Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, back home in Quebec City we had protests over two weekends. We did not need the Emergencies Act. Instead, we saw the government and the police show leadership, the kind of leadership that has been sorely lacking in Ottawa in recent weeks. Seven Canadian premiers, including the Premier of Quebec, want nothing to do with this act, but the government still wants to impose this extreme pi…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague from Abitibi—Témiscamingue for his speech. I would also like to thank the member for Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, who spoke earlier. My colleagues did a great job of contextualizing the big difference between the events of 1970 and the 1988 act invoked by this government. This act, which was drafted and passed by Brian Mulroney's Progre…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for talking about his personal experiences throughout his life. First and foremost, we are all human, and we have lived through certain situations. I appreciate the fact that he raised those issues. My question is quite simple. During 17 days, nothing was done by the government. Even on February 11, the Prime Minister said that laws could be applied to solv…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, as we all know, Canada is grappling with a major crisis that is affecting all Canadian families. This is the first time in over 30 years that inflation has hit 5.1%. This affects all Canadian families but, unfortunately, we are not here this evening to talk about something that is having a direct impact on all Canadian families. We are here to talk about an act this government wants t…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, I cannot believe that again a member from the government, from the Liberal Party, raises the famous story about the swastika. I will never accept any comment of that style from anybody in the House of Commons because everybody knows that all parliamentarians here, whatever they defend as a party, will never defend that. The problem is that the Prime Minister—my Prime Minister, our Pri…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, I am wondering whether my hon. colleague, my neighbour from the Quebec City area, is a lawyer. I believe that many people have read the Criminal Code, the Civil Code and all of the laws that apply in Canada so as to be able to point out the following facts and reality: There is currently no need to use this act, which was passed in 1988 and has never been used. As my Bloc Québécois co…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, I know my hon. colleague is very passionate when we talk about fairness in politics. This is what we ought to do right now. When there is a crisis, I know it is not very easy, especially for me, to put aside any partisanship. However, folks, what we have to address today right now is a health crisis. If we want to work together, we need to put aside our partisanship and especially not…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, unlike the Liberal government, we never considered invoking the extreme measures act. The thought never even crossed our minds. I would like to once again remind the member that this kind of dubious association is inappropriate, especially in such a delicate situation with security implications. Let us do our best to set partisanship aside, even though we may sometimes be tempted to g…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, three weeks ago, we were talking about inflation, and the Minister of Finance told me that there was no problem because it was a global problem and that the IMF said that Canada was fine and that the GDP was going up. How convincing. What are we seeing now? Inflation continues to rise and is at 5.1%. Beef is up 12%; gas is up 30%; housing is up 6%. Those are things Canadians know for …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, for 17 days, the Prime Minister did not lift a finger to help with what was happening here in Ottawa. At one point, he insulted those who were not listening to him and who did not share his point of view. As a result, yesterday, the Prime Minister invoked a law that has not been used in 50 years. He said that he consulted the premiers. That is not true. He actually just informed the p…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, over the past few days, Canadians have all seen situations improve without the need for the Emergencies Act. It happened in Ontario and in Alberta, and it could have happened here in Ottawa. Instead, the Prime Minister chose to invoke an act that has not been used in 50 years. He continues to stigmatize, divide and insult people who disagree with him, instead of trying to find a compr…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to delayed federally funded infrastructure projects in Quebec: what are the details of all projects which have yet to be completed, and have had their original expected completion date delayed by more than six months, including, for each, (i) the project location, (ii) the project description, (iii) the original expected completion date, (iv) the revised expected completion date, (v) t…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, we all recognize that a lot of people are now on the hybrid system. We respect that and there is no problem with it. However, there is a problem when a minister or anyone else does not have their headset. Time is running out. The Minister of Veterans Affairs spoke for 14 seconds before he finally recognized that he did not have his headset on correctly. Then, my hon. counterpart, whom…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, it seems likely that we will all soon be returning to our ridings to continue to work very hard on behalf of all Canadians and our constituents. This gives me the opportunity to thank everybody who works for the best democratic system in the world, our parliamentary system. Let me be clear: We cannot fight issues without the support of everybody here, especially those who work for the…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, let me be clear. I do recognize that sometimes there can be some heckling from one side. However, in this specific situation, and let me be very serious, we are talking about a really serious issue. We are talking about Islamophobia and everybody was listening carefully. What I am talking about is coming from the government side. Maybe the Liberals regret their choice, but they made i…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, as everyone knows, Canada and the United States have had an integrated automotive industry for 60 years. Everyone also knows that electrification is the future of the industry, in light of the billions of dollars being invested by private businesses. Now President Biden's tax credit is threatening jobs in Canada. What is the Liberal government doing? It is doing absolutely nothing. Wh…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, that is right. If