Emergency Debate
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Saanich—Gulf Islands for her humanity and compassion, which she is displaying once again on this very sensitive topic. I also want to take this opportunity to recognize a friend of mine who recently stepped down and who was co-leader with the member for Saanich—Gulf Islands. I wanted to pay tribute to him for his contribution to the debates. He is someone who …
Read full speech →Emergency Debate
Madam Speaker, we are gathered here today to discuss a matter that goes straight to the heart of our collective conscience, a subject that can no longer be ignored: When will there be comprehensive policing reform in Canada? Over the past 12 days, the following individuals have met with a cruel fate. The tragic events of the past few weeks are a painful reminder of the crisis affecting our indigen…
Read full speech →Emergency Debate
Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague from Nunavut for her question and her leadership. I thank her for launching the debate this evening and I also thank her for constantly raising these issues at the Standing Committee on Indigenous and Northern Affairs. Her sensitivity is important and that is reflected in the question she is asking us today. I think we do indeed need to recognize the leadership …
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, that is the same report we are talking about right now. I just want to mention that the Bloc Québécois is tabling a supplementary opinion, which notes that this study took more than two years. I want to put forward the fact that one of the motions adopted—
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, as mentioned, more than two years after I moved a motion to call in the heads of Hockey Canada, I want to acknowledge the work done by all parties to delve deeper into the issue of safe sport. I think it is important to mention today that one of the recommendations of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage is to launch an independent inquiry into the situation around sports and t…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, would it be possible to have unanimous consent to table a supplementary opinion on the safe sport file?
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I am honoured to rise to celebrate my colleague from Halifax's career in federal politics. I really enjoyed working with him, particularly on the Standing Committee on Industry and Technology. I believe it is possible to be friends with and trust the people with whom we work. I even believe that, together, we could have gotten Bill C-27 passed, if we still had similar responsibiliti…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, of course there are partisan speeches and there are the repercussions they have on people in real life. I would like my colleague to tell me what tools are being given to communities in this budget so they can take charge of their lives, especially as concerns the question of housing and other issues. We need to find a way to decentralize management and trust our people on the groun…
Read full speech →Statements By Members
Mr. Speaker, this week, let us all celebrate National Indigenous Peoples Day together. The presence of first nations and their influence on our society have been overlooked for far too long. It is essential that we recognize their contributions and the richness of their cultures and languages. It is as much a matter of truth as it is of reconciliation. Without their knowledge of medicinal plants a…
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Madam Speaker, I would like to ask my colleague a question. Bill C-65 contains interesting elements, but it would require that Elections Canada offer online registration. However, we know that Canada has experienced foreign cyber-attacks and that there have been interference and attempts at fraud. Those actors are trying to sow chaos. Russia has been particularly active on this front. Would online…
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for her speech. I really appreciated the fact that she delivered some of it in French. My colleague talked about housing initiatives. There is one for the first nations. As members know, the Auditor General of Canada released a scathing report. We need to encourage initiatives by, for and with indigenous people, particularly the Yänonhchia' initiative. Will my c…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I was very interested in what my colleague had to say. He even made a historical reference to Maurice Duplessis, which is always nice. That is kind of like what he experienced this morning, is it not? By providing the data, it is almost as though the government told the Conservatives to zip it. Now, here we are talking about this motion. Ever since this morning, people have been tal…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the Kebaowek First Nation, part of the Anishnabeg Nation, is a community in my riding that has made a number of demands to which the Bloc Québécois and 140 municipalities have added their voices. It is calling for a thorough investigation and compliance measures in consultation with indigenous peoples, which was not done in the Chalk River case. It is also calling for transparency. Ca…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, today, I am pleased to contribute to the debate on Bill C-332, which amends the Criminal Code to make controlling or coercive conduct an offence. The Bloc Québécois is in favour of the principle of this bill. This bill, which was introduced by the member for Victoria, is part of a growing trend among legislators working to address coercive violence. In recent years, the Standing Com…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I am keen to ask the minister a question. When it comes to miscarriages of justice, there is the issue of the time allotted for these cases to be dealt with, and, obviously, the issue of the number of judges available. The minister has a responsibility to appoint these judges. Will he respond to the demands of the Bloc Québécois to proceed more quickly and ensure that fewer people are…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, towards the end of his speech, the parliamentary secretary raised a couple of interesting points, namely the consequences these measures will have and the relentlessness of the Conservatives, who, as we know, are largely funded by oil companies. He was talking about the consequences this relentlessness had on Sustainable Development Technology Canada, which invests massively in gree…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, in her speech, my colleague said that we needed to ensure follow-up with companies that had received funds from Sustainable Development Technology Canada. The question remains unanswered. How will the government make sure that innovation continues to grow and that investments continue to be made in the energy transition and SMEs, many of which are in Quebec? For the past year, thing…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I thank the minister for his interest in border services. However, it seems clear to me that the Canada Border Services Agency is experiencing a major governance problem. Therefore, in the context of today's debate, which is about implementing a new mechanism to address this governance problem, would it not have been a good idea to review the existing governance model and ensure tha…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, I would like to respond to the speech by my colleague from Cypress Hills—Grasslands. In fact, I want to tell him how disappointed I am. I could see where he was heading. He started off with a metaphor when he said that, after three violations, it is time to resign. I was hoping he would use a baseball metaphor because I am a baseball fan. He ended his speech by talking about baseball …
