Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, the member for La Pointe-de-l'Île, who gave an excellent speech, is very familiar with the Official Languages Act. He knows that the effect of the Official Languages Act in Quebec is to treat the anglophone community as a minority on the verge of extinction. This means that Quebeckers' tax dollars end up funding English in Quebec and the integration of immigrants into the anglophone c…
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Mr. Speaker, the Parliamentary Budget Officer estimates that chances of the government meeting its spending reduction targets are roughly 7%. I will give an example. At the Canada Revenue Agency, the software that is currently being used to process our taxes dates back to the 1980s. Apparently, it is on a black screen with purple text. After not doing any modernization for decades, now the governm…
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the passionate member for Bourassa for his very interesting speech. He spoke about innovation, and he is right: We may disagree on how to go about it, but innovation is important. Speaking of innovation, the budget implementation bill includes a provision hidden deep in the bill, on page 301, under clause 208. The bill would give a minister absolute power to susp…
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Mr. Speaker, the Bloc Québécois voted against the budget speech. In fact, 22 Bloc members stood up and remained true to their values and their word. A month before the budget, we made it clear to the government what our expectations were. The government refused to discuss anything, negotiate or speak with us. It refused to listen to Quebeckers' concerns. The day we voted against the budget, the Le…
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Mr. Speaker, I have a point of order. I have been interrupted several times.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, as we saw in the budget, health transfers will be indexed at a rate that is lower than the increase in system costs. This means that, at the end of the day, Quebec taxpayers will either have to pay more taxes or receive poorer quality services. The other alternative is that Quebec will have to take on more debt to finance health care services. The government, through the Parliamentary…
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Mr. Speaker, the member for Winnipeg North, who is more interested in chatting and fooling around than he is in listening to the debate, did not include the provinces in the debt-to-GDP ratio he gave us for Canada. That omission obscures the fact that, if provincial debt is included, Canada's debt-to-GDP ratio is 10% higher than Germany's. The Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Governmen…
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Mr. Speaker, during question period these past few days, the Minister of Industry has been rising in the House and attacking me, saying that there was money for defence and that I was working against my riding. However, the Liberal government is causing the loss of 500 defence jobs in Mirabel because it is incapable of making any kind of decision regarding which fighter jet it is going to purchase…
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Mr. Speaker, I think that Quebeckers need quality health care. I also think that the most vulnerable Quebeckers, who are seeing bungalows in Mirabel going for $800,000 or $900,000, need housing. What I am also seeing is that Quebeckers were robbed by the federal government of $814 million, which could have helped them get through the crisis on a daily basis. What I am seeing is that the Bloc Québé…
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Mr. Speaker, the vote-buying scheme during the election campaign cost billions of dollars, between $4 billion and $5 billion. Quebeckers paid for 22% of this total with their own taxes. That amount did not come from carbon tax revenues; it came from the consolidated revenue fund. I know it is strange to say it that way, but the tax was rebated in advance. That is how the program was designed in or…
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Mr. Speaker, I think the federal government is borrowing money at Quebeckers' expense. If we look at the public debt of the average Quebecker, we see that the average Quebecker owes nearly twice as much in federal debt as in Quebec debt. That is Canada's legacy to Quebeckers. Now, will it be $78 billion or $79 billion? I think it could be more, because the government told us that it would find a w…
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Mr. Speaker, the member for Winnipeg North does not know what he is talking about. He is talking about the transfer levels, while we are taking about the discrepancy in the transfers. We are not talking about the level once tax points are taken into account; we are talking about the discrepancy. What we want the government to understand is that, if system costs increase by 6% but transfers only in…
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Mr. Speaker, we are all in opposition and usually, we rarely attack each other. My colleague is right on the first point. Ultimately, there is only one taxpayer. At the end of the day, the taxpayer gets all the tax bills. That is why we are calling for health transfers. That is why we think that the government should stop disengaging from health care funding and stop keeping the health transfer es…
