Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the RCMP commissioner's testimony in committee flatly contradicted the Liberal government's position. For weeks, the Minister of Public Safety and the Prime Minister asserted that law enforcement asked the government to invoke the Emergencies Act. On May 3, the minister said he acted on the recommendation of law enforcement, but Commissioner Lucki testified that the RCMP never asked t…
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Madam Speaker, at the beginning of his question, my colleague spoke about drugs. Do members know that fentanyl comes from China and that this opioid comes into our country through Vancouver, British Columbia, my colleague's region? We need to mobilize a lot more resources to control that fentanyl, which is another public health and safety issue we need to talk about. My colleague mentioned an agre…
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Mr. Speaker, the government announced that it planned to grant asylum to more than 40,000 Afghans, but we must also give priority to the Afghan interpreters who risked their lives to help the Canadian soldiers who were deployed there over 10 years. The interpreters have not been able to come, however, because the minister has made ridiculous demands, such as requiring travel documents that cannot …
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has always said that Canada's response to the pandemic is based on science. While countries around the world have already abandoned mandatory proof of vaccination, the Prime Minister continues to require it at Canadian airports. If we are talking about science, how does he explain the fact that we can have 28,000 people in a sports stadium without proof of vaccinati…
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Mr. Speaker, the Minister of National Defence told my colleague that the special forces had planned the King Air flight over Ottawa long before the convoy. However, the operations, which lasted four days, were conducted while people were using cellular communications and moving around. My question is simple. Was the intelligence gathered by the King Air during training used by the government, or w…
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister will be pleased to know that many countries are following the science when it comes to managing COVID-19. For example, Cuban travellers can freely enter Cuba as long as they fill out a form and agree to a possible PCR test. The United Kingdom, Sweden, Switzerland and Ireland all lifted COVID-19-related travel restrictions. In Canada, all of the provinces have lifted…
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Mr. Speaker, let us remember that when the pandemic began in March 2020, we were the first to ask that the borders to be closed because there was a virus coming, and we knew it was dangerous. The Prime Minister's government did not react. It chose to wait. We know what happened next. Then the situation changed. Science did its job, and Canadians are vaccinated. All countries are freeing their peop…
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Mr. Speaker, my question today is on behalf of François et Josée, two young people from Charlesbourg. They hope to one day be able to buy a house, but mortgage rates continue to rise, which makes it more difficult to negotiate a first mortgage. The Prime Minister would have us believe that inflation is a global phenomenon and that no government can control it. That is completely untrue. François a…
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Mr. Speaker, when the government declared a national state of emergency, every blockade had already been cleared by local police, except here in Ottawa. It is a lie to say that this special legislation was needed. As in other parts of the country, the blockades were easily cleared by local police. To try to justify his actions, the Prime Minister decided to consult the provinces. However, the prov…
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Mr. Speaker, that is where the Liberal government is not being honest. The terms of reference that it dictated to Justice Rouleau allow him to investigate wrongdoing by police but prevent him from investigating the Liberal government. We already know the outcome of the inquiry: Protesters are bad, police officers are bad, and the Liberal government is perfect. As with all the other scandals, it is…
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Mr. Speaker, in May 2020, the pandemic was just beginning and we became aware of the storm that was raging around us. We all understood that many people's lives were in the hands of our guardian angels, the health care workers. At that moment, as an MP, I wanted to show them my support and highlight the importance of their work, so I decided to join the Together We Stand movement, which started in…
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister sees all of our questions as personal attacks. In fact, we are asking questions of the person who is meant to represent moral authority. The title “right honourable” comes with certain responsibilities. In the House yesterday, the Prime Minister admitted to the one thing that the RCMP was unable to establish in order to charge him with fraud. Will the Prime Minister…
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Mr. Speaker, when we were debating the Emergencies Act, there were 13 points in the order. During that debate in this place, I demolished 12 of those points because there were many things that were not clear. Today it was announced that Justice Rouleau has been mandated to shed some light on this. Can the minister explain why the mandate is already biased with predetermined questions?
