Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, we have a Minister of Public Safety who has repeatedly said that the serious decision to invoke the Emergencies Act was made at the request of police authorities. All the police forces deny having requested the Emergencies Act. The minister knows this, and as a former Crown prosecutor, he knows the importance of telling the truth and nothing but the truth. Since he cannot take back wh…
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Mr. Speaker, ministerial responsibility is a cornerstone of our political system. It means that ministers are accountable for their departments' actions. With the job comes huge responsibility. Does this principle, which is what gives people confidence in their government, mean anything to the Prime Minister and his cabinet?
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Mr. Speaker, that is what Commissioner Lucki said after the act was invoked, not before. However, on April 28, the Minister of Public Safety stated, “It was on the advice of [the police] that we invoked the Emergencies Act”. The whole story told by the Prime Minister to justify invoking the Emergencies Act was farfetched, and all the police forces have denied asking the federal government to invok…
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We shall see, Mr. Speaker. On April 28, the Minister of Public Safety said, and I quote, “the invocation of the Emergencies Act...was only put forward after police officials told us they needed this special power”. No police service acknowledges having asked for the Emergencies Act. Are the minister and the Prime Minister both insisting that police asked the government to invoke the Emergencies Ac…
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Mr. Speaker, soon masks will no longer be required on public transit in Ontario. Soon masks will no longer be required on public transit in Quebec. The provincial governments listened to the recommendations of their public health experts. Vaccine passports are no longer required in the country unless you are taking a plane, working for the federal government or entering the Parliament buildings. I…
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Mr. Speaker, all we ever hear from the minister is “if”. She never gives real answers. Let us talk about real-life things. Even as shootings are on the rise in Montreal, the Liberals are in such a hurry to release criminals that they are going to gag the opposition to pass Bill C‑5, which imposes mandatory minimum sentences. Here is what one Montrealer said on TVA: “My mother and I were sitting on…
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Mr. Speaker, her talent for not answering questions is incredible. What is the difference between being crammed into a subway or lining up at an airport? People on the subway have physical contact with others, vaccinated or not, and public health is fine with that. At an airport, everyone is vaccinated and must still wear a mask. The Prime Minister has no science to justify this. Does the Prime Mi…
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to share what I heard from the representative of a community that this government claims it wants to help. She says that eliminating these minimum sentences is not only a bad idea masquerading as a good one, but an idea that will further jeopardize the communities this initiative is supposed to protect. That is what we heard from Murielle Chatellier in a parliamentary com…
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Mr. Speaker, allow me to share another story from one of my constituents who is worried about the cost of living. This person will not have enough to pay his bills and put food on the table at the end of the month. He will have to make some very difficult choices. Some members of his family will probably have to go hungry so that he can afford to pay his bills. This is the experience of someone fr…
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Mr. Speaker, this is what happens when members speak up: they encourage debate. When members say things to distract the House, some of our colleagues here want to get us back on topic. This was, unfortunately, yet another example of this kind of distraction. The Liberals do not see any inflation crisis. They see no crisis, and they do not think people are having a hard time paying their gas or gro…
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Mr. Speaker, I want to highlight the excellent work of the Leader of the Opposition, who today made a passionate plea on behalf of Canadians who are struggling and having a hard time making ends meet. By moving this motion today, the Leader of the Opposition clearly showed her support for Canadians, families, young people, workers, seniors and everyone affected by the skyrocketing cost of living. …
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Mr. Speaker, we support a relief on taxes for each and every Canadian, including indigenous people. This is for everyone in the country. It is what we are supportive of. It could be the direct answer and could help everyone right now. This is what we need in Canada, and I hope the member will support our motion today.
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Mr. Speaker, since the beginning of the crisis, we have seen that the Minister of Finance is totally out of touch with the reality of Canadians. According to the Liberals, gas prices are not too high. According to them, Russia, the pandemic and even Canadians are to blame. They are going to criticize the Conservatives today for introducing a motion calling on them to act, to give a little breathin…
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Mr. Speaker, there is much in what my hon. colleague said. I must mention that she works very hard for seniors. That is her file and she often speaks about seniors' needs. We are currently facing a crisis. All consumers who are seniors will get a break with the measures we outlined. Seniors, youth and workers will immediately get a break. That is the goal. We are the official opposition, and there…
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Mr. Speaker, working Canadians and everyone else do not care what is causing inflation or why everything costs more. What they do care about is being able to afford to buy groceries at the end of the month, making sure that their kids are not going to bed hungry, and being able to afford to fill up their vehicle so that they can get to work. Whether it is the pandemic, COVID‑19, or anything else t…
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Madam Speaker, I have a very short question for my colleague. He mentioned the importance of taking action, of moving to plan B. Is it important to act quickly to protect the potential victims of future attackers?
