Parliamentary Speeches
625 speeches by Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay — Page 6 of 13
Government Orders
Madam Speaker, this morning, I asked the leader of the official opposition if he could explain the difference between legalization, decriminalization and diversion. He answered, “There really is no difference. It is just semantics”. I know that my colleague had an illustrious career in law. She is a trained lawyer. She even served as the parliamentary secretary to the justice minister. Can she loo…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, there is one thing I do not understand: Why is it difficult to provide for the right to opt out with full financial compensation? Everyone would be happy. Those who want in, stay in. Those who want out, take the money and do their own thing. It is not going to lessen our desire to be independent, but it may make us less angry with the Liberals when we do get our independence. That is …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I listened carefully to our colleague's speech. I liked the “Ottawa knows best” criticism. It is true that Ottawa, usually after crises like the one we are currently in, always tends to centralize, to leverage its authority in order to achieve greater uniformity, to deploy its powers in a tentacle-like manner, spreading everywhere, and to impose its priorities, values and rules on t…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I know that my colleague is a member from Quebec. The members of the National Assembly of Quebec unanimously requested a right to opt out of the pharmacare program with compensation. This means that we are not opposed to Canada having its own program. They say that as Quebeckers, we have the expertise and experience in social programs, we definitely do not want this program to be ma…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, a woman from Saint‑Hyacinthe has made it into the Guinness Book of World Records. Jani Barré, who has a rare genetic disorder called osteogenesis imperfecta, completed her 10th marathon in a wheelchair in London. She completed the fastest women's wheelchair marathon in history, with a time of four hours, 19 minutes and 21 seconds, beating the record set in 1983 by a woman who happened…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to the contracts awarded by the Government of Canada or any other government agency for the Canada Border Services Agency's (CBSA) Assessment and Revenue Management project since February 7, 2018, broken down by supplier: what are the details of all these contracts, including, for each, (i) the date the contract was signed, (ii) the value of the contract, (iii) the title of the public …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the average calibre of the questions has certainly improved drastically today, but the average calibre of the answers has not. The Canada Border Services Agency refunded businesses over $20 million to have them scrap their goods after taking pains to render them unusable, at a time when food banks are swamped with demand because times are tough. Ottawa is funding waste at the expense …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, there have been consultations among the parties and I believe if you seek it, you shall find unanimous consent for the following motion: “That this House find, just as the Standing Committee—
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, Ottawa is brewing a new fiasco at the border. On May 13, importers might hit a wall at customs. Why? Because that is when CARM, the new application for assessing and paying duties and taxes, is officially implemented at the border. Last week, 22 organizations raised concerns saying that neither the Canada Border Services Agency nor businesses will be ready on time. Will Ottawa push ba…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, Ottawa set a precedent for failure in terms of implementing major new IT systems. One such precedent is called Phoenix. Eight years later, Ottawa still cannot pay its employees. There is also a precedent with the Canada Border Services Agency. It is called ArriveCAN. How reassuring. It fills us with confidence. The CBSA has failed to provide the documents concerning CARM, as requested…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for her speech. She is the chair of the committee I sit on. We have often worked together in the past four and a half years, almost five. I have sat on the same committee since I first came to the House, so I have had the opportunity to work with the chair. I will digress briefly, if I may. I urge her to table the motion we adopted last Tuesday as so…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to the importation of goods involving forced labour, prohibited under subsection 202(8) of Chapter 98 of the Customs Tariff: (a) since July 1, 2020, how many seizures have been made at Canadian ports of entry; (b) what are the details of each case, including (i) the dates, (ii) the country and region of origin of the goods, (iii) the description of these goods, including their respecti…
Read full speech →Statements By Members
Mr. Speaker, Quebec cares about its relations with Taiwan. We announced last December the opening of an office in Montreal, which will undoubtedly facilitate exchanges between this fascinating, technologically advanced nation—particularly in the field of semiconductors—and our city, which a great sovereignist premier, Bernard Landry, once saw as a leader in this same field. The Bloc Québécois unre…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Chair, it is simple, quite simple in fact. First of all, forestry accounts for 11% of Quebec's exports. That alone makes it an important industry and an economic driver in the regions. Such is the case for my colleague's region, which was ravaged by forest fires almost a year ago. How time flies. It stands as a reminder of how important forestry is in her riding. I recall that she was often …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Chair, my colleague made a play on words when he said “tax the axe” instead of the Conservative's usual “axe the tax” line. I was listening to the French interpretation, which was probably not as punchy as the original English. I will have a chat with my colleague about this later. Having said that, no, I do not support the Conservative approach at all. We do not. We have said it before, and…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Chair, this agreement has been very problematic. It has divided the sector and the regions, and has objectively cost the sector. I recognize that progress has been made. For example, the Conservatives have not said that the softwood lumber crisis started because of the carbon tax. I will give them that. At this point, it is fair game to say that things were going better when they were in pow…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Chair, Quebec is obviously tired of these punitive tariffs, these countervailing duties that keep coming back. As my colleague knows, when we talk to American elected officials, they too would like this to end, but often these decisions are made by the administrations. Many will say that they look forward to the court's decision and that will be good, except for some states where this topic …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Chair, I want to begin by saying that my colleague is probably right about that. On various missions to the U.S., including missions I went on with colleagues from other parties in the House, missions with the Canada-U.S. Interparliamentary Group and in the meetings we held, whether with senators or U.S. representatives, I was pretty much the only one who raised this issue, which says a lot.…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Chair, I would like to ask my colleague what he thinks of the fact that softwood lumber was not mentioned in either the minister's mandate letter, or the agenda for the WTO ministerial in Abu Dhabi. In both cases, it was a month after the announcement of new countervailing duties. The Liberals agreed to holding this take-note debate more than two months after we started talking about it. Are w…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Chair, I know my colleague comes from a region where softwood lumber is an important issue. Does he agree with me that the renegotiation of NAFTA, which became CUSMA, represents a major missed opportunity and that, when it comes time to renegotiate in 2025, we must not miss out on such an important opportunity?
