Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the government did not simply go to the Supreme Court to challenge a law passed by the Quebec National Assembly. It went there to curtail Quebec's powers within its own areas of jurisdiction. With its fear campaign and talk about slavery and summary execution, this government is attempting a real constitutional coup. If the Liberals want to amend the Constitution to weaken Quebec, the…
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Mr. Speaker, let us face it. The Liberal Party of Canada is an organization that has something of an influence over the government. However, at its convention, that party proposed to urge the Government of Canada to invoke a veto over any provincial legislation that pre-emptively uses the notwithstanding clause. That ultimately constitutes veto power over the sovereignty of the Quebec National Ass…
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Mr. Speaker, it is written in black and white: “...that the Liberal Party of Canada urge the Government of Canada to: Invoke disallowance on any Provincial legislation that proactively invokes the Notwithstanding clause before court challenges are exhausted”. That is what they want, but they are trying to get the Supreme Court to do their dirty work for them. If the Liberals want to change the Con…
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Mr. Speaker, the Liberals keep saying that they will not comment on the Supreme Court's proceedings regarding Bill 21 and the notwithstanding clause. However, they are holding a convention in Montreal the weekend before the election in the riding of Terrebonne, and the first proposal they will be debating is whether to give the federal government veto power over all provincial legislation that inv…
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Mr. Speaker, Quebec and three provinces want to select their own judges because Ottawa's process has a red tinge. People will remember the “Liberalist”, the partisan tool that helped Liberals identify other Liberals to appoint. Among the judges who had been political party donors, 76% were Liberals. In 2019, five of the six judges appointed in New Brunswick were a Liberal minister's neighbour, the…
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Mr. Speaker, three provinces are joining Quebec in calling for more power over judicial appointments. Quebec, Ontario, Alberta and Saskatchewan all want superior court judges to be chosen from their own list of candidates. They also want to have a say in who sits on the Supreme Court. Quebec and the provinces are fed up with seeing the Prime Minister's inner circle meddle in judicial appointments …
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Mr. Speaker, Bill C-235 comes as a bit of a surprise. The Supreme Court of Canada told us just a few years ago that keeping people in prison for 40 years is unconstitutional. Prime Minister Stephen Harper was told that and today we are back here with a bill that deals with pretty much the same issue. I do not know what to say about it. I am afraid we are wasting our time. In any case, the Bloc Qué…
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Mr. Speaker, we are discussing the auto pact. However, in this day and age, we are more concerned with the issue of air pollution to start, and with the fact that we are facing an oil shortage. We will eventually run out completely. We are currently experiencing supply issues for reasons we are all aware of. Is it not time to acknowledge the situation, turn to green energy and focus on producing e…
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Mr. Speaker, the Liberals are attacking secularism by challenging Bill 21 before the Supreme Court. However, they go a lot further when they talk about limiting the use of the notwithstanding clause. They want veto power over Quebec's laws. Quebec's democracy would be subject to the whims of elected officials and judges from English Canada. The notwithstanding clause was the compromise that made t…
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Mr. Speaker, as I have often said in the House, in committee and even in private, I have a very hard time accepting filibustering. I used to work in a sector where people try to be effective and where the challenges are enormous. I do not think that the challenges facing parliamentarians are any less significant. The challenges are significant, considering that we adopt rules that apply to the ent…
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Mr. Speaker, it is true that there are aspects we did not have time to consider. Like I said at the outset, that is regrettable but, unfortunately, it is what it is. There is a legal maxim that delaying justice is often tantamount to denying justice. I would say it is much the same in Parliament. Delaying the passage of laws is tantamount to failing to pass them at all, which is unfortunate. If th…
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Mr. Speaker, I want to start by saying that we are in full agreement with Bill C‑9. I am pleased to see that the finish line is finally in sight. We may finally pass this bill. I was starting to doubt we would ever get this far, given how long the committee meetings were taking. My colleague from Drummond just raised an important issue, namely access to places of worship. There is also the issue o…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question. The member for Mirabel always makes valid points. I could not agree with him more. There was a time when that was happening in Quebec. Religion had a hold on the state. We have heard stories of situations where priests were telling families that they did not have enough children and that they had to have more. There was a lot of interference that…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the third report of the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights in relation to Bill C-9, an act to amend the Criminal Code with respect to hate propaganda, hate crime and access to religious or cultural places. The committee has studied the bill and has decided to report the bill back to the House with amendments.
