Speech from the Throne
Mr. Speaker, since he is a new Conservative member, I am curious. Does the member believe that global warming is a real, scientifically proven phenomenon?
Read full speech →Speech from the Throne
Mr. Speaker, I would like to commend my colleague on his election. Earlier, the Liberal member for Egmont gave a speech that I thought was absolutely outrageous. He said that health is not just a provincial jurisdiction, even though section 92 of the Constitution says that it is. Ottawa got involved because changes in government revenues allowed it to meddle in provincial affairs. All of the provi…
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Mr. Speaker, my friend, the member for Whitby, whom I congratulate and salute, was one of the main standard-bearers of the Trudeau government's environmental policy. I have here a mailer he sent his constituents in June 2022. In it, he defended the carbon tax and rebates for zero-emission vehicles, for which there are no tax credits anymore. He also sponsored a motion to speed up the passage of Se…
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Mr. Speaker, I congratulate my colleague on his re-election. We need legislation to protect supply management because the Canadian government does not decide what is on the table during a negotiation. Each party decides what it is putting on the table. The Americans have announced that supply management will be on the table. I listened to my colleague from Compton—Stanstead, and the rhetoric has c…
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Mr. Speaker, I congratulate my colleague from Beauce and pass on best wishes directly from the people of Mirabel, which was recently named the maple capital of the world. However, good maple syrup can be found everywhere. Ottawa often automatically thinks that the federal government can fix everything. However, my colleague spoke about helping businesses, cutting taxes and making our economy more …
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Madam Speaker, with all due respect, I think that this is an important addition to the debate on this point of order. In his speech, the parliamentary secretary said that he was not up to date, had not read Bill C‑390, and was unaware. Members cannot do indirectly what they cannot do directly. Since the parliamentary secretary referred to himself as ignorant, should he withdraw his remarks?
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the minister might think this is our fault, but we want to know how many other times the Canada Revenue Agency has been a victim of fraud as a result of a lack of verification, because the CRA has been hiding the real numbers. Since 2020, the CRA has notified the Privacy Commissioner of 113 cases where taxpayers' personal information was used to commit fraud. When questioned by the me…
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Mr. Speaker, on this Halloween, the worst house of horrors is here in Ottawa, the Canada Revenue Agency. Fraudsters got $6 million in fraudulent tax refunds. The agency was not even able to realize that different people were being paid in the same bank account. That is not all. There is a smart guy who fudged his tax returns to try to get a $40 million refund. The agency had time to refund him a s…
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Mr. Speaker, fraud is on the rise at the Canada Revenue Agency because no one is doing the proper checks, including the minister, who has the power to launch investigations. Then there are the cases where the CRA is defrauding itself, as was the case with 330 employees who had to be fired because they approved themselves for CERB, the Canada emergency response benefit. The vampires were running th…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, today, I would like to talk about François Gervais, a staff member at Oka Secondary School, who recently opted for phased retirement after an accomplished career. For nearly 40 years, Mr. Gervais touched the lives of hundreds of young people. Some of them still talk to me today about his initiatives, such as setting up a fair trade store, creating a student environment committee, esta…
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Mr. Speaker, while the federal government is implicated in various scandals, 161 complaints from whistle-blowers are on hold. There are 161 complaints related to wrongdoing or wrongful reprisal against whistle-blowers. The government has to increase the commissioner's budget, but it must also ensure that whistle-blowers are protected. This reminds us that Bill C‑290, unanimously passed by the Hous…
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Mr. Speaker, whistle-blowers with the courage to report federal wrongdoing have to wait three years for an investigation not to be completed, but merely started. Imagine how that must deter people from speaking out. Imagine how it damages the public's trust at a time when the federal government is getting itself mired in one scandal after another, like the ArriveCAN or SDTC scandals. The Public Se…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I would like to check that the member's comments are relevant to the matter at hand, which is homelessness and housing.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, my colleague from Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot is our international trade critic, so there is something I cannot help but wonder. Some of our trading partners are obviously taking the foreign interference issue more seriously than we are. The United States would never have let something like this slide for so long, and neither would France. Here, in contrast, the second opposition party is…
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Madam Speaker, the leader of the Bloc Québécois said that he was thinking about the opportunity of such a briefing. At one time, it was seen as a trap. Agreeing to this security briefing means getting the information and the names. However, those who obtain the names are not allowed to disclose them, not allowed to talk about it and not allowed to act on this information. We are effectively being …
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Madam Speaker, I am very pleased to see my colleagues here this evening to debate the important issue of foreign interference in Canadian elections. Today, our democratic life has reached the very heart of the House of Commons. The report that the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians released last week, which is a redacted version—we do not have access to all the inform…
