Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question. First, I take issue with one of the premises of his question. We are not painting immigration in a negative light. On the contrary, we are in favour of immigration. We are in favour of immigration policies that will ensure that French is able to thrive and that get people interested in speaking French, as he said about people in his province of…
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Madam Speaker, I will take it upon myself to deliver to the Government of Quebec the message given by my colleague, who just finished his speech, that it should pull up its socks on the immigration file. I think it might appreciate the message, but I am not sure. I will begin by saying that I will be sharing my time with my colleague, the member for Terrebonne. Our motion today is very simple. I t…
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Madam Speaker, I would like to congratulate my colleague and neighbour from Saint‑Hyacinthe—Bagot on his excellent speech, and at the same time wish him a happy birthday. There was a lot of passion in his speech, and a lot of facts too. There is one thing that concerns me greatly about the erosion of the political weight of Quebec within Canada. Laws are being passed in Canada to protect certain a…
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Mr. Speaker, I was looking forward to my turn to speak. I want to congratulate the member for Abbotsford on his speech. The current chair of the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation appeared today before the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics. Here is another example of someone willing to testify about this foundation who either has no conscience or has done very little s…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I want to commend my colleague from La Prairie for the tone and mood of his speech. He addressed serious topics, but he found a way to make it fun to listen to. He is a talented speaker who should inspire many. I really like listening to him in the House. A few days ago, the Prime Minister stated that he was not aware of the threats and intimidation that the hon. member for Wellingt…
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Mr. Speaker, today I want to highlight the extraordinary honour recently bestowed upon Quebec poet David Goudreault, who now has his own entry in the dictionary. The team at Petit Robert chose to add an entry about the slam poet from Sherbrooke in its literature and philosophy category, a commendable decision indeed. The dictionary will describe him as an ardent defender of the French language in …
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Mr. Speaker, I want to pick up on what my colleague from Longueuil—Saint-Hubert was saying. He talked about getting the sense that people are wearing rose-coloured glasses, but I am getting the sense that people are worried. I am concerned about how the government is handling issues that are more serious than pretty much anything we have ever seen. I remember the WE scandal from a few years ago. T…
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to start with a suggestion. Maybe we should reserve a room and shut the Conservatives and the Liberals in it with a bucket of water to slake their thirst until they resolve their issue so we can carry on debating like grown-ups here. The member who spoke just now said that we all wish we were serving in the government. I beg to differ. The 32 Bloc members do not aspire to…
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Madam Speaker, I like the subject of our Conservative colleagues' opposition day today. Their motion includes a number of the Bloc Québécois's concerns. I listened carefully to my colleague's speech, and I heard her concerns. I would say that almost everyone on the opposition benches shares those concerns. However, I am also concerned about the entire situation. I would like to hear the member's t…
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Mr. Speaker, I admit that I am very surprised to hear Conservatives proposing measures straight out of the NDP platform. I am wondering if the tie worn by my colleague from Chicoutimi—Le Fjord is a little to the left today because he shifted his political opinions a little to the left. Again, he should opt for an orange tie to be consistent. I also wanted to remind my Conservative colleagues that …
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Madam Speaker, I closed my eyes at times during the Leader of the Opposition's speech, and it felt like I was listening to an NDP member. It shocked me to hear such words coming out of the mouth of the leader of the official opposition. It is no secret that housing is an area of provincial jurisdiction. Who could manage housing needs better than the municipalities themselves? Let me double-check s…
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Mr. Speaker, during the period of questions and comments following the speech by my esteemed colleague from Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, the member for Hull—Aylmer claimed indirectly that my colleague from Longueuil—Saint-Hubert was spreading lies in the House. I believe it is against the rules of this place to accuse someone of lying. I think the member for Hull—Aylmer did indirectly what he is not al…
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Madam Speaker, I am happy to learn who this budget was meant for. Now I understand that it was meant for the citizens of Vaudreuil—Soulanges. I am happy to have heard my colleague’s speech. I invite the citizens of Vaudreuil—Soulanges to read the budget carefully and consider what the government means when it speaks of the environment, because the Liberals are still in favour of carbon capture and…
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Mr. Speaker, 2023 marks the 50th anniversary of the Duceppe theatre company, and there are many reasons to celebrate. This month, the Duceppe theatre company was awarded the Grand Prix of the Conseil des arts de Montréal, an award that has been given out by the City of Montreal since 1985 to recognize the contributions of local cultural organizations. Here is another reason to celebrate. At almost…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, the interpreters are saying that there is a lot of interference when my colleague speaks. I do not know whether it is because there is a device or a phone near the microphone, but the interpreters have indicated several times now that there is frequent interference.