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Mr. Speaker, now is not the time to spout off scripted lines meant for the press. The situation in Canada is increasingly worrisome. We have learned that a quarter of Canadians are not eating enough because they cannot afford to buy food. Statistics Canada reports that food prices have risen 10% since last year, the highest increase since 1981. Why are the Prime Minister and his ministers not doin…
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Mr. Speaker, the minister cannot be serious. Her answer was about dental care and the home buyers' tax credit. Is that the Liberals' solution to the crisis food banks are currently facing? Places like Mégantic—L'Érable have seen a 10% increase in demand over the past few weeks from people who cannot afford to put food on the table. In many other regions, it is as high as 25%. When food bank usage …
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Mr. Speaker, I cannot get over the answers I am hearing from Canada's Minister of Finance. She does not realize what a tough time people are having paying their bills and putting food on the table. Everything is more expensive. What the minister is saying is that it may just be single mothers who are having a tough time. In reality, every Canadian and every worker is having a tough time. Some are …
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Madam Speaker, that is the problem. In trying to do something good, three parties in the House are going to make a serious mistake by passing Bill C-5. Rather than sending a strong message to armed criminals, they are announcing that Canada will now be more tolerant toward criminals and will give them a second chance. Victims of gun violence, however, do not get a second chance. The reality is tha…
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Madam Speaker, I think many of my colleagues from the Liberal Party, the NDP and the Bloc Québécois are ignoring important facts about Bill C-5, the bill they are planning to support. Under this bill, 11 serious criminal offences involving firearms will no longer be subject to mandatory minimums. We are talking about robbery with a firearm, discharging a firearm with intent and using a firearm whe…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, the member opposite cannot impute motives or attribute words to other colleagues without evidence. All he is doing right now is spewing rhetoric and making some pretty big assumptions about what is going to happen—
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Mr. Speaker, do you want me to list more Liberal secrets? There was SNC-Lavalin, the paid vacations, the WE Charity scandal, the Winnipeg lab documents. The Information Commissioner of Canada is receiving more complaints than ever before, and now the Prime Minister and his cabinet are keeping 72 decisions secret. “[I]t is time to shine more light on government to make sure it remains focused on th…
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Mr. Speaker, there was another murder this week in Laval, in the middle of a restaurant, right in front of diners. People are afraid. Criminals no longer fear the police, who in turn feel abandoned by the Liberal government. Instead of sending a strong message to armed criminal gangs, with Bill C‑5, the Prime Minister announced that they will be able to serve their sentences at home. Even Pierre E…
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Mr. Speaker, “[g]overnment and its information must be open by default”. That was the big promise that the Prime Minister made to Canadians in 2015. Seven years later, that promise has melted away like snow on a sunny day. We have never seen a government as closed off, as opaque or as quick to redact as the one led by this Prime Minister. We recently learned that the government has adopted 72 secr…
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister keeps repeating talking points that border on misinformation and that definitely show a lack of compassion, both for victims of crime and for Canadians who are paying more and more for everything. To satisfy his insatiable appetite for spending, the Prime Minister is happy to let Canadians pay millions of dollars more every day in taxes because everything costs more…
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Mr. Speaker, how is it partisan to ask the government to spend a little time thinking about how difficult it is for Canadian families to stretch their budget to get to the end of the month? Canadians need help now, not in six months or a year. The Prime Minister must act now. However, he never even saw it coming, and there was nothing in the last budget to help Canadian families get through the im…
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Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives always put victims' rights above criminals' rights. On Friday, the Supreme Court issued a disappointing verdict that will allow violent criminals and serial killers like Alexandre Bissonnette and Justin Bourque back into society in spite of their life sentences. They murdered nine people. These victims will never be back in society, never be with their families again…
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Mr. Speaker, that is a whole lot of nonsense. The government's response to inflation and the rising price of gas, food and housing is sorely lacking in compassion for Canadians. It is not by comparing Canada to other countries that we are going to help the families who are struggling to make ends meet at the end of the month. The government is one of the biggest beneficiaries of inflation since it…
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Mr. Speaker, in 2015, the Prime Minister promised to make life more affordable for everyone. Seven years later, here is his report card: Gas costs twice as much, housing prices have doubled, groceries cost a fortune, and inflation has risen from 1.1% to 6.8%. With the carbon tax, the government itself is happily picking the pockets of Canadians. The facts speak for themselves. Under the Liberals, …
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Madam Chair, in his statement, Mr. Kendrick said that, broadly speaking, Canada is paying between three and five times the world price for ships and taking two to four times longer to get them. Is the minister also proud of those results?