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague from South Shore—St. Margarets for his speech, in which he talked about partisanship. He said that a Speaker should rise above partisanship. That is an interesting thing to point out in this debate. However, I wonder if he could comment on something else that we have come to expect from the Speaker, because his role is essentially to make judgment calls on what …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the member for Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke a question. Her riding includes the town of Deep River. The member is also my riding neighbour. We share a small part of the southern Témiscamingue region, and we are both close to the Ottawa River. There is a project to build a nuclear waste disposal facility in Deep River. We know that because there have been nuclear faci…
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Madam Speaker, I heard my colleague talk about the “Agri” programs and the fact that the money was not ending up in farmers' pockets. Last year was a catastrophe, especially in Abitibi West. Because of the winter we had and the lack of snow, there was less water but also less protection and insulation for crops. I am very concerned about this situation. If the program did not work last year and th…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I thank the member of South Shore—St. Margarets for his speech. He is eloquent as usual. I really appreciate my colleague. Among other things, I like his thoroughness. I find the previous question on the long-term consequences of the budget interesting, particularly in terms of the debt and the deficit, especially as we will be dumping that on future generations. Why can we not bala…
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Madam Speaker, I have a question for my colleague about Témiscamingue, a region not far from yours, Madam Speaker. Témiscamingue got some bad news today. The Foire gourmande de l'Abitibi-Témiscamingue et du Nord-Est ontarien, a gourmet food fair in my region and northeastern Ontario, is facing an uncertain fate. Témiscamingue has gotten a lot of bad news lately. For example, three forestry-related…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, I would simply like my colleague to tell us what the next steps will be, what we can expect. More importantly, what action will the government take on this issue?
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, in her speech, my colleague quite pointedly criticized various aspects of this bill. She explained why it should not be passed. In my opinion, she left out one thing, and that was jurisdictions. It is not the federal government's place to become involved in health issues or, by extension, in drug management. Does my colleague have anything to add about the federal government's jurisdi…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Madam Speaker, despite the promises made by the previous minister of sport in May 2023—a year ago almost to the day—about establishing an independent public inquiry as everyone has been demanding, months have passed without any significant progress being made. Worse still, with the change of minister, the hope those promises created is fading. The measures put in place so far, while laudable in th…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, one issue seems fundamental to me in this context. The Government of Canada and the rest of Canada want pharmacare. That is fine for them, but it goes against the spirit of the Constitution. I would be curious to hear my colleague's thoughts. Quebec already has a pharmacare system. Would she agree that Quebec should have the right to opt out with full compensation?
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague from Milton. I think that was a genuine response that I got here in the House of Commons, which is quite rare. That being said, it is not the step towards an independent public inquiry that I had hoped for. We believe that an inquiry is a necessary step towards structural reform. An independent public inquiry would identify the shortcomings in the current system…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I have the opportunity to question the Minister of Sport again and I am grateful. It is a disappointing and undeniable conclusion: The government failed in its mission to protect athletes over the past decade. Since the revelations of alleged sexual assault committed by members of Canada's national junior hockey team in London in June 2018, the inaction of government authorities has…
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Mr. Speaker, I would like my colleague to provide some clarification. He gave a rather eloquent speech, but I would like to understand why the Conservatives are opposing a bill that promotes greenwashing and that does absolutely nothing to reduce offshore petroleum operations. I would like to understand the Conservatives' position, because, from what I understand, the goal of the Conservative MPs …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his quasi-scientific speech about the budget. I truly enjoyed it. I know he wants to get to the bottom of things and uncover the truth. Here is what I am especially curious about. We know Ottawa promises a lot of money, but that money is never spent because it does not take regional realities into account. Funding for housing does not reflect the reality of …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I thank my Green Party colleague for his excellent speech. This has happened in politics before. Consider the Parti Québécois. Only three Parti Québécois members were elected in the last election. Now, less than a year later, it is leading in the polls. There is going to be an election within a year and a half, so there is still time for Canadians to develop their environmental common…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, obviously, I will always be in favour of proposals that seek to improve conditions for young people, particularly proposals that take into account education, the possibility of getting better jobs that will bring them into harmony with the planet. Above all, I support the idea that young people should be able to enrol in regional educational institutions close to where they live and w…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I am a little shocked to see the use of yet another gag order in the House. The truth is, this principle does not respect the spirit of the Constitution. Here is another thing that does not respect the spirit of the Constitution: infringing on provincial jurisdictions. Employment falls under provincial jurisdiction. Has my colleague done anything to ensure that this will be respected?