Government Orders
Madam Speaker, as we have said many times, no one wishes ill on Albertans. Unfortunately, their economy is based on the fossil fuel sector. Earlier, the leader clearly stated that Quebec was no more virtuous than anyone else. We have renewable energies, and we put them to good use. We need to review Canada's industrial landscape and stop subsidizing fossil fuels. We could develop wind and solar en…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, what a happy coincidence. My colleague was the one who moved the motion stating that oil is irreplaceable. Not only did he say at the time that oil was irreplaceable, but he also wanted to designate a day to celebrate it. He wanted an international day to celebrate oil. We are moving toward renewable energy, but the Conservative Party says we need to keep using oil. The Conservative…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, is my colleague talking about Bill C‑49? Yes? Okay. I find that rather strange. The Conservatives are probably against this bill for their own reasons. What I find odd about this bill is the addition of the term “renewable energy”. To me, oil has never been renewable energy. I do not know what others think, but I do not believe that oil is a renewable energy source. They can speak f…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, it is hard to speak after someone so eloquent. I will do my best. I feel that, with this motion, the Conservative Party has gone from what we knew about them, the populism of constantly presenting us with very simplistic solutions to complex problems, to trickery. Trickery that is crass and abhorrent deceit. It is hypocritical, devious. That is what I see in the motion by the Conser…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I am sure he will be happy to hear what I have to say. One thing that does not work for Quebeckers is lying. People will soon realize that what the leader of the official opposition is saying about carbon pricing is false. It is not true. Now I have a question for him. He claims to be standing up for Quebec, but what will he do when Bill 21 is challenged in court? Will he stand up f…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, one thing that does not work for Quebeckers is lying. People will quickly realize that what the leader of the official opposition is saying—
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I congratulate my colleague for his speech. I just want to say that, in all his interventions, he is generally a very moderate person, even though, from an international relations perspective, he has experienced his share of unpleasant situations, like threats from China, for example. I want to emphasize very strongly that he is a person I consider to be moderate and discerning. Earli…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I was listening to my colleague talk to us about a real plan. I think it is rather funny to base a real plan on misinformation. I have never seen a real plan based on misinformation and the Conservatives have certainly been spouting misinformation. The carbon tax does not apply in Quebec. Quebec has set its own price on carbon. It is not the carbon tax. The Conservatives keep huffin…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, this may be a first: I am about to agree with the member for Winnipeg North. That rarely happens. The fact is that I do not understand it either. For months, we have listened to the Conservatives talk to us at every opportunity about the cost of living and the cost of housing. We could be debating these issues in the House this morning. We had speakers ready and waiting to do so. Th…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I really liked the end of my colleague's speech. She referred to the “Ottawa knows best” approach that is often taken. In her speech, she also spoke about the centralizing power that the Liberal-NDP coalition is trying to develop. I completely agree with her. However, her remarks are somewhat inconsistent with what I heard yesterday. Her leader said that he was going to make infrastru…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, in discussions about the oil and gas sector and the fact that we have to reduce our fossil fuel consumption, I always get a laugh out of Conservative members who talk about clean energy sources that rely on petroleum products. I just want to point out that oil sands oil is the dirtiest oil in the world. When we invest energy and money in those resources, which are used by Albertans …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, as I said at the beginning of my speech, respect for jurisdictions may not actually be an issue here. Given that the provincial premiers were willing parties to those discussions, I do not see this as an issue. While I do want everyone to bear in mind that natural resource development is under provincial jurisdiction, that is not an obstacle in this case. I would not say that the Bl…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I am especially pleased to rise in the House this morning because I am feeling confident. My party whip complimented me on my perfect hair before I rose to speak, so I am feeling really good about speaking to Bill C-49 this morning. The Bloc Québécois will take a careful look at the principles of Bill C‑49. It goes without saying that we will want to examine this bill more closely i…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I have a great liking for my colleague, the minister, and I hold him in high esteem. However, when I read Bill C-49, there was something that jumped out at me, and that is the name change. It incorporates the concept of clean energy. However, a careful reading shows that this bill applies mainly to offshore oil drilling. I hardly think offshore oil drilling qualifies as clean energy…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I would like to acknowledge the tremendous amount of work done by my colleague this summer to support her constituents in the wake of the forest fires. I will reiterate what I said at the beginning of my speech. A number of stakeholders have said this summer that what we are experiencing is a symptom of climate change. It is happening right now. A number of stakeholders have told us…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I love that question; it comes up a lot. I would simply point out to my colleague that more than $30 billion, some of it from Quebec, has been poured into infrastructure that Quebeckers will never use. In 2022, if I am not mistaken, the oil and gas industry received $20 billion from the federal government for a sector of activity that will never serve Quebec. The balance of trade be…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I completely agree with my colleague. I would point out to my colleague that, in fact, the NDP has the ability to force the government to act quickly given the agreement it has with the Liberal government. I very much welcome the possibility of the NDP using the same proposal as the Bloc Québécois. In order to support this bill, we need to see a plan to gradually reduce fossil fuel …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the forest fires are having a major impact on Quebec's forestry