the Liberals do the exact same thing they did with steel, aluminum and softwood lumber, Canada's auto workers run the risk of losing well-paying jobs, because the government talks a good game but takes no action. Why is the minister not at the U.S. Congress right now, working directly with U.S. senators and representatives to convince them that protecting Canada's in…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, while Canadian families are still struggling with the effects of “Justinflation”, more bad news is on the way. Payroll taxes like EI and pension plans are going up again on January 1. This is a direct attack on both SMEs and workers. Anyone who earns $55,000 or more a year will have to pay more. We need this like we need a hole in the head. Could the government give businesses and wor…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, we know that the pandemic is still taking a toll on our Canadian economy. Currently, the hardest-hit sector is tourism and hospitality, which employs 1.8 million Canadians. On Friday, the Conservatives proposed that Bill C‑2 be split into two bills, to directly address the problem in the tourism and hospitality industry. Is the government prepared to work with us to ensure that we can…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I have two points of order that I can do at the same time. I sincerely thank and congratulate everyone who works on facilitating the debates here and ensuring that the message gets across. Unfortunately, we are experiencing problems with the interpretation on a regular basis, almost every day. I know that this is no one's fault, but it is a nuisance for francophones in particular, sin…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, in two weeks, Canadians will be celebrating Christmas, but it might not be as merry as some families would have liked. Why? It is because the number one concern of all Canadian families right now is the ever-increasing cost of living. We have been talking about it here for days and days, even weeks. Yesterday, we finally got the numbers. We learned from Canada's Food Price Report th…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, I am sure the Minister of Tourism, along with all 338 MPs, knows that this is not just a global issue. It affects all Canadian families directly. I invite the Minister of Tourism to visit food banks in his riding and tell people not to worry because it is a global problem. No, this problem affects all Canadian families, and the government is refusing to talk about it. There is barel…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, when the price of fruit goes up 5%, the price of vegetables goes up 7%, and the price of dairy products goes up 8%, it is time to take concrete measures to control inflation. The first thing that a responsible government should do is at least control spending, because if it does nothing, all Canadian families will pay a steep price. “Just inflation” is making it impossible for famil…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, we see that the Parliament that sits here, inside this building in Ottawa, is working well—
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, thank you. I could barely hear myself. I will skip the preamble. I invite my ministerial counterpart to share with us what we can expect to be working on in the coming days.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I rise in the House today in response to the intervention of the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, who was responding to the question of privilege we raised a few days ago in relation to the production of documents by the Public Health Agency of Canada in the infamous matter of the National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg. We have carefully read the government's re…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, it has been only 12 days since Parliament was recalled and the 338 parliamentarians in the House were called to debate legislation. This is the second time in just 12 days that the government has imposed time allocation on a bill. This is an important bill that deserves careful attention and serious parliamentary work. Unfortunately, the government is shutting down debate for the seco…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, for your intervention. We have carefully read the text tabled by the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, and we have noticed that efforts are being made. However, these efforts to find an appropriate solution are many months late. Let us recall that there were two positive votes at the former Special Committee on Canada‑China Relations, as well as two votes he…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, during this debate, let us always keep in mind that these Afghans, who are our friends and allies, put their lives on the line so that Canadians could benefit from the current situation. That is why we must not play partisan politics with this issue. It is very sad to see the minister laugh, because as far back as 2016, the Leader of the Opposition warned the House that we needed a pl…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, this summer, Canada failed in its duty to help our Afghan allies. Who among us could forget the sad memory and tragic sight of Afghans clinging to airplanes as they were taking off. What happened in Afghanistan is terrible. Those people are our friends and allies. They helped Canadian soldiers stationed in Afghanistan. They are interpreters, support staff and their families. Canadians…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I want to point out that the House is governed by rules that we are all called upon to follow. For example, when we ask a question, we stand up. We must also abide by a certain code and listen to the answer given, if any, of course. We must always respect that. Since the House resumed sitting, there has been a lot of background noise, as there are more memb…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, I invite my colleague to go to a food bank and repeat what he said about everything going very well. No, families are suffering more and paying more, and that is the reality for all Canadian families. In my riding, the charitable organization Amélie et Frédérick has noticed a large increase of 25% in requests for food hampers. That is the true face of Canada's inflation. This mornin…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, over the past six years, and in particular in more recent months and years, the Liberal government has been spending a lot of money, printing a lot of money, and borrowing a lot of money. As a result, Canada is now dealing with 4.7% inflation, the worst inflation crisis we have seen since 2003. Canadian families are the ones footing the bill, given that the cost of living keeps risi…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, I rise on a point of order. During Oral Questions, the member for Kelowna—Lake Country, the Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, said