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Mr. Speaker, yesterday, the Prime Minister finally called a public inquiry to look into the reasons for invoking the Emergencies Act. The public safety minister said, “Our intent is to collaborate with [Justice Rouleau] so that he has a fulsome record, so that he can do his job”. This is wonderful. We all want the inquiry to get to the bottom of the wrongdoing in this saga. Will the Prime Minister…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Lévis—Lotbinière. The Arctic is an immense and complex area that requires surveillance. Essentially, that requires an effective radar system. At present, the radar system in place is outdated. The government has stated that it has invested more than $600 million, but that is for standard maintenance. It is not deploying any new equipment. The U.S. is worried …
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Mr. Speaker, I have been looking forward to joining the debate on this motion. As a former member of the military, I understand the importance of adequate funding for national defence and the importance of Canada's role on the international stage. The purpose of the debate is to bring all parliamentarians to a clear consensus on our defence posture. The motion specifically calls for an increase in…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for the question. I am no longer a member of the Standing Committee on National Defence, so I am not completely up to date on all the reports that have been produced over the past five years, but the fact remains that the 2% issue keeps coming up. Something tangible needs to be done. The budgets have been lacking the past few years. For example, there is the “Stro…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for the question. Everything having to do with defence forms a big circle. Having operational resources and good, modern equipment encourages young people to enrol in the Canadian Forces and serve their country. I doubt that 17- or 18-year-olds are reassured by what is happening with the jets and the ships. They are not sure what is going to happen. Eventually, th…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for his question. Those were different times. Let us not forget Afghanistan and spending on the operation in Afghanistan. The equipment I mentioned in my speech was purchased by the Conservatives to quickly meet an urgent need to support the troops. Ask anyone who was in the Canadian Armed Forces when the Conservative government was in power if they were ashamed to …
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Mr. Speaker, in 2015, the Prime Minister promised not to buy F-35s, even though he knew that the Canadian industry had invested hundreds of millions of dollars in order to fulfill its commitments to Lockheed Martin. Even with his announcement last week that he would begin negotiations for purchasing the F-35s, the Prime Minister is keeping the industry in limbo. He has not committed to choosing th…
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Mr. Speaker, I think the notes are a few months old, but I have another question. If military spending is to continue, the leader of the NDP must agree to it, but he has already vowed to oppose increased defence spending related to Canada's NATO commitment, while the Liberals have said they will increase spending. The new confidence and supply agreement with the NDP, the third opposition party, gu…
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Mr. Speaker, in 2015, the Prime Minister promised not to buy F-35s, even though he knew that Canada's defence industry had already invested hundreds of millions of dollars and had to meet its obligations to Lockheed Martin. Even with this week's announcement, the Prime Minister is still keeping Canada's defence industry in limbo. He did not commit to buy F-35s. He agreed to talk about it. When wil…
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Mr. Speaker, the F-35 file clearly shows that the Prime Minister is not serious about Canada's defence and our commitments abroad. In 2015, when he promised not to buy F-35s, he was putting his political ambitions and those of the Liberal Party ahead of the aspirations of the Canadian Armed Forces. When he wasted $360 million on Australia's old, rusted-out F-18s, it was to buy time. Even the exper…
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Mr. Speaker, Canada has been part of the F-35 development and procurement program with 10 other countries for more than 14 years. We have lost seven years because the Prime Minister made an election promise not to purchase this jet. After losing so many years for purely political reasons, we now want a real answer. Will the F-35 be Canada's final choice or will the government drag this announcemen…
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Mr. Speaker, I come from the Quebec City area, the most beautiful tourist city in North America. The city has suffered enormously over the past two years, economically speaking. Everyone is talking about our businesses, restaurants and hotels. How can the Minister of Health, who is the member for Quebec, justify to the hotels, restaurants and tourism industry in his riding that he is maintaining h…
