Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, the Hon. Monique Bégin figures among the Canadian women who had a positive impact on the course of our country's history. Not only was she a positive force in politics, but she also had a brilliant academic career and was a dedicated activist. She was born in Rome, but her family emigrated to Canada after the Second World War. A bright student, she earned a master's degree in sociolog…
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Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to see you and all my colleagues in the House again, especially the hon. member for Rivière-du-Nord. I greatly appreciate his contribution to the public debate based on his experience as a lawyer and parliamentarian for nearly eight years. We will soon be celebrating this anniversary. My colleague spoke at length about the official opposition, and so I would like to s…
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Madam Speaker, we are talking about taxation, the budget, the management of public funds and, most importantly, how we are going to manage the money that Canadians give us through their taxes. Just seven months ago, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance tabled an economic update and gave the following warning. She said that we needed to control spending and avoid deficits because defic…
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Madam Speaker, it is totally unacceptable what is happening right now in this debate. We were in the middle of a debate on an essential bill, Bill C‑18, with arguments in favour and arguments against. The member for Drummond, who has been working hard on this for months, if not years, was in the process of delivering a very interesting and important speech in this debate. Then, in the middle of hi…
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Mr. Speaker, climate change is real and we need to take action. As we know, there were nearly 15 questions today about Canada's performance on climate change. I ask for the consent of the House to table the 2023 UN report released at COP27, which finds that after eight years of this government, Canada ranks 58th out of 63 countries in the fight against climate change.
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Mr. Speaker, four years after the appalling SNC‑Lavalin scandal, when the Prime Minister of Canada fired minister Jody Wilson‑Raybould because she refused to politically meddle in a legal matter, this dreadful business is now back in the news. Will the Prime Minister rise in the House today and confirm whether he or any member of his cabinet has met with or is currently under investigation by the …
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Mr. Speaker, it is always a pleasure to speak in the House, especially on a subject is important as the environment and our vision for the future of the planet and our country for our children and grandchildren. The bill introduced by our NDP colleague deserves our attention. First of all, we feel that the key element of this bill is that it ensures that people can live in a healthy environment. I…
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Mr. Speaker, with all due respect for my colleague, the reality is that if he says that to people who are on the verge of losing their homes, they will laugh in his face or ask him whether he is prepared to take their keys because they can no longer pay for their home. That is the reality facing Canadian families. If the member wants to quote studies, I could point out that the International Monet…
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Mr. Speaker, let us talk about the reality currently facing all Canadians. After eight years of Liberal governance, with chronic deficits and out-of-control spending, this is the reality. Uncontrolled deficits lead to higher inflation. Higher inflation leads to higher interest rates. What happens when interest rates go up? People run the risk of losing their homes. This is the reality facing Canad…
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Madam Speaker, I enjoyed listening to my colleague. Like him, we recognize that climate change is real and that action is needed. Humans played a role in creating climate change, and so we have a role to play in turning the situation around. Everyone agrees that we need to reduce pollution. The path that these people are taking is different from ours. I respect it, but it is different. The governm…
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Mr. Speaker, yesterday evening, hundreds of thousands of families in Quebec and Canada had a very difficult conversation at the supper table. The question was this: Will we be able to keep our house? The Bank of Canada increased the policy rate for the ninth time in just under a year, which means that interest rates will rise. The government rightly pointed out that mortgage payments are going to …
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague has a selective memory. The Conservative leader clearly said that there are two things the government must do. First, it should not create new taxes and, more importantly, it should have a plan to reduce spending and get to a balanced budget. Why have a balanced budget? That would honour the word of the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance who said that deficits …
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Mr. Speaker, here is some very good news for Canada: The Memorial Cup is staying in the country because the Remparts de Québec won and captured the trophy of junior hockey supremacy. What a dream season. Out of 90 games, the Remparts won 76. They are the Quebec league champions, the playoffs champions and the Memorial Cup champions. We want to thank the people of Kamloops for their great organizat…
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Mr. Speaker, members will perhaps recall one of the most ridiculous statements made in the history of Canadian politics when the Prime Minister said that budgets balance themselves. No one repeated it because it makes no sense. The problem is that, after eight years of Liberal governance, budgets have never balanced themselves. We have had deficit upon deficit. I will share something. Last Novembe…
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Mr. Speaker, what I find shameful and embarrassing for the Liberal Party is to watch the Minister of Industry prevent the Minister of Finance from answering a question that is 100% under her responsibility. We can understand that there may be some bickering at play here, because both of them want to become Prime Minister. That is not going to happen any time soon. Maybe the Deputy Prime Minister h…
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Mr. Speaker, a few moments ago, the member for Calgary Skyview talked about Environment Week and Canadian success stories from around the world. The UN released a scientific report in 2023 on how countries are performing, and Canada ranks 58th—
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Mr. Speaker, the report concluded that Canada ranks 58th out of 63 countries. I am sure that everyone will consent to this scientific document produced by the UN on Canada's performance respecting the environment being accepted and tabled in the House.