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Mr. Speaker, it is because the Liberals became conservative to steal votes from the Conservative Party. It is true and it has been proven that the Liberal Party of Canada, which currently forms the government, stole $814 million from Quebeckers. It stole that money. When the 42 Liberal members from Quebec tell us that they are standing up for Quebec, that is utterly false. They were not elected by…
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Mr. Speaker, members often say "esteemed colleague", but in this case, it is really true. I think my colleague misunderstood what I said. The Prime Minister is an economist who has done great things. I have read his book Values. I have it at home. I even made notes in it. It is because of all the wonderful things he has said and written in the past that I am disappointed in his behaviour today. Th…
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Mr. Speaker, in my region, the now Liberal riding of Thérèse-De Blainville has lost 300 jobs at Paccar. What was the Liberal member's response? On October 23, at 7:36 a.m., on Mario Dumont's show, she suggested that these workers call community organizations and food banks, that they come up with a plan A, B or C, that they not take it personally, that they find another job, that they go back to s…
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Mr. Speaker, in a way, it is a pleasure to speak to Bill C-4 at third reading today. This bill was introduced at the beginning of this Parliament and was left untouched all summer. When we returned in the fall, we spent a lot of time reworking the bill in committee. I will explain later, but this is one of the bills where the fact that the Bloc Québécois holds the balance of power in committee was…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the Parliamentary Budget Officer has confirmed that the Liberal budget deficit is twice as large as projected because the government is disguising spending as investment. The Parliamentary Budget Officer said that "the Government’s definition of capital investments is overly expansive". He even suggests that this subjective definition be reviewed by independent experts. If Justin Trud…
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Mr. Speaker, the Parliamentary Budget Officer did not drink the Liberal generational Kool-Aid. There is no surprise there: His mandate is to conduct non-partisan analyses. That is exactly why the Liberals want to replace him. They posted a job listing for a permanent replacement with “tact and discretion”. They want a low-key parliamentary budget officer who apologizes before he speaks. A little m…
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Madam Speaker, we will soon be called upon to vote on a budget in which the government has decided to redefine what constitutes an investment. It turns out that the government's definition of investment does not exist anywhere else. The budget says so itself. It does not exist in Singapore and it does not exist in the United Kingdom. According to the Parliamentary Budget Officer, we are not talkin…
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Mr. Speaker, earlier in the debate, my colleague from Montcalm explained that this budget represents a disengagement from health care funding because the health transfer could potentially increase more slowly than the costs of the system. In response, the member for Bourassa, the great intellectual, and the member for Trois‑Rivières, the great diplomat, shouted names at the member for Montcalm, sa…
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Madam Speaker, the Prime Minister's latest mantra is that he wants to eliminate the operating deficit, in other words, the normal net deficit from his bad investments. However, by his own definition of operating deficit, the Trudeau government achieved a balance or generated a surplus during its first four years. We will overlook the pandemic years. The Trudeau government did not run an operating …
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Madam Speaker, the member for Winnipeg North and his colleagues from the governing party go around telling everyone that it is important to invest in infrastructure. They talk about hospital infrastructure. However, the budget lays out $5 billion over three years to build hospitals in all the provinces. That comes out to about $1.7 billion a year. For Quebec, this means $300 million a year over th…
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance have invented this notion of considering a budget balanced on the basis of operational spending. Under the Minister of Finance's newly invented rules, the Trudeau government would have had a budget surplus in 2015‑16, followed by two years of balanced budgets, a surplus in 2018‑19, and a budget surplus the year after the pandemic. If some…
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Mr. Speaker, my understanding is that my colleague has previously served as a city councillor. I would like to know his thoughts on the fact that the federal budget, as presented, includes only $9 billion in new infrastructure funding over five years. Furthermore, within that, there is $5 billion over three years for hospitals from coast to coast. Today, building a single teaching hospital costs m…