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Mr. Speaker, exactly two years ago, I was the first MP to ask the government to close the border. It was taking too long. It took too long. People in Quebec died because it took too long. Now the situation has changed, and it is taking too long to reopen the border and lift the senseless restrictions. If tourists want to visit Quebec City to, say, go to the summer festival in the minister's riding…
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Mr. Speaker, yesterday I asked the Minister of Foreign Affairs a question, but the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence was the one who answered by reading something that had nothing to do with my question. I will therefore ask the question again today because it is a very important one. The Liberals finally recognized the importance of sending lethal weapons to Ukraine, and…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the minister. We now see that her answer to Mario Dumont yesterday was wrong, because she did not clearly answer the question: Our weapons have not reached Ukraine. It is like last week, when the Prime Minister travelled to Europe with his ministers. They went all over the place, but we do not know why, if not for pointless photo ops. Tonight, the Prime Minister is heading off…
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Mr. Speaker, after several requests, the Liberals have finally agreed to send lethal weapons to Ukraine. Canada has sent 4,500 M72 rocket launchers, 7,500 grenades, 100 Carl Gustav M2 anti-tank weapons, and 2,000 rounds of 84-millimetre ammunition. This morning, the Minister of Foreign Affairs confirmed that all the weapons had reached Ukraine. My question is simple: Have all the Canadian weapons …
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Mr. Speaker, that is not an answer. We want to know if the weapons we sent have reached the battlefield. Are Ukrainian soldiers using our Carl Gustavs, our M72s and our grenades, as the Minister of Foreign Affairs told Mario Dumont this morning on LCN? It is a simple question: Are the weapons on the battlefield at this time, yes or no?
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Mr. Speaker, the former president of the United States and the Prime Minister issued a joint statement in February 2017, in which the Prime Minister committed to modernizing our NORAD equipment. Five years later, nothing has been done. The Prime Minister has to realize that Vladimir Putin is a danger to Canada and that our country does not currently have the capacity to defend the Far North. Will …
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Mr. Speaker, that is funny, because according to an April 2019 report from the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development, the committee was surprised to learn that Russia's military had significantly increased its air and naval capacities in the Arctic. The members of the committee said that the North Warning System was approaching the end of its life expectancy and that …
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Mr. Speaker, when Russia attacked Ukraine in 2014, Stephen Harper indicated that Canada should be prepared to respond to potential Russian incursions into our territory. Yesterday, the Defence Minister said she would work with U.S. partners to ensure that NORAD gets modernized. In other words, the Liberals have done nothing since 2015. This morning, there are reports in the media that Russia is am…
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Mr. Speaker, Vladimir Putin just put Russia's nuclear forces on alert. He is a dangerous man, and we must not forget that Russia is our neighbour to the north west. As the crow flies, Russia is not far from Canada. The Prime Minister has been caught off guard because he neglected to modernize the north warning system and is still refusing to buy F-35s. Canada's sovereignty in the north is in jeopa…
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Mr. Speaker, that $250 million will be used to pay an Inuit company to maintain the system, but the system is obsolete. It is finished. It is urgent that it be replaced. The government has known this for a long time. We have another problem. Aluminerie Alouette in Sept-Îles was the victim of a cyber-attack. Cybersecurity experts believe that it was a Russian attack and that cyber-attacks will defi…
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Mr. Chair, I rise in the House this evening to add my voice to those of millions around the world who now see just how dangerous Vladimir Putin is. I spent years in the Canadian Forces learning the structure of the Warsaw pact by heart, studying and memorizing Soviet tactics, learning to recognize vehicles, such as T-80s, BRDM-1s and BMPs, and various types of aircraft. I can say for sure that one…
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Mr. Chair, I see where my colleague is going. I think we need to open our eyes to what is going on in Europe and Russia. The Russian threat was there before, but people were reluctant to really acknowledge it. We see it now. Canada has natural resources. Yes, we must combat climate change, but in the coming years, we will still need natural gas, a resource that happens to be much cleaner than coal…
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Mr. Chair, I do know a little about this because I have operated various anti-tank weapons, among others. I would like to remind my colleague that the Conservative Party has been asking for several months that Canada provide weapons to Ukraine. Before the invasion, people were too scared to say the words “lethal weapon”. However, now that Ukraine is under direct attack by Russia, no one is afraid …