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Madam Chair, Mr. Kendrick also says that Canada's national shipbuilding strategy is not delivering the ships that the Canadian Navy and Coast Guard need. According to him, the few ships that the strategy has delivered have cost an indecent amount of money, and Canada has become an international laughingstock. Is the minister okay with being a laughingstock?
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Madam Chair, Mr. Kendrick, who worked for the Government of Canada from 1981 to 2020, said that what concerns him about the whole shipbuilding process is that the government has lost control of situation. Does the minister agree?
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Madam Chair, Mr. Kendrick is an architect who worked for the government from 1981 to 2020. He has credibility and a great deal of experience. He told the committee that the offshore patrol ship project process, which is supposed to be fair, open and transparent, is not. It is completely opaque. Does the minister agree with his statement?
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Madam Chair, is the minister familiar with Andrew Kendrick, who appeared before the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates on May 13?
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Madam Chair, I will ask the minister this question for the last time. Will her department be involved in reaching an agreement with Canadian Pacific for the construction and acquisition of the rail line?
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Madam Chair, it is my understanding, then, that the minister's department will not be involved in negotiations with Canadian Pacific for the acquisition of the bypass and for the construction contract.
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Madam Chair, can Public Services and Procurement Canada explain to us how the government can enter into a mutually agreeable private contract with a private company for $400 million?
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Madam Chair, how can the minister not be involved in a contract with a private company, a contract worth $400 million?
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Madam Chair, how can Public Services and Procurement Canada not be involved if the government is signing a mutually agreeable contract with a private company, a contract that could be worth $395 million?
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Madam Chair, I would like to ask the minister a few questions about the Lac-Mégantic bypass. What is the minister's role on the bypass file?
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Madam Chair, I am quoting comments made by a committee witness who worked for the Canadian government from 1981 to 2020. Mr. Kendrick also asked the committee to note that the offshore patrol ships are not wanted or needed by either the navy or the Coast Guard and are only being built to keep the shipyard busy until the Canadian surface combatant project is ready to move forward. Does the minister…
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Mr. Speaker, let us take stock of the government's record: passports, chaos; Service Canada, chaos; immigration, chaos; employment insurance, chaos; House management, chaos; border management, chaos; inflation management, chaos. Everything this Liberal government touches is a dismal failure. Can the minister responsible for this chaos please rise?
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Mr. Speaker, the Liberals' ideological stubbornness, which is not supported by science or any recognized scientific opinion, is hurting Canadians. What is happening in Canada's airports clearly shows that this NDP-Liberal government is out of its depth, and travellers are the ones paying the price. They are the ones who have to wait in huge lineups and who are being held captive on planes for hour…
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Mr. Speaker, for two years now, Canadians have been making sacrifices to combat COVID‑19. They stayed home. They got vaccinated in large numbers. They got tested. They wore masks. Two years later, the majority of governments have listened to the science and lifted the health measures to give their citizens a bit of a breather. All the governments have done so, except one. Just one government refus…
Read full speech →Statements By Members
Mr. Speaker, today I wish to pay tribute to a great Canadian entrepreneur who recently passed away. Renaud Fournier is the perfect example of the economic diversification of Thetford Mines. In 1960, the asbestos mines and its “white gold”, as chrysotile fibre was then called, were vitally important to the local economy. It was at this time that Mr. Fournier founded his tinsmithing and metal weldin…
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Mr. Speaker, if I may, I would like to take at least as much time as my hon. colleague took when he asked his question, which was fairly long and very specific. My colleague from Montcalm and I were both members of the Standing Committee on Health. He is right about one thing, but I do not share his concerns about the other. We have to be able to take all the recommendations and see how we can lea…
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Mr. Speaker, the message just delivered by the Liberal member was picked up and paid for by the Liberal government's department of misinformation. That is the reality. As I said in my speech, I have a constituent in my riding who is 85 years old and does not have a smart phone or a computer. The parliamentary secretary just told us that the gentleman can use his computer to get his receipt up to 7…
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Mr. Speaker, I salute my colleague, who does incredible work on her transport file. She speaks on behalf of thousands of Canadian travellers who are asking themselves a lot of questions about why the federal government truly wants to maintain the health measures in airports and at land borders. We have a lot of questions. We have been asking for evidence and documentation from the beginning and ha…
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Madam Chair, what is the minister's role in the bypass in Lac-Mégantic?
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