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Madam Speaker, we heard the NDP boasting about some of the measures in this budget. However, I did not really hear them talking about what the budget does for culture, even though the cultural industry has made it clear to the government that it urgently needs help in getting through the pandemic. The cultural industry is having a hard time recovering from the pandemic, but there is nothing in the…
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Madam Speaker, my colleague for Repentigny has been up and down so often to talk about carbon capture technology she must be getting dizzy. Maybe my Liberal colleagues should have a word with their speech writers, because everything they say is something they have said before. Here we are, still talking about this technology, when better-informed countries across the world are moving away from it,…
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Madam Speaker, I would like to mention that I was surprised to hear that there is a connection between the glaring problem of drug abuse and the fact that people do not have a door to lock so they need to stay awake and watch over their children. That does not add up to me. I would probably put more blame on mental health issues in general, but I have a different question for my colleague. I am go…
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Mr. Speaker, I must say that I listened with great interest to the beginning of my colleague's speech. I soon lost interest, because it was redundant. It was just another empty speech that meant nothing and went nowhere. All it did was lay blame and point fingers. This is from a member who spends all his time wearing out his seat here in the House of Commons and very little time doing something, a…
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Madam Speaker, it is too bad that we are facing yet another closure motion on such an important bill. It is true that hours and hours have been devoted to studying this bill in committee. Those hours were often monopolized by the Conservatives, who did not want to allow the work to advance because they were sticking to their position and were inflexible. A little more flexibility could have led to…
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Madam Speaker, we talked earlier about Quebec's demands. This is a very important subject. Quebec's demands are extremely important, even Quebec has not communicated them to all the parties and to the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage which is studying the bill. We are preparing to vote, under a gag order, on a bill that will have a significant impact on broadcasting in Quebec and on Quebec …
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Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. My colleague from Winnipeg North, who just started his speech, is speaking as if we were still debating the closure motion. I simply want to tell the member that we just voted on the closure motion. We can now talk about Bill C-11, which is before us today. The vote is over, and there is no need to insist on the subject.