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Mr. Speaker, I could summarize my speech by saying yes, but also no, and sitting back down. However, I will try to go a bit further. Yes, we intend to support Bill C‑219. This bill is, in fact, a repeat, if I may say so, of former Bill C‑281, which died on the order paper in the Senate when Parliament was dissolved last year. However, it had previously received unanimous support here in the House …
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his speech. I also enjoy working with him on the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights. I commend his energy and his passion for the rule of law. That said, we do not agree with today's motion. That is obvious. I have said so several times already. My question relates to his passion for justice and the rule of law. Bill C‑14 is coming back to the Hous…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for her speech. I also really enjoy working with her on the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights. I have, of course, read the Conservatives' motion. As I have said a few times since this morning, I am a bit disheartened by the motion because I do not think it is going anywhere. Still, I always try to find something positive, and I believe I have. I want …
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Madam Speaker, my colleague's remarks are always relevant. I know that newcomers to his riding encounter significant problems. Unfortunately, that is not my area of expertise, but criminal records should definitely be taken into account. An individual whose application for citizenship is being examined has a certain number of characteristics, and one of those is whether they have a criminal record…
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Madam Speaker, with all due respect for my colleague, I would say that perhaps he should ask our Conservative colleagues that question. He is right about the fact that there has been some filibustering on Bill C-9. I find that unfortunate, as I always do. Such tactics can be really harmful and prevent democracy from taking its course. I understand that we want to debate and make submissions and th…
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Madam Speaker, I think anyone who says that the motion takes the human factor into account clearly did not read it. With all due respect to my colleague, I understand her point of view, but the motion calls for the government to bar people “convicted of serious crimes” and people “with active judicial proceedings related to serious crimes from making refugee claims” and to “end the practice of len…
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Madam Speaker, I applaud our Conservative colleagues' efforts to combat extortion. That is a good thing; we all agree on that. However, we in the Bloc Québécois believe that the measures proposed make no sense. Certain distinctions must be made—
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Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives' proposal seems like a step back in time. I feel like I am looking at proposals that could have come from the Harper government at the time. However, it is 10 years later and, personally, I want us to keep moving forward. I think we can benefit from some of the good things that were done by the previous government, but there are other things that are good now. I woul…
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Madam Speaker, I was saying that it is entirely valid and honourable to want to combat extortion. It has caused many problems in our society and, unfortunately, I suspect that we have not seen the end of it. However, we need to be clear-headed and make certain distinctions in order to be effective in our fight against extortion. The fight against crime is currently the subject of much debate at th…
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for his speech. I have a great deal of respect for him. He does excellent work on the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights and is a respectable and intelligent man. I understand his criticism of minimum sentences. As our Liberal colleague said a few moments ago, the Supreme Court has struck them down, and so we are left with two options. Th…
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question and comments. As I said, I support this bill, but it needs to be reworked. There are things that can and must be amended. I agree with him about deepfakes. This is a serious issue that also needs to be addressed. It is a new problem, a problem that society has in 2026, and we need to address it. That said, I do not want us to lose sight of reali…
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question. I agree with him: The provinces have an important role to play, as does Quebec. The problem that I was raising is that Quebec and the provinces do not have any money. People send money to the federal government, and the federal government says that it will send it back to the provinces, but with conditions, and that does not suit anyone. We fig…
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Madam Speaker, I am pleased to rise on behalf of the Bloc Québécois to speak to this important bill today. I am torn between being happy and surprised by the speech by the colleague who spoke before me. He does remarkable work in many ways at the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights. Unfortunately, our Conservative colleagues have been slowing down the committee's work for months by fili…
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Mr. Speaker, I wonder what my colleague thinks about the part of Bill C‑16 that says the government will address the issue of criminal organizations that recruit minors to commit crimes. I have already suggested in committee that a person who recruits a minor to commit a crime should get double the sentence they would have faced if they had committed the crime themselves. Bill C‑16 proposes a way …
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Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague from Mirabel. I also really enjoy working with him. He is a brilliant man who excels at numbers, which is not my forte. I agree with him on that point. I also believe that, despite Bill C-16, this is not going to succeed in the short or medium term. Again, we can lie to ourselves and pass 300 bills on the issue, but the only way to resolve the prob…
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question. I, too, greatly enjoyed serving with him on the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights. He is a gentleman, an intelligent one, and it is always a pleasure to have discussions with him. Yes, we agree on the proposal set out in Bill C-16 regarding the issue of reasonable time limits. As I said earlier, we were approaching this issue diffe…
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague said that he tried on 19 separate occasions to work on Bill C-14 on bail. With all due respect to my colleague, who usually works in good faith, I find that comment disingenuous. On the 19 occasions in question, the request was to stop our study of Bill C-9, which deals with hate. I know because I was there. The Conservatives did not want us to continue working on the bil…
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Mr. Speaker, I understand that my colleague thinks it is very important to pass these bills, which will help make our streets safer. I am referring to Bill C-9, Bill C-14 and Bill C-16. I would like to ask him whether we can count on him and his colleagues to stop obstructing our work at the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights and allow us to adopt these three bills quickly, because we …
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Mr. Speaker, last Thursday, the members of the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights were set to vote on repealing the religious exemption. However, the Liberals cancelled the committee meeting, and it looks like they are going to cancel it again tomorrow and Thursday. The Liberals are walking away from their agreement with the Bloc Québécois and turning their backs on Quebeckers. They ar…
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Mr. Speaker, I just want to be clear. I agree with him that the adjournment of last week's meeting of the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights was deplorable. Am I to understand that if the committee meets tomorrow evening or Thursday evening, my Conservative colleagues will not filibuster? Is that a promise?