…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I would like to come back to those nearly 20,000 Conservative amendments. I agree that our democracy should not be operated by robots that block our political and democratic institutions. The problem is that gag orders are also used as a tactic to block democratic and political processes that help improve bills. Another problem arises in a democracy if provincial jurisdictions are not…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, with all due respect, when someone uses artificial intelligence to generate more than 20,000 amendments, as the Conservatives did in committee, I also worry about the impact this may have on democracy. They got robots to think for them so they could filibuster in committee. That bothers me a little.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise today to contribute to the debate on Bill C-50, an act respecting accountability, transparency and engagement to support the creation of sustainable jobs for workers and economic growth in a net-zero economy. I want to talk about something that is critically important, and that is the transition to a low-carbon economy. We live in an era where climate change is an…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, first of all, debates must be held at the appropriate time. Today's debate is not about the carbon tax. We are currently studying the bill at report stage. At a time when there could have been real debate on the amendments, the government imposed a gag order in committee. That is why the debates could not take place. That is why we find ourselves taking up yet more of the House's time…
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Mr. Chair, the softwood lumber dispute between Canada and the United States has been going on for decades, generating significant trade tensions. If the temporary direction of the U.S. government holds, the countervailing and anti-dumping duties it imposes on Canadian wood would go from 8.05% to 13.86%, which would cause considerable harm. Of all the forestry companies in Quebec, nearly 250 are fr…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Chair, there is a key factor at play in the softwood lumber issue. Because of the decision to consider the softwood lumber issue unilaterally from coast to coast to coast, everyone everywhere is subject to the same constraints. My colleague comes from British Columbia. Obviously, we know how important the softwood lumber industry is to British Columbia. However, B.C. is the one imposing constr…
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Madam Chair, I want to thank my colleague for his comment. It is indeed very important for me to talk about the indigenous file. Enabling indigenous communities to have better alternatives is part of reconciliation, so yes, that involves reviewing programs to invest in communities for and by indigenous people who will develop the forest in a very sustainable way. Just look at the forestry companie…
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Mr. Chair, I come from a forestry region where a number of towns were severely affected by the softwood lumber crisis of the 2000s. After I was elected, I had the opportunity to accompany the Minister on a mission to Washington precisely concerning U.S. surtaxes. I thought this would be a great opportunity to talk about softwood lumber. Strategic critical minerals and electric vehicles were the ma…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Chair, I would especially like to thank my colleague, the parliamentary secretary, for his question and his concern about the forest fires. This had a major impact on forestry entrepreneurs in Abitibi—Témiscamingue, northern Quebec, Saguenay—Lac-Saint-Jean and the north shore. These forestry entrepreneurs had invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in equipment that they had placed in the …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Chair, I heard my colleague make a very interesting pun. I am not sure if it was intentional or not. First, some context. We have a proven and documented environmental measure that works, which is the carbon tax. We often hear MPs say “axe the tax”. He switched that up a bit. In this debate, what we should be saying is “stop taxing the axe”. We need to stop taxing the axe, because that axe i…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Chair, I thank my colleague from British Columbia for his thoughts for the workers and the business owners. In this case, we are talking about a dispute that is political. Who is being political? It is the federal government, who should be there to defend us. If it does not, then it should pay the bill. It is not for the business owners to do that. It is not for the workers to pay with their…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, on March 2, a unique figure in Quebec's arts and media landscape passed away. Paul Houde left us much too soon, at the age of 69. He was a man of many talents, an outstanding orator and a walking encyclopedia who left his mark on all of Quebec with his vast and varied knowledge and his mastery of the French language. His multifarious career took him from radio host to quirky reporter …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I want to take this opportunity to talk about a letter I received as the member for Abitibi—Témiscamingue about the conflict in Palestine. I want to convey the deep dismay, even the shame of being human, and the profound sorrow expressed in this letter that was sent to me by Catholic parishes in the northern part of Témiscamingue. Sixty-one people got together and took the time to loo…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, Rénal Dufour, a local priest who is also a friend, contacted me through the local paper on March 6, saying that on February 14, he had dropped off a letter at my office that was signed by 68 people—I am correcting the earlier information from the letter I read—from the northern part of Témiscamingue. In that letter, he asks that the Canadian ambassador in Tel Aviv be recalled and that…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for his speech, and especially the bits in French. However, I am still amazed to learn that during the course of this debate, which is not that old, the Special Joint Committee on Medical Assistance in Dying agreed on recommendations. These recommendations are found in the Bloc Québécois amendment we are debating today. I believe this amendment is ve…
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