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Mr. Speaker, I did not think that we would make it to this point. Sometimes when we are expecting a quiet day, we realize that there can be a lot of excitement in the House. I want to begin by saying that I will be sharing my time with my very entertaining colleague from Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, which means things will be relatively calm and composed for the first ten minutes and then they should g…
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Mr. Speaker, I have never agreed with that position. When this idea of trampling on Quebeckers' and Canadians' freedom of expression and fundamental rights was first brought up, we did our job. To borrow a popular catchphrase, I did my own research. We checked and made sure that the wording of the bill would not endanger consumers' freedom of expression or rights. That is disinformation, and it wa…
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Mr. Speaker, yes, absolutely. My colleague asked an excellent question. It is not only the Liberal government. We had a Conservative government before this one, and we know that the Conservatives are not big on culture, so we cannot expect too much from them. The cultural industry's alarm bells went off in the early 2000s. There was already an urgent need to regulate digital technology at that tim…
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Mr. Speaker, the premise of the question would suggest that the government and the CRTC will interfere with what people can and cannot watch. This shows that the member does not understand the bill's intent. I will leave it at that. Discoverability is not about an open market. Discoverability is about ensuring that our culture has its place. For that, we need a framework and regulations. This does…
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Mr. Speaker, I think the question was for the Liberals, but I will answer it anyway. The Bloc has a principle of respecting the parliamentary process. Using a gag order does the exact opposite. It upends the parliamentary process. Of course, there are exceptions. The Bloc has voted in favour of closure motions in exceptional cases. I do not think this an exception. We are against the principle of …
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, I salute the bravery of the member for Richmond—Arthabaska because one has to be brave to challenge the fans of the Drummondville Voltigeurs and, moreover, to call into question a source of regional pride, poutine. I confidently accept his challenge because I believe that our Voltigeurs will give it their all to safeguard our region's honour. Our red team is not like the red team in t…
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Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Battle River—Crowfoot for his speech, and I hope he feels better soon. He seems to have caught a bug that is affecting his usual tenor. I have an acquaintance of Iranian origin from a past life. He did his military service a few years ago, and he has been refused a visa. How can we prevent Iranian nationals who have done nothing wrong from getting caught up in…
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Madam Speaker, I congratulate my very esteemed colleague from Joliette on his speech and comments, which are always enlightening, well-thought-out and prepared. We always appreciate the discussions we have with him. Quebec cares deeply about its culture. This week, the Government of Quebec tabled its budget. There are allocations for culture, especially for certain aspects of culture that I apprec…
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Mr. Speaker, as we know, technology is evolving at a frightening and unpredictable pace. It is exponential, according to all the experts. I wonder if my colleague could comment on quantum computing, which is an extremely impressive technology that is evolving at an unbelievable pace. I am wondering whether the contents of Bill C‑26 and the agility we write into legislation are sufficient to respon…
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Mr. Speaker, this is exactly what the National Assembly feared when it unanimously criticized Ms. Elghawaby's appointment. She is not using her position to build bridges, to foster understanding between Muslim and non-Muslim communities, or to fight racism. Ms. Elghawaby is using her position to rally Canada against Quebec's Bill 21 and to feed assumptions that a secular state is a discriminatory …
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Mr. Speaker, once again, we need to talk about Amira Elghawaby, whom the Prime Minister appointed despite opposition from Quebeckers and who began her first tour this week as special representative on combatting Islamophobia. Right away on her first stop in Ontario, she began attacking Quebec's Bill 21 on secularism. In her own words, her job is to attack legislation like that. This is how she cho…
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Mr. Speaker, filmmaker Claude Fournier passed away last week at the age of 91. An icon of our culture and a pioneer of our film and television industry is gone. He was a member of the generation of filmmakers who created direct cinema, a distinctly Quebec contribution to the history of the seventh art. He directed the classic Quebec film Two Women in Gold, the first of a series of erotic comedies …
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Mr. Speaker, at the beginning of my speech just now, I commented on how much I appreciated the collaborative atmosphere at the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage. To be clear, I was speaking directly to my colleague from Bow River, who is a big fan of culture. He was right at home on the heritage committee. I really enjoyed our conversations. Now, visual arts—painters and that whole side of t…
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Mr. Speaker, as my colleague was saying, we are now in the home stretch of the passage of Bill C‑11. I would like to remind members that Bill C‑11 seeks to ensure that Quebec culture and Quebec and Canadian artists have their place and can succeed in the new digital world. The Government of Quebec shared its demands concerning Bill C‑11. It is asking that Quebec have a say in CRTC decisions that i…