the following in response to my colleague's question: “I think the member is misleading in her question.” All members here, and especially the minister, know that we cannot accuse or suspect a member of misleading the House. The minister is…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, it is always nice on Thursdays to take stock of the parliamentary work that has been done and what is coming up in the next few days. The least that can be said is that we have shown beyond a shadow of a doubt that those of us on this side of the House are capable of working to expedite the parliamentary process in certain instances. We clearly demonstrated that yesterday. I invite my…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, unfortunately for Canadians, this government's inflationary policies are leading to nothing but higher prices. Germany, Australia, England, France and Japan are also struggling with COVID-19, but they do not have an inflation rate as high as what Canadians are currently experiencing. I will ask a very simple question again: Will the government finally do what any good manager would do…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, for months now, all Canadian families have been suffering from the ever-increasing cost of living. This is called inflation and, unfortunately, it is not getting any better. This morning, in Washington, the president of the U.S. Federal Reserve spoke of persistent inflation. Enough procrastinating. Reality is hitting us hard. The first thing the government must do is rein in spending,…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, runaway inflation and rising prices are making these tough times a reality for Canadians right now. I will be a good sport and give the Prime Minister credit for one true thing he said a few months ago. He said, “I don't think about monetary policy.” What he said was true, but it is not the right thing to do. If the government really wants to help Canadian families and curb inflation,…
Read full speech →Speech from the Throne
Mr. Speaker, like everyone else, I was listening carefully to the speech by the member for Carleton right before question period, and we asked the government a lot of questions about what it plans to do about inflation. Unfortunately, we heard all kinds of talk, but no real action. We can all see that the federal government has absolutely no plan to address inflation. What is worse, when governmen…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, while we are making sure that everything is working properly, I would like to commend my colleague on his impeccable French. I congratulate and thank him.
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, it is coming. In two years, when the Deputy Prime Minister has finished writing her book, she will be on this side of the House. She will be the one asking questions. I would nevertheless like to remind her that inflation in Germany, Italy, England, Austria and France is much lower than what Canadian families are dealing with, because this government failed to quell inflation. What wi…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, Philip Cross, the former chief economic analyst at Statistics Canada, clearly outlined the situation. He stated that the government is responsible for today's inflation. He wrote in the Financial Post: “The government is driving inflation. Governments must work to eliminate their deficits or the upward pressure on interest rates will intensify.” Instead of ignoring the problem, what w…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, that is why our first five questions on Friday had to do with that important issue. There is also another important issue affecting all Canadian families, and it is especially brutal for middle-class families. That is the skyrocketing cost of living. Prices have risen 4% on food, 6% on basic personal care items, 10% on transportation and 22% on housing. The government has no plan for …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, it is a great pleasure to get back to the truth with the habit we have in the House of Commons of the Thursday question between both House leaders. Allow me to officially congratulate you on your election, Mr. Speaker. We have demonstrated in the last four days that Parliament is working well. What does the government have in store for us in terms of parliamentary work in the coming d…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I thought I missed the hon. member for Kingston and the Islands. Now, I am not sure I miss him that much anymore. I understand that we are treading on thin ice here with this subject. I do have grey hair and experience, and I like that, but the reality is that the intervention by my colleague from Kingston and the Islands illustrates in all its ugliness the reality of what this part…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, another economic reality all Canadian families are facing is the rising cost of living. The inflation rate is 4.7%. It has not been that high since 2003. In yesterday's throne speech, the Governor General made just one single mention, in dubious French, of the word “inflation”. As we all know, the Prime Minister has stated that budgets balance themselves. Does the Prime Minister think…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I cannot help but feel suspicious when the Prime Minister talks about the border, because if anyone has completely mismanaged the border, it is the current Prime Minister. Familiprix's head office is in my riding. This morning, I spoke to the boss, and there are currently 212 job vacancies due to the lack of workers. In Bellechasse, my new colleague's riding, 50 jobs are available at …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, here is the reality of the situation: Today, 200,000 jobs in Quebec remain unfilled because of the labour shortage. This has cost our businesses $18 billion because there are not enough employees, and 70% of our businesses are turning down contracts. That is Canada's economic reality: a labour shortage. Yesterday, in the Speech from the Throne, absolutely nothing was said about this. …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague from Shefford, and I congratulate her on her re-election. It is unfortunate, and it is not that I do not like her, but there were Conservative candidates in every riding, and we would have liked all of our candidates to win. That said, I congratulate her on her re-election. While I do not have the good fortune and privilege of being born in Granby, in the riding…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I want to thank my colleague and congratulate him on his re-election. I believe this is his third or fourth term, and I congratulate him. The member raised the fact that there were some people in the House, some young mothers, who had their babies with them. All my respect to my colleague from Fort McMurray—Cold Lake who has been elected for the first time to the House of Commons. W…
Read full speech →