Parliamentary Speeches
817 speeches by Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay — Page 15 of 17
Government Orders
Madam Chair, my colleague spoke of great missed opportunities. The Bloc would support two amendments to CUSMA. The first would be to regulate these infamous disputes, which are dragging on while our industry is going bankrupt. The Americans are using all kinds of smoke and mirrors to slow down the processes. The other would be to create a standing advisory committee on softwood lumber through CUSM…
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Mr. Chair, we are hearing a lot of empty words like “priority” and “vigour” while workers and industries are struggling. We have had enough of these empty words. They are like buzzwords. They need to be tweaked to say that it is important to the rest of us. Enough buzzwords. People are waiting. This should indeed be a key priority. However, I am curious, and I have to wonder. President Biden holds…
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Mr. Chair, first I would like to know what to think. I have not heard any intentions. What I mean is that I have heard the intention, but I have not seen anything of substance. I would really like to be the first to say that I have seen the proposed policy and that it makes sense, or that this or that element should be improved. However, right now, there is nothing. There is absolutely nothing, ju…
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Mr. Chair, my heart goes out to the workers in my colleague’s region who have been affected by these various shocks and who may still be affected in 2022, if this continues. My colleague mentioned the 2006 agreement. When it expired in 2015, there was some lofty rhetoric, but there was no new agreement afterwards. Nothing concrete was announced. To answer his question about how to prevent this fro…
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Mr. Chair, I commend my colleague and former peer from the Standing Committee on International Trade. We had a lot of fun working together. We had a very good rapport. Usually a visit from the Minister of Trade is spent with her eating up the time for questions. When we ask a solid question that calls for a short and solid answer, we get a response that begins with a long preamble involving thank …
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Mr. Chair, I thank my colleague for his question and the opportunity to provide some details. With respect to the benefits of forestry, we have seen some extremely innovative businesses. They are developing derivatives, wood-based bioproducts, rather than relying on yesterday's energy sources. I think that is one way forward along with other energy sources of the future. We are a nationalist party…
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Madam Speaker, accidents keep happening at the intersection of Chemin du Grand-Rang and Highway 116 in Sainte‑Marie‑Madeleine. Several of them have been, are and will be fatal. This intersection is dangerous due to the alignment of the railway, which is a federal responsibility. Unfortunately, Transport Canada and Canadian National have wilfully ignored calls for help. Those in charge of these two…
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Madam Speaker, many of my colleagues have spoken to this issue so far, and the Bloc Québécois will definitely be voting in favour of this motion. However, instead of censuring the Minister of National Defence, why not demand his resignation? Does my colleague think the Minister of National Defence should resign immediately?
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, it appears extremely clear that the government does not like when we pry into its affairs. We saw that with WE Charity and many other issues. Although we are more than willing to work together, which is something we should be doing in a time of crisis, it is obvious that the abuse of power is neither warranted nor justifiable. The government's lack of transparency is a blatant, high…
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Madam Speaker, I salute our Conservative colleagues. The House is debating a motion that hits on something, which is that, ultimately, parliamentarians should have rights. When we adopt something like a motion, it should not just fade into oblivion, like a big show or circus just passing through, as if it stops mattering once the vote has taken place. We are constantly being told that under Canada…
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Madam Speaker, I would say to my colleague that it is up to the government to answer that question. From what I can see, we do not get the sense that they actually grasp the scope of the motion. It is pretty plain and simple. We heard one speech that did not address the question of privilege at all. After that, we heard a lot of points of order being raised to try to cut others off. We saw that th…
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Madam Speaker, in fact, there are a number of things. It is a complex issue. As far as collaboration is concerned, I agree. I said at the beginning of my speech that we should not see China as an enemy, that we should have a dialogue, that China deserves to be treated as a country in its own right. That is not the issue. Now, we need to be clear on one thing. Economic warfare, and more specificall…
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Madam Speaker, if I understand my colleague's question, I think he is asking me to repeat what I said in my speech, in other words that we need to strike the right balance between national security and transparency. Of course, I reiterate that this is precisely our position.
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Madam Speaker, I will repeat my point very briefly and very simply. A Parliament has rights and, if it adopts a motion, that motion should be respected. The government should not always be looking for a way to slip through the cracks and play between the lines. At some point, enough is enough. A motion requires that important documents be disclosed, responsibly, of course. This motion must be resp…
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Madam Speaker, I believe my colleague and I are on the same wavelength on this and many other issues. It goes without saying that this was an assistance program for struggling businesses and that the filthy rich major parties are not struggling businesses. This was inappropriate from the get-go. It would only make sense for this to be retroactive to cover the entire period.
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Madam Speaker, I thank the parliamentary secretary. As I am sure he is aware, the Bloc Québécois supports Bill C-30. In my presentation, I decided to focus on something that seems eminently dangerous, and I do not regret doing so. As for the rest, since there are more pros than cons overall, the Bloc supports it. Of course, the support programs for small businesses, for example, must be renewed.
