a good idea. We disagree with some of the measures the Liberals have in place because we think they are unnecessary. I am talking about measures like the tax credit for carbon capture, utilization and storage, the clean tech tax credit and the hydrogen tax credit. I would like the member for Carle…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, it is funny that we are talking about the carbon tax today, because just this morning, the Parliamentary Budget Officer released the costing of the tax credit for carbon capture, utilization and storage. How much will this measure cost over the next five years? It will cost approximately $5.5 billion. I would like to know if my colleague agrees with me that it would be a far better id…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, at the beginning of her speech, the member read the motion. I would like to do the same. The motion reads as follows: That, given that the carbon tax has proven to be a tax plan, not an environmental plan, the House call on the Liberal government to cancel the...carbon tax increase. I would suggest to the member that the tax credits being offered to oil companies for carbon capture …
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, after taking into account the Speaker's ruling, I still hope that the government will want to quickly bring the matter to a vote or that, at least, in the meantime, the Speaker of the House might decide to step down himself, so that the work of the House can continue without this frankly unnecessary distraction. I see that I do not have much time left, so I just want to quickly say …
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I cannot say I welcome the opportunity to take part in this discussion today. In light of what we have just heard, it is clear that this debate is unfortunately extremely important. We suspected that we might end up debating the issue of confidence in the Speaker of the House on a question of impartiality. I will bring everyone back to when he was elected and quote our House leader, t…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I usually enjoy the speeches by my colleague from Kingston and the Islands, but this time I must admit to being particularly disappointed, because what I just heard was mud-slinging. I do not even need to get to the substance of the matter, namely whether the actions of the member for Regina—Qu'Appelle were or were not legitimate. I do not need to go there, because what is happening r…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, the Bloc Québécois supports what the House leader of the official opposition, the member for Regina—Qu'Appelle , said about making this motion a priority, a parliamentary privilege motion. I would also like to add that new incidents have come to light in the media since we debated the question of parliamentary privilege to refer the matter to the Standing Committee on Procedure and …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, we are not trying to pick a fight. We are trying to protect our jurisdictions. Protecting our jurisdictions means protecting our ability, as a nation, to make different choices. Quebec wanted better dental coverage through the public plan, but thanks to the Liberals and the NDP, what we are going to end up with is more private coverage through an insurance company, and not just any …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, the federal government is trying to pick a fight on dental care for no reason. Quebec agrees with expanding coverage, and Ottawa knows that. The difference is that Quebec wanted to expand coverage through the RAMQ public plan. Instead, the Liberals and the NDP decided to favour a private company, Sun Life Insurance, over the public plan. We no longer have the left-leaning parties we…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Madam Speaker, 50 years or a whole lifetime of volunteering is an incredible accomplishment. That is why I am rising today to pay tribute to an equally incredible woman, Hélène Ladouceur. Hélène is a Royal Military College Saint-Jean icon, especially since she was recently inducted into the institution's hall of fame. She first became involved with the college shortly after she moved to the area i…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I would like to pick up on the question asked by my colleague from Calgary Rocky Ridge. This bill has been debated several times at the Senate. It was supposed to be debated here in the House since Parliament opened, but it has been deferred several times. This bill has garnered fairly broad consensus. It was passed quickly in the Senate because it is relatively simple. We are talki…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, I am speaking on behalf of the member for Beauport—Côte-de-Beaupré—Île d'Orléans—Charlevoix, who would like to change her vote in order to vote against the motion. She experienced technical problems with the voting application.
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, members of Parliament and all of the staff of the House are preparing to finally leave Parliament Hill for the holidays. However, for many Quebeckers, this will not be a time to rest and celebrate. Instead, they will be working hard, far from their families, just because their employer cannot do without them. In addition to these nurses, truckers and service workers, there are also es…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the holidays may be approaching, but the government has no right to give Boeing a gift worth more than $8 billion in an untendered contract. Aerospace workers are demanding a call for tenders. The Quebec industry is demanding a call for tenders. The premiers of Quebec and Ontario are demanding a call for tenders. Members of all parties in the House and on the Standing Committee on Nat…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask my colleague a simple question. She made a long speech about the Senate respecting the decisions of the House of Commons. Would she be willing to repeat her speech in its entirety and present exactly the same message, but simply replace Bill C-234 with Bill C-282, which deals with supply management?
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague from Cowichan—Malahat—Langford for his speech. I appreciated almost all of it, except the part where he said the NDP was the only party that has supported the abolition of the Senate. I would like to remind him that this is also the position of the Bloc Québécois. On this matter, our decisions are predictable. This allows the people who vote for us t…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, as I listened to my colleague's speech, I got the impression that he was saying that his party would agree to anti-scab legislation as long as there are enough exceptions so that this law, if applied, would not restrict employers too much. He says there should be exceptions so that, as soon as a strike causes the slightest inconvenience, the employer can use replacement workers. Gener…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to be able to ask my colleague some questions instead of listening to him talk for another four minutes. I am just keeping our colleague's joke going. I would like to hear my colleague's thoughts on the 18 months it is going to take before the bill comes into force after receiving royal assent. That is not the usual practice. Normally a bill comes into force upon receivin…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the minister is talking about additional amounts, but one has to wonder whether he has ever met with an asylum seeker or one of the organizations that support them. He will not find anyone on the ground who is saying that there is too much money for asylum seekers. There is no such thing as too much money when we have to support people who do not even have the right to work because th…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the federal government owes Quebec the $460 million that the province spent on asylum seekers, who come under federal jurisdiction. Quebec is doing far more than its share, and now it is time for the federal government to do its part. Yesterday, the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship not only refused to settle the bill, he had the temerity to say that he was giving Queb…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. There have been discussions among the parties, and if you seek it I believe you will find unanimous consent to adopt the following motion: That the House, in view of the joint statement by the respective Premiers of Quebec and Ontario, dated November 7, 2023, regarding the federal government's public procurement of the CP‑140 Aurora replacement, call on the…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, we already knew that the Liberals were considering excluding Bombardier and Quebec's expertise and awarding Boeing an $8‑billion sole-source contract to build military aircraft, but now the Americans are putting the pressure on. The U.S. ambassador has written to a number of Liberal ministers to ask them to oppose a competition. I would like to remind the Liberals that they work for t…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, Quebec's aerospace industry is not asking for handouts. It is just asking to be able to compete. It is asking the federal government to give Quebec workers a chance to show their expertise before gifting $8 billion of taxpayer money to the Americans. It is only natural that the U.S. ambassador is standing up for Boeing, an American company. That is his job. However, it is not right th…
Read full speech →