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Mr. Speaker, the budget is kind of the worst of both worlds. It is a Liberal deficit with Conservative ideas: nothing for health, nothing for seniors, cuts to the environment. It is Stephen Harper all over again. I am not the one saying so. The leader of the government said yesterday that this is a budget that Conservative voters can get behind. The Liberals are not even trying to hide it any more…
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Mr. Speaker, in his speech, my colleague talked about the importance of protecting jobs. Among the first victims of the current crisis are the 300 fathers and mothers who were laid off at Paccar. In a recent interview with Mario Dumont, the Liberal member for Thérèse‑De Blainville told these workers not to take it personally. She encouraged them to visit food banks. She told them to come up with a…
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Mr. Speaker, there has been much talk about the $78-billion generational deficit in the budget, and rightly so. What are the key features of this budget? Military is the top priority, the fight against climate change is over, oil companies are getting more tax credits and tens of thousands of jobs are being cut. All of these choices would have delighted Stephen Harper, because they are conservativ…
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Mr. Speaker, a $78-billion deficit will affect future generations in my riding. Worse still, the Liberals are increasing the deficit while announcing cuts to health transfers. They are not investing a penny in seniors who are struggling with the cost of living. They are refusing to offer loans at preferential rates to first-time home buyers. They are replacing the only housing construction program…
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Mr. Speaker, yesterday we debated a committee report here in the House. The Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons stood up and told us the debate had no place here in the House. He said that the committees would handle this, that they were capable of doing their job and that, when the committee in question completes its work, the government would take note…
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Mr. Speaker, I would never question the Chair's good faith or way of working, but we can still assume that his decision will have consequences. From what I understand, the parties may not share the same opinion on two categories of amendments. The parties do not seem to have the same opinion on the number of days of continuous residence in Canada as on the other qualification criteria, including t…
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Mr. Speaker, I think it is useful for us as parliamentarians to know how many people will be affected by the legislation. The fact that the government says that it has done no calculations whatsoever gives us some idea of just how unprepared it is. I am concerned that the government is increasingly unwilling to let the opposition know how much things cost. The proof is that it appointed an interim…
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Mr. Speaker, in his previous speech, the member for Bourassa was once again a bit theatrical when he said that the amendments adopted in committee would distort the bill. This shows that he is both incompetent and disingenuous. Why do I say “incompetent”? The member knows full well that the amendments were accepted by the Chair. This means that they do not change the nature of the bill. The member…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Terrebonne for introducing this bill. This subject is very important to me. As members know, I am the member for the riding of Mirabel. A large part of my riding borders the Lac des Deux Montagnes. Folks in my riding are very familiar with extreme weather events that have a devastating impact on our built heritage and people's lives. As everyone knows, in 2019, …
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Mr. Speaker, once again, I am pleased to speak here today. This debate is somewhat surreal. I am standing here yet, given the nature of the debate, I feel as though I am somewhere up in the stratosphere, floating in a space shuttle. We know how Liberals think. Liberals have a switch with two positions: “off” and “on”. They think one thing on Monday, switch to “off” that evening and then to “on” th…
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Mr. Speaker, I am wondering about the Liberals' tone and attitude in this debate. First, they are trying to turn the debate on Bill C‑3 into a debate on immigration, when it is a debate on the conditions that lead to citizenship. A few seconds ago, the member for Winnipeg North stood up and said that the opposition was out of touch. However, the minister was invited to appear before the committee …
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Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. For the umpteenth time, I think the member for Winnipeg North could quiet down and let my colleague finish his speech.