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Madam Speaker, Bill C‑30 laid the foundation for an undertaking that Quebeckers, in a rare show of unanimity, opposed. That is why I am pleased to say that I am very happy about a major victory won by my party, the Bloc Québécois, and by Quebec. Bill C‑30 would have renewed and even significantly increased the budget for the Canadian Securities Transition Office to maintain it and accelerate its w…
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague. As he knows, the Bloc Québécois has called for unconditional increases in health transfers time and time again, even before this pandemic. This was an urgent, necessary requirement long before this pandemic, because our population is aging, which is causing health care costs to skyrocket. The burden is on the provinces to hire more doctors, nurses and orderlies…
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Madam Speaker, the Bloc Québécois agrees, because we are hard-working and we have done a good job. As for my files, I can say that we have worked on supply management, the aerospace industry, vaccines that must be distributed worldwide and the export of green technologies. I think we need to give ourselves time to continue our good work before the summer break.
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question. Of course, the will of indigenous peoples must be taken into account when determining exactly what that autonomy should look like. We cannot assume that we know what is best for their well-being. We must engage in dialogue and support first nations for a new kind of sharing. I am sure we can find a way to move forward that is eminently better t…
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Madam Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the member for Joliette. It is with a great deal of emotion that I address the House today. I first want to extend my deepest and most sincere condolences to all first nations on the discovery of the remains of 215 children buried behind the Kamloops residential school. It believe that is appropriate. As a member of the Huron-Wendat nation, my thoughts…
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Madam Speaker, what frustrates me is to witness so much denial. Also being a member of the Huron-Wendat nation, and having dug deeper and deeper into this issue, I must say that it is a legacy that has become important to me over the years. However, the more I dig, the more I realize that there have been historic injustices and iniquities. We have a duty to remember. I am hearing denial and I am h…
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question. In examining this file, it becomes evident that it contains a rather large contradiction. In fact, the amounts spent on litigation almost equal the amounts that were truly invested in reconciliation, which is quite troubling. I agree with the statement of the member for Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie.
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, there have been discussions among the parties, and if you seek it, I believe you will find unanimous consent for the following motion: That the House recognize that U.S. economic policy, specifically with respect to the trade embargo against the Republic of Cuba, must in no way restrict the right of Canadian and Quebec companies operating in accordance with Canadian law to do business…
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Madam Speaker, I know how committed my colleague from Repentigny is to the environment. Often, this type of project is equally bad for the environment, the visual environment and the memorial environment. There may be connections between all of these issues. There are many infrastructure projects that could desecrate sites unnecessarily. I would like the first nations to know that we are their all…
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for introducing his motion and I will say at the outset that the Bloc Québécois will vote in favour of it. That being said, one small part of it bothers us a bit. This motion would give a lot of power to the committee, including the power to make public information that would have been redacted and would not necessarily be of interest to the public. We are obvio…
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Madam Speaker, I certainly cannot be against the idea of the federal government working with other levels of government, far from it. The problem is that we are talking about a plethora of centralizing programs that are structural in nature. The government is laying the groundwork to majorly encroach on provincial jurisdictions, but its refusal to increase health transfers will soon make things qu…
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Madam Speaker, I am pleased to rise today to speak to Motion No. 38, which proposes to split the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology in two after the next election. The Bloc Québécois welcomes this proposal. We need to recognize that the current committee's mandate is very broad, perhaps too broad, and that its responsibilities are numerous and disparate. The innovation, science…
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for her question, which she kind of answered herself. I was not here 13 years ago, but as she pointed out, an intrusion is an intrusion, and any intrusion must be rejected unequivocally. In many, many ways, Quebec's laws are extremely advanced, much more so than those in the rest of Canada. Quebec is a leader on environmental matters, although there is always ro…
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question. I must admit I did not detect a specific question. Generally, he asked me if the current spending will contribute to inflation or encourage consumption, in other words, if this is a stimulus budget. I gather that is the gist of his question. Public spending is generally key to a sound economic recovery. Of course, we must not invest indiscrimin…
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Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise today to speak to Bill C-30, which implements certain provisions of budget 2021. As everyone knows, it is a mammoth and extremely dense bill that contains a wide range of measures. We unreservedly support some of these measures, which we would like to see implemented even if we vote against the budget. This part of the bill seeks to extend COVID-19 assistance prog…
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Mr. Speaker, it gives me great pleasure to speak today to this proposal by the Bloc Québécois on this, our opposition day. This is a proposal that goes to what may be the very heart of our political commitment, that is, the expression of democracy itself. There are several components and several things to say about this proposal. There would also be several things to say about Bill C-19. Today, it…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for his question. There are no tricks here. Everything is written in black and white. There is no ambiguity. There is nothing wrong with the motion. It is simply a statement of good faith, and I think it would reassure Quebeckers and Canadians. It just makes sense. Of course we encourage the government to support this statement. If the Liberals vote against i…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague, who also made a powerful speech a little earlier. I could not agree more. That is exactly what we are seeing. I gave the example of proposing an amendment to the amendment. That is part of the workings of democracy, especially in a minority government context. Then the government says that if the amendment to the amendment is adopted, then it will trigger an elec…