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Mr. Speaker, as we know, the Minister of Finance said last November that deficits fuel inflation. What happened after that? A few months later, Liberal Party supporters told her they wanted deficits. That is certainly not good news for someone who dreams of becoming the leader of the Liberal Party, but that is how Liberal supporters responded. What is especially bad news for all Canadians is that …
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Mr. Speaker, I have absolutely nothing against the Minister of the Environment, but my question was for the future leader of the Liberal Party or at least, its aspiring future leader, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance. Why? Simply put, the matter directly affects the wallets of every Canadian family. The Parliamentary Budget Officer said it would cost Quebec families $436 on averag…
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Madam Speaker, I can assure the House, the minister and everyone here that on this side of the House we are fully in favour of standing up for LGBTQ+ communities. People can rest assured of that. Another thing they can be sure of is that unfortunately, the Liberals have invented a new tax to further tax individuals and take more money out of everyone's pockets. As we face the current challenge of …
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Madam Speaker, this side of the House wants to remind the Liberals that even though they formed government, we garnered many more votes than they did. Also, the fact is that, just a few months ago, someone said that deficits and out-of-control spending add fuel to the inflationary fire. Who said that? It was the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance. However, a few months later, she presen…
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Madam Speaker, during question period, a number of my colleagues and I asked questions about carbon pricing. We indicated that the Parliamentary Budget Officer had prepared a report. I would ask for unanimous consent to table the document of May 18, 2023, entitled—
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Madam Speaker, I am pleased to take part in this very important debate that affects all families, particularly following such an eloquent speech by the member for Mégantic—L'Érable. Climate change is real. Humans played a role in creating climate change and so humans have a role to play in reducing its effects. The government is proposing a tax to reduce the impact of climate change. That is not t…
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Madam Speaker, Quebec has never supported the idea of Ottawa imposing a price on carbon. This centralizing, overreaching Liberal government is imposing a major change on the provinces. Ottawa knows what the price is, but the provinces do not. This is a direct attack on the provinces' responsibilities. I want to say one thing about everything that is being done. The companies are the ones polluting…
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Madam Speaker, I have said it before and I will say it again: Climate change is real and we need to address it. The member from the Bloc Québécois is very proud of Quebec, I am sure. I am too. However, in the past year, the Quebec nation consumed 18 billion litres of oil. It is not me saying that, it is the Hautes Études Commerciales school of business, or HEC. That is the reality for Quebec famil…
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Madam Speaker, I simply want to say to my colleague that he spoke about certain states in the U.S. participating in the exchange, but not all states do. Our economy is essentially based on collaborating with the United States, not just some of the states. That is a big difference. Need I remind members that after eight years of Liberal governance and the application of the Liberal carbon tax, Cana…
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Madam Speaker, I want to reiterate something that I have said many times here in the House of Commons: Climate change is real, humans helped cause climate change and humans must impose new rules to be sure to mitigate it as much as possible. That takes realistic, concrete measures, not more taxes. The member mentioned earlier that Canada is climate laggard. That is true, of course. He is not the o…
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Mr. Speaker, Canadian families are struggling financially, but this government continues to be overly keen, not to help people, but to take more money out of their pockets with new taxes. There are not one, not two, not three, but four taxes. First, there was the Liberal carbon tax. Second, they taxed this Liberal carbon tax. Then they invented the second Liberal carbon tax and they want to tax it…
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Mr. Speaker, as we speak, 1.5 million Canadians are using food banks every month. As we speak, one in five families has to cut back on their food budget because they do not have enough money in their pockets. As we speak, to help Canadians, this Liberal government has decided to invent a new tax: the Liberal carbon tax 2.0. That is what the government will create, and it will cost every Quebec fam…
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Mr. Speaker, what is absolutely clear is that they cannot count on the Conservative Party to support a second Liberal carbon tax. There is already one excessive tax, and now they are creating another to tax Canadians even more. It will cost Canadian families an additional $436 on average. Those people over there are happy to see it and happy to say it. I have news for the Liberals. Could they answ…
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Madam Chair, does the Deputy Prime Minister agree with the Parliamentary Budget Officer, who stated in a report that the Liberal carbon tax will cost Quebec families an average of $436 more, yes or no?