industry. It is too early to assess the losses, but it is already too late to guarantee that our producers will resume operations in time to save jobs. The Bloc Québécois has proposed solutions in partnership with the Association québécoise des entrepreneurs forestiers, which represents Quebec forestry companies. There ne…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I am so very pleased to speak to Bill C‑35 this evening, especially since I prepared my speech by running the statements I am about to make by my colleague from La Prairie, who is an economist. They call him “the big softy of La Prairie” now because he is so nice. It makes a change from his former life in Quebec City, where he was known as the “butcher of Sanguinet”. That was my lit…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I know that in the early days of Mrs. Marois's family policy, there were a number of issues due to a shortage of day care spaces. Let us look at what is available now, however. A woman who works nights has access to child care. Child care services are being seen and developed in workplaces and universities. I know that there are some early childhood centres currently in universities…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I was talking about predatory federalism simply to point out the dynamic that has been in place since the establishment of the health care system. The federal government does not respect the division of powers, which dictates that anything that has to do with social matters should be left to the provinces. It does not respect that; it creates provincial dependency with a much larger…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, rarely do I agree with my colleague from Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, but it has happened tonight. The proof is in the indicators from the 25 years that followed the implementation of Quebec's family policy. Quebec is among the societies in the western world with the highest number of women in the workforce and a steady decline in the number of single mothers living in poverty. This m…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, as I said earlier, the same criticisms we are hearing now were expressed by certain politicians in Quebec 25 years ago. I can guarantee that there is not a single soul in Quebec, not one Quebec politician, who would be prepared to stand up and say that the child care services we now have should be discontinued. As for what the Leader of the Opposition said, this is not the first non…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, this is no different than if I asked why we bother to have a state-run health care system. Why do we go to a hospital for care? Why not go see a grandmother? Why not go ask a friend for treatment? We know full well that that would not work. It would be completely ridiculous to tell a person with cancer to go ask their neighbour for help. As everyone knows, that is not how it works. …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, had my colleague listened carefully to my presentation, he would know that I said at the beginning that we need to work on prevention. If we want to prevent these very intense forest fires, we have to think about more than just how to fight them. We have to think about how to prevent them. If we want to prevent these forest fires, we must reduce our dependency on fossil fuels. That …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, the only big contradiction that I see, is that of the member for Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie and the former NDP leader who said that the Energy East pipeline was a win-win-win. Had there been an NDP government, there would have been a pipeline from western Canada to Quebec. That is a bloody contradiction.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, it makes no sense. Since 2022, the gluttonous oil and gas sector has been reaping record profits: ExxonMobil made $56 billion, Shell made $40 billion and TotalEnergies made $36 billion. In 2008, their oil refining margins went from 9.4¢ to 48.2¢. We cannot be supporting these big oil companies with public money. As the member for Mirabel has repeatedly said, at some point, we will r…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I sincerely apologize. I am a respectful man, and yet I still made a mistake. During the election campaign, the Minister of Environment and Climate Change said he planned to end fossil fuel subsidies by 2023. This is 2023, and the government still cannot define what it considers to be an inefficient fossil fuel subsidy. It cannot even define what a subsidy is. It simply does not hav…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I was listening to my colleague, whom I know personally, and I know that she has lost her voice because of the current situation and the poor air quality. I know she went to bed early yesterday and had her hot milk. I understand that the situation affects everyone. I would like to begin by highlighting the work of my colleague from Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou. I know this is di…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, that is such a relevant question. Indeed, if members can recall, there was the announcement in Montreal concerning work to be done in the tunnel. We expected there would be massive congestion in the years to come. It is in this context that the people from Chantiers Chibougamau informed me that since they would not have access to those railcars, they would add between 35 and 60 truc…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, as my colleague from Joliette pointed out in his speech earlier, the Mégantic tragedy happened in part because there was only one train conductor. I am sure the committee will do that work. It will have to hear from workers' representatives too. That awareness is important. I quite agree with my colleague.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I would say there is still a bit of work to be done, especially on small ports. That was pointed out earlier. I think the committee will also have some issues to address, such as how hard it is for us to get certain railcars in Quebec. If the goal is to make our supply chains more fluid, we cannot do so just for the oil and gas sector. We also have to do it for other economic sector…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for Joliette for giving me such a fine introduction. If I had the misfortune to cough during his presentation, it is because my eloquence pales in comparison to his. I was somewhat nervous. I hope he will forgive me. The Bloc Québécois is voting in favour of Bill C‑33 on the grounds that rail activities need to be constantly regulated and inspected. To begin, le…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, as I listened to my colleague's speech, I wondered where she was getting her information. In another life, I taught at a university. In a course on social policy, we took a close look at the role of child care and the child care system in Quebec. Several analysts said that the transformative impact on society was unimaginable. Women returned to the workforce, single mothers managed …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I request a recorded division.