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Mr. Speaker, on March 10, Bill C-216, an act to amend the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Act with regard to supply management, was referred to the Standing Committee on International Trade pursuant to an order of reference from the House. I would like to draw your attention to the fact that the bill has still not been studied as ordered by this House on March 10. According to…
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Madam Speaker, I apologize for the hiccup. I hope I will be forgiven, as it is my birthday today. I am pleased to participate virtually in the debate surrounding Bill C-253, proposed by the hon. member for Manicouagan, of the Bloc Québécois. The purpose of this bill is to amend the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act and the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act. Bill C-253 is the logical continuation of…
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Madam Speaker, I am participating in today's debate as the Bloc Québécois's representative on the Special Committee on the Economic Relationship between Canada and the United States, where I am one of the vice-chairs. Just a few weeks ago, the committee spent a few meetings studying concerns about Line 5 and the potential impact if it were to close. I would venture to say that unanimity ruled. Eve…
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Madam Speaker, I asked almost all the witnesses and experts we heard from during this study about the impact on Quebec. Unfortunately, no one seemed to have studied or researched the issue. Obviously, there could be shortages, even though we know that there are sources of supply. In the short term, as we wait for the energy transition, the Bloc Québécois hopes that the line will remain open, but n…
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question. It is unfortunate that the delegates rejected a proposal recognizing climate change at this same convention. The idea of establishing commissions to study all these issues is a good one, even though scientists have already examined the energy issue many times and from many perspectives. That said, I salute the interest of all political parties …
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Madam Speaker, of course we want zero-emission legislation to be passed that would force automakers to sell a larger proportion of electric vehicles. I am talking about automakers and not dealers, which is a very important distinction to make. It is the right thing to do. Quebec implemented this kind of legislation a few years ago, and California has had such a law for a very long time. Such legis…
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Madam Speaker, apparently that incident has not changed Canada's official position. Still today, we see that Michigan has concerns. It was traumatized by this event, there are no two ways about it. All we are doing is unanimously dismissing the fears expressed by Michigan. Again, it is highly likely that these fears are not entirely justified, but they are legitimate and deserve some consideration…
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for the question. This is a case of the pot calling the kettle black. To hear the Liberal government accuse the opposition parties of stalling when it prorogued Parliament is laughable. On that I completely agree with my colleague, although we do not share the same fundamental positions on this issue. Nonetheless, we live in a democracy and that is just part of …
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With regard to federal spending in the constituency of Saint-Hyacinthe-Bagot, in each fiscal year since 2018-19, inclusively: what are the details of all grants and contributions and all loans to any organization, group, business or municipality, broken down by the (i) name of the recipient, (ii) municipality in which the recipient is located, (iii) date the funding was received, (iv) amount recei…
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With regard to federal spending in the constituency of Papineau, in each fiscal year since 2018-19, inclusively: what are the details of all grants and contributions and all loans to any organization, group, business or municipality, broken down by the (i) name of the recipient, (ii) municipality in which the recipient is located, (iii) date the funding was received, (iv) amount received, (v) depa…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for his speech. I was pleased to hear him talk about our two counties because that is what the Bloc Québécois has been saying for a long time now, since our party was created. That being said, I was surprised to hear him describe the post-World War I and post-World War II experience in a positive light. Ottawa took that opportunity to create taxes and resume taxatio…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Richmond—Arthabaska for his speech. I completely agree with his criticism of federal centralization. However, I want to ask him a very specific question. In 2009, the Conservatives were in power and they set up the Canadian securities transition office, a Toronto-based single securities commission that served as a pan-Canadian securities regulator. The current g…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague from Laurentides-Labelle for her question, and I will take this opportunity to acknowledge her excellent work. I will say, however, that it must be easy to be a Liberal. It is a pretty easy approach to say that the money will not be sent. When opposition members challenge this, they are told, among other things, that these are squabbles, abstract issues, or that…
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague from Drummond for his fine words. I always find it strange to answer questions from my colleagues, but unlike what we see every day in question period, I can assure the House that we did not agree on the question in advance. The government's centralizing tendency to always impose these types of conditions is real. It confirms that Canada is not a confederation o…
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Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Calgary Shepard for his question. He rightly mentioned that the population is aging, which would require an increase to health transfers, even during the pandemic. The pandemic has exacerbated the situation, but it did not create it. Regardless, the government should have increased these transfers because of the aging population and the increased costs associa…
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