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Madam Speaker, the interesting thing is that we now have the report of the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians, which sits in camera. We also have the first report of the Hogue commission. We have all these facts and all these allegations before us, which brings us to our motion today. We did not know these facts, and most of us still do not know them. The Prime Minist…
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Madam Speaker, several Liberals are telling us that there is already a system of accountability because the leaders of the political parties could have gone to get their security clearance to get the information. That is what the member for Kingston and the Islands said in a televised interview earlier today. Now, if they have that information, they cannot use it or disclose it, so they cannot tak…
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague made a good speech and underlined the fact that Sustainable Development Technology Canada, or SDTC, was necessary for the development of many technological innovations. I want to remind her that that is why the Liberals should not have scrapped the foundation by allowing wrongdoing and putting up with it for so long. The government cannot dissociate itself from what happe…
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Madam Speaker, certainly there were policies governing conflicts of interest at SDTC. Not only were there policies, but those policies did not even comply with the legislation. They were inadequate. That is not all, however. In addition, within SDTC, these policies were not being respected, and were themselves illegal. Furthermore, SDTC's conflict of interest policies were less stringent for the b…
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Madam Speaker, yesterday, former minister Navdeep Bains appeared before the Standing Committee on Industry and Technology. The Auditor General's report very clearly indicates that the minister at the time had the power to request that Sustainable Development Technology Canada, or SDTC, be audited to see what was happening, so I asked the minister how many audits he had requested. Not only did the …
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Madam Speaker, we have spent three minutes without talking about the carbon tax. I think that is a record. I thank my colleague for reminding us of his political position. We can work on the production costs of groceries, but the Conservatives always lean toward the most polluting option. There are many ways to reduce the costs of groceries. There are many sources of taxation. There are zoning iss…
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Madam Speaker, first, I would like to thank my colleague for her relevant and important question. Obviously, we agree on this aspect of the NDP's motion. We need to recognize the geographic uniqueness of communities, particularly in the Far North and in the territories. Indeed, increasing funding for these programs responds to a request from the communities. Obviously, the Bloc Québécois supports …
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Madam Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the member for Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot. Today, we are talking about the price of groceries and the food we eat. First, as they start their season, I would like to take a few seconds in the House to thank all those in Quebec's agricultural and processing sectors who feed us. Many of my colleagues from all parties, especially those of the Bloc Québécois, a…
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Madam Speaker, my colleague sits on the Standing Committee on Industry and Technology. I know that he is interested in the price of many goods and services in Quebeckers' and Canadians' market basket. In the last budget, the government proposed an open banking system. That will completely sideline Desjardins, the largest financial institution in Quebec. The federal government wants to impose an op…
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Madam Speaker, of course, giving customers more information means giving them a tool that allows them to do the best they can. However, given the state of competition in Canada, this information will let consumers see they are being gouged and paying too much. We can go ahead and create all sorts of databases and give the price range for a grocery item on a portal, but if the lowest price on the p…
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his fascinating speech. Obviously, health care is an exclusive provincial jurisdiction, but there is something called the fiscal imbalance. We know that the most important responsibilities of a welfare state are incumbent on the provinces but that the revenue largely goes to Ottawa. That means funds must unconditionally be transferred to the provinces. Durin…
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Madam Speaker, we all like the member for Winnipeg North, but there are times when we need a modicum of decorum. I think the word “crazy” that was shouted here in the House at the member for Abbotsford was inappropriate.
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, I am pleased to be debating with the NDP today because they are once again proving my point. The member says that in France, the finance minister gathered 75 people in a room to negotiate. There is so little competition here that there were five people in the room. They could have fit in a cubicle here in the back of the lobby. We clearly do not have the same market structure at all…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, in his speech, my colleague mentioned that consumers will not be able to enjoy lower prices unless new competitors enter the market. I would like to know why he thinks new entrants are reluctant to invest in Canada. Why is our industry minister always travelling, chasing grocers south of the border? Is that not proof, in and of itself, that there are significant barriers, primarily re…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, would it be possible to ask members to be quiet?