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Mr. Speaker, I want to acknowledge in the House the great honour that Quebec writer Hélène Dorion just received. Throughout her prolific career she has already earned honours as prestigious as the Order of Canada and the Ordre national du Québec, and will now have her work Mes forêts studied as part of the university curriculum for poetry in France. She is not only the first Quebecker to receive s…
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Mr. Speaker, I congratulate my colleague from New Westminster—Burnaby on his speech. In his speech, he talked a bit about certain artists. I was also listening to my colleague from Kingston and the Islands talk about the Tragically Hip. We could talk about Rush, Bryan Adams, the Montreal band The Box, from the 1980s and 1990s. Goodness, there are tons of many Canadian artists who broke through and…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague from New Westminster—Burnaby for his question. I too really enjoy working with him on the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage. No, I do not see those things. As I said earlier, misinformation is being used to fearmonger regarding issues like freedom of expression and the freedom to surf the web without impediment or constraints. I think this has more to d…
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Mr. Speaker, Drummond's troops are at the Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot border as we speak. I believe this dispute will be resolved. The concern he mentioned is well founded, given that we are seeing interference of all kinds from foreign powers nowadays. There are media outlets putting out dubious propaganda originating from various countries. The CRTC took measures to block some of them, but this is cle…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie for his great question. I will even add that, once Bill C-11 is passed and the reform of the Broadcasting Act is implemented, it will enable certain TV and radio broadcasters with very specific missions that serve under-represented communities to survive and blossom. As for my colleague's question about the Conservatives' stand, yest…
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Mr. Speaker, that is an interesting question. I think there are a lot of things that are going to have to be uncovered as the act is implemented. I also think this legislation will open the door to more creation, and that includes new types of creation as well. I think digital creators are going to benefit in the long run. I want to tell the digital creators who have expressed concerns to us about…
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Mr. Speaker, as I was just saying, when I heard the comments made by my colleague from Lethbridge suggesting that the artists would not benefit from the reform of the Broadcasting Act, I made a few phone calls. I contacted a few of my artist friends to ensure that the bill would benefit the cultural associations and businesses and not just the broadcasters. They all told me that artists and creato…
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Mr. Speaker, the last time I stood up to speak to Bill C-11, I said that I hoped it would be the last time, so that we could finally get to the final stage of this very important bill that has been long awaited by our broadcasters, our cultural industries. A lot of water has gone under the bridge since the first version of this bill came to us in November 2020. At that time it was introduced by th…
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague, the parliamentary secretary, for his speech. I also want to thank him for the very collaborative work we are doing at the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage. We went through some tough times, battled some strong headwinds during our study of Bill C‑11. I congratulate him on his hard work. Obviously, when we are working on a bill as important as Bill C‑11, …
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Madam Speaker, I heard my colleague from Lethbridge make very glowing comments on culture and artists in general. I think she may have wanted to clarify that she was talking about digital artists, digital-first creators, because they really are the ones my colleague defended throughout the work on Bill C‑11. I just wanted to know if her sudden affection for culture and artists extended to Quebec a…
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Madam Speaker, I think my question will resonate with my colleague. Personal information protection and security are very important to me. I myself was recently a victim of credit card fraud. I bought a nice couch that I did not even shop for myself. Handy, right? Anyway, as much as I recognize the importance of protecting personal information, I also recognize the importance of protecting victims…
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Madam Speaker, I, too, found my colleague from Saskatoon West's comments on Bills C‑11 and C‑18 quite interesting. There will be an opportunity to return to Bill C‑11, likely later. I was particularly surprised by the comments on Bill C‑18, especially in a context where Google is currently blocking access to news content for nearly 2 million Canadians, which is no trivial matter. By the way, we st…
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Madam Speaker, I am wondering about something. People have been talking about anonymizing data and the importance of protecting individuals' personal information by keeping it anonymous. That said, we will be working on the online hate issue shortly. I think that, in some cases, we do need that ability to trace Internet users so we can pass legislation and take action if people make statements tha…
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his speech. I will repeat the comments I made earlier for another one of his colleagues concerning the very delicate line between the need to protect the personal information of each user on digital platforms and digital services in every business and economic sector. There is also the issue of security and how to protect people who may be more vulnerable or…
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