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Mr. Speaker, on immigration, there needs to be consistency between the various legislative measures. Those hoping to become naturalized have to fulfill certain requirements. They are required to have lived in the country for 1,095 days over a period of five years. A security assessment is done, a language test is administered, and a citizenship test is completed. Those are the rules. That is exact…
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Mr. Speaker, it is sad when debates become personal. What we just heard from the parliamentary secretary is rather appalling. As far as the proposed amendments are concerned, since my colleague has likely spent 1,095 consecutive days in Canada, she would be eligible. Her child may have to take a test to be eligible. I am sure he can pass a test. I would like to know where in this debate anyone acc…
Read full speech →Oral questions
Mr. Speaker, the cat is out of the bag. Yesterday, the government House leader openly threatened a Christmas election if the House does not support his budget as it stands. The Liberals did not hold any pre-budget consultations, did not hear from any witnesses in committee and did not include any of the opposition's demands in the budget. Now, they are already resorting to blackmail instead of try…
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Mr. Speaker, do you see what is going on? Insults are being tossed back and forth. Here are the facts on these amendments. The committee determined that, for a person to be considered to have a substantial connection to Canada, they must have lived in Canada for a certain number of days over a certain period of time. Anyone over the age of 18 has to be able to speak an official language, undergo a…
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Mr. Speaker, when the Prime Minister and the mathematician across the way said that they were reaching out to the opposition, we thought it was so that we could work together not so that we could get slapped around. That promise is broken with threats of an election. Some will say that this is not the only broken promise. The Prime Minister also promised to protect us from Donald Trump. However, u…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I am hearing some government members say that we are complaining over nothing and that the arrival of the new Prime Minister in an old government does not change anything, despite the fact that the new Prime Minister was the head of a corporation that has interests in hundreds of companies. Here is what I am wondering: Should everyone be allowed to go into politics? We know that the…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, this year we are celebrating the 125th anniversary of the pride of Quebec: Desjardins Group. Founded in Lévis in 1900 by Alphonse Desjardins, it was the quiet revolution before the Quiet Revolution. While anglophone banks turned their backs on French Canadians and predatory lending was wreaking havoc, Alphonse Desjardins drew inspiration from the European co-operative model to create …
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Mr. Speaker, the Liberals met with party leaders about the budget after it had already been written. They did not talk to Quebeckers either. There were no pre-budget consultations. No witnesses were heard in committee. After a year and a half without a budget, the Liberals worked alone, not even meeting with a single stakeholder from Quebec's various social and economic groups. Now they are surpri…
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Mr. Speaker, the situation is not improving at the Canada Revenue Agency, or CRA. Yesterday, the Auditor General confirmed what we already knew, that the CRA is not even answering the phone anymore. Worse still, the Auditor General revealed that when people do manage to get though to the agency, they are only being given correct information 17% of the time. In concrete terms, this means that we ar…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, as you will see, community spirit runs deep in my riding. This year, we are celebrating the 30th anniversary of La Petite Maison de Pointe-Calumet, which was founded in 1995 by Diane Grenier. It has grown over the years thanks to the commitment of passionate people like current director Mélissa Corbeil and her hard-working team. With more than 550 people receiving assistance and dozen…
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Mr. Speaker, the Bloc Québécois has made six budget-related demands, which can be summarized as follows: Quebec must be given the means to take care of Quebeckers. That means an unconditional increase in health transfers. Due to the cost of living, it means an OAS increase for seniors aged 65 to 74. Quebeckers must also be reimbursed the $814 million that the federal government stole from us to gi…
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Mr. Speaker, this budget also has to tackle the major challenges of our time. One of those challenges is housing, which requires an unconditional, long-term transfer to Quebec for the construction of social and community housing. Another challenge is access to home ownership, which requires loans for first-time buyers to cover their down payment. Then there is infrastructure, which requires a new,…
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Mr. Speaker, Bill C‑12 is the new version of Bill C‑2, with fewer irritants. The reason we have Bill C‑12 before us today is that there has been a huge backlash in civil society against Bill C‑2 and the privacy violations it entailed, particularly with respect to the police opening mail. This led to the introduction of Bill C‑12, which is much more balanced. Many of the irritants that bothered us,…
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