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, I thank you for your diligence. I also wish to inform you that I will be sharing my time with none other than the Voltaire of Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, if ever there were one, and possibly the only person in the House who is so bright that we have to wear shades. As we know, the NDP has been cozying up to the Liberals for the past two years. That is why it is no surprise that, today, t…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, today at the Standing Committee on Industry and Technology, we welcomed Pierre Larouche, a world authority on competition law. He has been a professor at the Université de Montréal for seven years, but he had a long career in Europe and has trained other leading figures in competition law in Europe. He told us that, in Europe, the average profit margin in the grocery sector is about…
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Madam Speaker, the diagnosis is correct. I said as much. It is their solutions that are unappealing and bad. Dentists in Quebec are against their program. They want to provide care. The federal government has no expertise. The system already exists in Quebec. We are saying that if they want there to be dental care, then the money needs to be sent to Quebec. Their diagnosis is good, but their solut…
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Madam Speaker, the member for Winnipeg North is wrong when he talks about the national government, because Quebeckers' national government is in Quebec City. This is the federal government. We know that the reason the federal government is interfering in health is because of a loophole in the Constitution called the federal spending power. This is the only federation in the world that has not regu…
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Mr. Speaker, I am a bit fed up with some Conservatives who rise and think that since they grew up on a farm, they can say anything they want and get away with it. Me, I grew up 1,000 kilometres north of Montreal, in the Far North. To go to the hardware store, I had to travel 200 kilometres to Val-d'Or. I know what life in the regions is like. I know that the dairy producers in my riding work so ha…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleagues for their presence. If I may, I will be sharing my time with the member for Jonquière. Earlier, in his speech, the leader of the official opposition quoted René Lévesque, who said, “Beware of those who say they love the people but hate everything the people love”. Obviously, it is hard not to seize on this expression. It is hard not to reflect on it. Indeed, peop…
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Madam Speaker, my best regards to the minister. I thank her for her very good question. I will use the same wording to answer. Does she not know that Quebec is asking for health transfers? Does she not know that Quebec needs unconditional transfers? Does she not know about the health care funding deficit? Does she not know that if Ottawa stopped saying no to health transfers, we might not be where…
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Madam Speaker, we have a problem here in Ottawa. Governments, particularly Liberal governments, think they know more than the provinces in fields where they are completely incompetent. However, the NDP is breaking records. It is even worse. Not so long ago, the leader of the NPD wrote to Quebec's health minister asking for a meeting so he could teach him about the benefits of a pharmacare system. …
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Madam Speaker, I would like to commend the members who may have the courage to sit late with us this evening. Today we are debating Bill C‑64 to supposedly institute a national pharmacare program. I say supposedly because that is not what the bill does. Let us speak the truth. It is a bill mainly designed to playing politics, to the benefit of who knows who because by all accounts, the NDP is drop…
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Mr. Speaker, this is part of the nonsense that the leader of the official opposition told us today. He told us that if we were against the oil industry and against the development of the domestic oil industry, we were for foreign regimes, including Saudi Arabia, a socialist country. He told us this. We can tell that this is a very serious man. As for the carbon tax, it will happen and here is why:…
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Madam Speaker, indeed, the absence of Liberal colleagues in the House should not be mentioned. We have tabled an amendment—
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Mr. Speaker, to respond to the first part of my colleague's question, we favour universal health care and pharmacare, but just as the measure involving the GST, we want it to be done efficiently. For that to happen, the money must go to Quebec City. We must not sell ourselves short. Unfortunately, that is what some people do occasionally. The Parliamentary Budget Officer said so himself on the air…
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Madam Speaker, that is an interesting question. One thing is for certain: If the federal government has money for the provinces to cover more drugs, then perhaps even more drugs could be covered if the money is sent to the provinces and they are given the right to opt out with full compensation so that they can expand programs with existing infrastructure. However, Ottawa has this bad habit of cre…
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Madam Speaker, that adds a bit of spice to our evening, obviously. As I was saying, we asked for the right to opt out with full financial compensation. That should have been granted, in the interests of patients, those who are ill and workers. However, it was denied by the Speaker on the pretext that it requires royal recommendation, when the only thing Quebec wants is to have its share of the fun…
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Madam Speaker, there are dissenting voices in every society. There are debates in every society. However, Quebec's voice is heard in the Quebec National Assembly, which is made up of 125 members who are elected by the people. My NDP colleague's leader had the nerve to send a letter to Quebec's health minister. He literally told the health minister that he wanted a meeting with him, that he wanted …
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague from Mégantic—L'Érable asks me how I am able to live with a so-called lie. Facts have never been the Conservatives' strong suit, so that is pretty funny.
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Mr. Speaker, a large majority of Quebeckers think it is important for governments to respect their areas of jurisdiction. That is the case in my riding. People come to see me. They are deeply insulted because not only is the federal government meddling in Quebec's affairs, but it is making a mess. People have to get out their credit card, go to the CRA portal and wait, without necessarily knowing …
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to highlight one thing. There may be heated debates, and that is perfectly fine, but a modicum of decorum must be maintained in the House. I want to point out that, throughout my speech, I was utterly incapable of hearing myself. The member for Mégantic—L'Érable showed a lack of respect, consideration and decorum. I think that should be noted.
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Mr. Speaker, what do we have to do to live to 120? We mind our own business. Generally, that is a good technique for being well liked, for getting people's respect and for not getting into trouble. It is rather surprising to see that Canada has been around for 157 years while systematically not minding its business. That is a record. Essentially, if we put it in good French for Quebeckers to under…
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