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Mr. Chair, that is actually a major and recurring problem at the Department of Citizenship and Immigration. The government wanted to bring 40,000 Afghan refugees to Canada, but it barely managed to bring 5,000 to 6,000. We have just learned that the Taliban has decided that no one else will be leaving Afghanistan. It is impossible. It will now take resources and, above all, a sense of urgency. Eve…
Read full speech →Statements By Members
Mr. Speaker, in any situation where police intervention is required, whether it is to maintain or restore public order, our peace officers must demonstrate a strong sense of individual and collective responsibility. They must maintain their composure in the face of insults being hurled at them, and still demonstrate empathy. Cohesiveness is the key to success, and I want to congratulate the police…
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Mr. Speaker, Canadians are not easily fooled, and even the Prime Minister's caucus is growing increasingly nervous about his reckless governance. The Prime Minister claims he has no other choice but to invoke emergency measures. Today, he is turning this into a confidence issue for his own caucus. The emergency measures constitute a precedent that must not be taken lightly. What is more, the Prime…
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Madam Speaker, I rise in the House today as a matter of principle and with pride in my past. I began my career as a soldier in the Canadian Armed Forces. All I wanted throughout my military career was to defend my country and its values. I can still say today that I am and will always be that soldier, the one who decided that law and order should be a priority for our country, for the safety of Ca…
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Madam Speaker, I am only talking out of one side of my mouth. When a province asks the federal government for help, as was the case at the Summit of the Americas in 2001, where the RCMP was deployed in large numbers in Quebec City to support the Quebec City police and the Sûreté du Québec, was the Emergencies Act invoked? No, it was not. It is possible for a province to ask the federal government …
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Madam Speaker, from the very first day, what was the truckers' intent? It was to protest against a rule change brought in on January 15 that prevented unvaccinated truckers from travelling between the United States and Canada, even though this had been allowed for two years. Quebec has 9,000 unvaccinated nurses working in the health system. Yes, the Conservative Party did believe that it was a lau…
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Madam Speaker, yes, I did tweet that on February 4. I fully acknowledge that I tweeted that, and I still very much believe in what I said. After six days of the occupation in Ottawa, I decided that enough was enough, for me and for the people of Ottawa. My colleagues then also started saying that enough was enough, that they had gotten the message and that the protesters needed to leave. My party …
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the leader of the Bloc Québécois what he thinks about the differences between what the act allows and the capacity and resources on the ground. We can see that the major problem in Ottawa right now is the ability to remove tractor trailers from the streets. Is my colleague aware that section 129 of the Criminal Code compels transportation companies to provide resou…
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Mr. Speaker, that does not explain why in December 2020, 23 Liberal members begged the Prime Minister to take action to save Afghan nationals who had helped Canadians during the conflict in Afghanistan. It took eight months, and after that, the embassy closed its doors, everyone left and nothing happened. Today, they are throwing a number at us: 40,000 Afghans are coming here. However, they have n…
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Mr. Speaker, we have learned that on December 30, 2020, 23 Liberal—not Conservative—MPs wrote a letter to the ministers of foreign affairs and immigration asking that former Afghan mission staff be given safe passage to Canada. The Prime Minister said in September 2021 that the situation had developed too quickly and that he had not had time to respond and to draw up a plan. Even though 23 Liberal…
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Mr. Speaker, in 2015, the Prime Minister promised to help veterans. In 2018, he gave the impression that he would do something by hiring hundreds of contract workers to tackle the backlog of thousands of disability claims. These are the claims of the men and women who risked their lives while fighting for our country. Today, the contracts have expired and he is refusing to commit to renewing the c…
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Mr. Speaker, in November, the Prime Minister said that the top priority was keeping Canadians safe and following the science. Today, we know that his decisions were not based on science. Not one, but two of his MPs have stated that the Prime Minister's response to the pandemic was politicized and divisive. Over a dozen developed countries have already begun to lift public health restrictions, but …
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