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Mr. Speaker, I have heard rumours about dissent among the Liberals regarding the religious exemption in Bill C-9. I would like my colleague to tell me how many members of her caucus believe that we must protect the religious exemption defence for the offence of promoting hatred and the offence of promoting anti-Semitism.
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Mr. Speaker, Adil Charkaoui's comments last year are indeed a good example, and no, I obviously do not have any proof that he was not charged because of the Criminal Code or the content of the Criminal Code. What I am saying is that such provisions may not necessarily lead to acquittals, but they do lead Crown prosecutors to be more cautious in their approach. Let us say that I am a Crown prosecut…
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Mr. Speaker, I would say to my colleague that the Bloc Québécois understands these provisions as they are written, and as everyone should read and understand them, I think, although we do recognize that the courts interpret these provisions broadly and frequently. These are important provisions. We all agree on the importance of freedom of expression and freedom of religion. However, we know that …
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Mr. Speaker, I can confirm that that is indeed the case. We had an agreement regarding these provisions, regarding our amendment. I can also confirm that I, too, deplore this lack of courage that resulted in the cancellation of yesterday's meeting. I urge the Minister of Justice and our colleagues on the committee to come to their senses and convene the committee so that we can work on these provi…
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Mr. Speaker, we knew that the Conservatives would side with extremist preachers, since they are the official party of the religious right, but it is appalling to see the Liberals abandon Quebeckers, Canadians, and their fundamental principles. I am talking about principles such as equality before the law when it comes to crime, equality between men and women, the rights of sexual minorities, uphol…
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Madam Speaker, I would first like to inform you that I will be sharing my speaking time with the member for Drummond. That said, I too am having a hard time following my Liberal colleague from Winnipeg North. He is saying that there is some sort of agreement between the Conservatives and the Bloc Québécois to not sit. Well, wait a minute. I was here yesterday. I was prepared to work until midnight…
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Mr. Chair, I wonder what my colleague thinks about her party's position. It has encouraged the electric vehicle industry for many years and then the new Liberal government abandoned it just a few weeks ago. This has caused major problems for the automotive industry and for electric vehicle owners. I own one myself. The situation is not getting any easier. It takes a long time to recharge, and owne…
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moved for leave to introduce Bill C‑258, An Act to amend the Criminal Code to address the Supreme Court of Canada decision in R. v. Jordan. Madam Speaker, the purpose of the bill is to respond to the Supreme Court's 2016 ruling in the Jordan case and perhaps more specifically to the report of the Federal Ombudsperson for Victims of Crime, which was tabled a few weeks ago in November. The report fo…
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Mr. Chair, I thank my colleague for his excellent speech. He was perfectly on point, as usual. He has a good understanding and a good grasp of his files. I am hearing that we are moving forward, that we are moving backward, that we are moving too fast and that we are not moving fast enough. However, there is one thing I know for sure. The electric vehicle industry has a significant presence in my …
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his speech. It is always interesting to hear him speak, particularly when he talks about the environment. However, I do not think that these subjects are mutually exclusive. Our Conservative colleague just told us that his constituents want us to get rid of the carbon tax and to instead focus our efforts on economic measures so that people can buy homes and so…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Mr. Speaker, this bill, in principle, deserves to be studied. In addition, the Supreme Court tells us that the immigration status of an accused should be taken into consideration. When reading the bill before us today, we get the impression that the mover understood that this was supposed to be the determining factor. That is obviously not what the Supreme Court said, and that is not what we think…
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Mr. Speaker, I am concerned about issues of justice; it is in my nature. I put my question to Conservative and Liberal members, but I did not receive a response. My colleague has read the budget, and I would like his opinion. Are there any sections in the budget that talk about investing in rehabilitating the people in our penitentiaries? Is there anything for prevention, so we can improve the sit…
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Mr. Speaker, I would like my colleague to clarify a few points. When she reviewed the budget, did she see any investments for the administration of justice? For example, we are currently studying Bill C-9 and will soon be studying Bill C-14, which has been referred to committee. We are therefore talking about administering prison sentences, increasing sentences and establishing minimum sentences, …
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Mr. Speaker, there is something about this budget that keeps bugging me: I cannot find anything about investments in the justice system. Lord knows we need some, because the justice system has serious issues: Vacancies are not being filled, the backlog is overwhelming, and some courts cannot meet the deadlines set out in the Supreme Court's Jordan decision, meaning trials are being adjourned. It i…
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his very interesting speech. The budget is an important step. There has been a lot of talk about all the things that are missing from the budget, including investments in health care, transfers to the provinces in different areas, and investments to address the housing crisis. These points have been raised with good reason. However, one thing that has not ye…
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Madam Speaker, I am hoping my colleague can explain something to me. Obviously, I understand that an unemployment rate of 14.7% is concerning. When I made the rounds of my riding, employers told me that if temporary workers do not come back, they will be forced to shut down some of their operations. In the city where I live, I have noticed that some restaurants have closed their doors permanently …
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