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Madam Chair, the Parliamentary Budget Officer indicated that the second Liberal carbon tax will cost Canadian families an average of $436 more. Is that true or false?
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Madam Chair, on average, how much will the second Liberal carbon tax cost Quebec families?
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Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to be participating in today's debate. I am also very pleased to see my colleague, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change, again. I have a lot of respect and esteem for him. I will give him a moment to put his earpiece on properly so that he can hear the interpreters. Incidentally, I would like to thank them for doing such a gre…
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Mr. Speaker, as I said a few moments ago, I am very pleased to be participating in this debate. As members know, since October, I have had the privilege of being the official opposition's shadow minister for climate change and environment. I am honoured by the confidence placed in me by the hon. member for Carleton, the Leader of the Opposition and our future prime minister. Of course, I intend to…
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Mr. Speaker, my answer is really simple: Yes. Unfortunately, yes. First of all, the hon. member said that amendment changed nothing. So why did he vote for it if it changed nothing? I do not understand why. The issue is what we have seen in Alberta following the tragedy there. Well, everything was said before. If I understand correctly what my colleague said, it changes nothing, and so if it chang…
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Mr. Speaker, I must admit to the member that this is the first time I am hearing about this. I will take that under advisement, because I do not want to treat it like an insignificant detail. On the contrary, little things like that are what is hurting our environment and we need to take the work seriously. Because we do need to take this work seriously, it would be very hypocritical of me to star…
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Mr. Speaker, there is one thing I am fully prepared to recognize, and that is the hon. member's love for Quebec and Quebeckers. I know that he knows—as I said a few moments ago in a parliamentary committee—that Quebeckers do not exist in a vacuum, that they live on planet Earth and that, last year, according to a study by the École des hautes études commerciales de Montréal, Quebeckers consumed 18…
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Mr. Speaker, let me pay all my respects to the quality of the member's French. We have all worked to learn a second language. When I talk about a second language, I am not talking about French. I am talking about the second language after our mother tongue language. For as long as we need natural resources, including fossil resources, and for as long as we need oil, I will always stand for what is…
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Mr. Speaker, as some often suggest, people on opposite sides of the world eventually come together. Perhaps that is why the Greens and the Conservatives will be voting the same way, but obviously for different reasons. The only thing I would like to add about Bill C-69 is something Alexandre Shields wrote in an article on the subject. He said that the office of the environment minister declined to…
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Mr. Speaker, we just have to look at the facts. After eight years of the Liberal government, people pay more taxes and we still have more pollution. These are the facts. This is why the Liberal carbon tax does not work.
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Mr. Speaker, the Bloc Québécois member began his speech by talking about Quebec's primary jurisdiction over the environment and about how Quebec should have full power over environmental matters within its territory. My question is this. The Bloc Québécois avoided saying much of anything about independence during the past two election campaigns, but this weekend, it talked about little else. Why d…
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Madam Chair, last November, the government said that it would balance the budget by 2027. Now, when will Canada's budget be balanced?
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Madam Chair, I will be sharing my time with two colleagues. On November 3, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance said that Canada would return to a balanced budget in 2027. Today, could the Minister of Finance say when and in what year Canada will return to a balanced budget?
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Madam Chair, when will there be a return to a balanced budget?
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Madam Chair, for Canadian taxpayers, the most important thing is having some money left in their pockets. The Liberal government just invented a second Liberal carbon tax. Can the Minister of Finance tell us, on average, how much that will cost a family in Quebec?
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Madam Chair, does it mean an extra $436 for families, yes or no?
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Madam Chair, does the Deputy Prime Minister agree with the Parliamentary Budget Officer's assertion that the second version of the Liberal carbon tax will cost the average Quebec family an additional $436? Is that true, yes or no?
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