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, that is a lack of respect for the National Assembly. In history and in relationships, the one who tells the other that they are trying to pick a fight is usually the guilty party. Everyone knows that. The federal government is the one that has been accused of illegal financing here. The National Assembly is unanimous. It voted last Thursday to investigate the illegal financing, not la…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I find it hard to listen to my Conservative colleagues talk about carbon taxes and people who are struggling to feed themselves and have to rely on food banks. I find it hard because I have heard the member for Carleton, the leader of the official opposition, say on numerous occasions that some people are going to food banks and asking for medical assistance in dying. To say such ri…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, on Thursday, the National Assembly unanimously demanded the disclosure of documents from the Grenier commission. Let us not forget that this commission had found that the federal government had engaged in illegal spending during the 1995 referendum. The National Assembly is missing some key documents from the federal government. Ottawa is still refusing to disclose these archives. The…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, to be clear, the Bloc Québécois's objective is to stand up for the interests of Quebec in the House. I often get the impression that the objective of the Conservative Party, which is the bloc of the west, is to stand up for the interests of the oil companies in this chamber. The Conservatives often try to distort reality by claiming carbon pricing is one of the causes of inflation, …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I am not sure I entirely follow where my colleague is going with this. I have never heard of a tax that would apply to the forestry sector because a tree sequesters carbon. He asked me to provide a definition of populism. To me, it is quite clear. It refers to politicians who try to oversimplify certain issues, sow division and create antagonism without listening to reason, to commo…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I agree with my colleague that the Conservatives' proposal is a simplistic solution to a complex problem. Where I disagree somewhat with my Liberal colleague is that, in my view, the best way to fight inflation is to support those who do not earn very much. I immediately think of retirees. The Liberal Party has never wanted to increase the OAS and GIS. It created two classes of seni…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the champion of the environment, the hon. member for Repentigny. I am going to do something I rarely do. I am going to make an aside, because today is my son’s birthday; my loyal equerry is 22 years old. My son is studying political science, and I thought that the best gift I could give him was to use one of his university papers. No one will be surpri…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, I am pleased to rise to speak to Bill C-284. As my colleague from Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou said so brilliantly earlier, the Bloc Québécois will be voting in favour of this bill. I see no reason why we would oppose a national strategy to support the prevention and treatment of eye diseases, just as I see no reason why we would oppose an age-related macular degeneration awaren…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, in 2007, Commissioner Grenier tabled a report on Option Canada's illegal spending in connection with the 1995 referendum. He concluded that the “no” side had spent over half a million federal dollars illegally. The federal government refused to co-operate. This week, the National Assembly unanimously supported the release of documents from the Grenier commission. Even the Liberal Part…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, we are not picking fights, and that is the truth. The only person I know of who is spoiling for a fight is the member for Mont‑Royal when the discussion turns to official languages. The Grenier report revealed $500,000 in illegal spending originating with Canadian Heritage. We will never really know what went on unless Ottawa co-operates. Almost 30 years after the fact, the National A…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I am surprised. I have been following this debate for two days, and yesterday I heard the member for Chicoutimi—Le Fjord say that the Conservative Party was the only party standing up for hunters. I heard that many times. It is clear, however, that the member for Avignon—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia has proven herself to be doing just that. No hunting weapons will be affected by Bill C-2…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, there are 85 empty judges' seats in federal courts, and this is resulting in “stays of proceedings” against criminals. That is the warning of Supreme Court Chief Justice Richard Wagner in a letter obtained by CBC. Liberal ministers must answer for those delays, because they always interfered in the appointment process. They filter candidates based on data from Elections Canada to find…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the delays in judicial appointments remind us of that coincidence in 2019. By the end of the process, out of six judges appointed in New Brunswick, five had personal connections to the current Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, Infrastructure and Communities. There were three of his donors, his brother-in-law's wife and his neighbour. Obviously it is harder to appoint judges these…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, my colleague from Rosemont—La Petite‑Patrie began by reciting a poem by Gérald Godin. I am not convinced that Gérald Godin would have agreed entirely with what my colleague said after that, though. I can respond by quoting Gaston Miron. In Compagnon des Amériques, Gaston Miron said: …reach out to everyone, country you who appear... It is about reaching out to others, but Gaston Miron …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, here is my brief response. For us, the solution is quite simple: independence.
Read full speech →