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Chair, on this eclipse day, I rise to take part in a take-note debate, not about the eclipse—we are probably the only place not talking about it—but about the ongoing softwood lumber crisis that has been going on for some 40 years. I have the impression, however, and I say this candidly, that I am wasting my time. I will explain why. On February 1, 2024, the U.S. Department of Commerce annou…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Chair, I thank my colleague, a fellow member of the Standing Committee on International Trade in the last Parliament. I think we were both on the committee together in this Parliament, and I believe he was there when I moved the softwood lumber motion he just quoted. We have even been on one or two missions to Washington together. We advocate for this issue there a lot. Financial support for…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, we should make a note of the date. Today is March 21, 2024, and a Conservative has just told me that I lack subtlety. Now we have seen it all. That being said, we are also no strangers to surprises in Parliament. I will simply respond by repeating what I have already said: We do not have confidence in this government. However, the Conservatives are talking about overthrowing a gover…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, let me say at the outset and unequivocally that we do not have confidence in the Liberal government. My colleagues and I have no problem putting that on the record in this Parliament. That is why we have voted against the government on confidence votes, such as budgets and throne speeches, at almost every opportunity over the past few years. Today the Conservatives are calling for a…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, let us speak plainly. My colleague knows our position on that pipeline. Let us not forget that, generally speaking, fossil fuels are archaic. We need a transition. That does not mean that people will start working in that area overnight. A transition means having a plan. It means starting at point A and, in a few years, arriving at point B. We need to plan ahead, year by year.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, through you, I will respond to my colleague. I would say that this undermines two things. First, it undermines the very idea of government, that a government must govern. It also undermines the very idea of the often ridiculous parliamentary system that we use, which is based on the principle of ministerial responsibility. The government must be accountable to Parliament. I will adm…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, if we are talking about inflation, we are also talking about the price at the pump. Since we are talking about the carbon tax, let us talk about the price ordinary people pay at the pump. As users, they continue to pay high prices while oil and gas companies rake in record profits. Moreover, these companies are receiving a double gift, because taxpayers also continue to support them…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, Quebec has lost one of its greats and I have lost a friend. Born in Saint‑Hyacinthe in 1930, Yves Michaud has taken his last breath. Whether as a journalist and editorial writer, activist, MNA, diplomat, CEO of the Palais des congrès de Montréal, or “Robin Hood of the banks”, Yves Michaud was a man of unshakable convictions who lived his life free and proud. He was a larger-than-life …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Chair, I would basically say that the position that we in the west, in democratic nations, have chosen to take is not necessarily shared by every country in the world. Diplomacy still has its rights. If a country does not share our position, I do not think that is a reason to suspend diplomatic channels with that country. We have to continue to do business. We have to continue to engage in dia…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Chair, just as an aside, I want to give credit where credit it due. My colleague explained his point to me and now I understand him better. I misunderstood. I do not think that he will be drafting my speech after all, so that is settled. To answer my colleague's question, it goes without saying that this is a complicated geopolitical game. For example, we saw that the European Union decided to…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Chair, I would like to make one last comment. I understand that we all want to get to bed tonight. However, we have heard comments that I find worrisome, for example, when people say that if all parliamentarians are of one opinion or if all Canadians are of one opinion, other opinions should not be allowed. We nearly got to that point. When there is an international conflict like the one betwe…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Chair, it goes without saying that a dialogue might have been an option when the U.S.S.R. imploded, when several republics imploded, and the communist regime came to an end. Perhaps that would have been the time for those involved to reach out to one another properly and come up with a solution. Those were catastrophic years, during which the most aggressive and violent form of neo-liberalism …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Chair, I have the unenviable task, or should I say the privilege, of wrapping up this discussion. I believe I am the last speaker this evening, so I will try to keep it relatively brief. We are here this evening to talk about the partnership between Canada and Ukraine, an agreement that seeks to reflect the values of solidarity, democracy and freedom. By signing the Canada-Ukraine strategic se…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Chair, I have to admit that the member's speech took some interesting turns. I am not exactly sure what to make of it. The member began his speech by saying that he was disappointed in the ending of my speech, in what I had not mentioned. It reminds of the expression “whataboutism”. He said he was disappointed that I had not mentioned the war heroes. Okay, I will. I honour the heroes of the wa…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I would like to repeat that we are in favour of the motion and want it to pass, but I have a question. In terms of the message we are sending to the international community, it would undoubtedly be much more desirable for us to adopt the motion than the opposite. However, what message does it send if they see that the House had to force the Canadian government's hand to arrive at such…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I think we all agree, at least within the opposition parties, that this is a real mess. As we have said, we will unequivocally support the Conservative motion. That said, I would like to ask my colleague if he would agree that the Conservative leader has been rather quiet about the fact that, while he was parliamentary secretary to the transportation minister, his department awarded $…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, we are seeing yet another big mess coming out of the cross-party consensus within the Ottawa coalition, as I like to call it. It is the fact that Ottawa keeps delegating important aspects of policy decisions and government decisions to big companies, some of which, like McKinsey, have fingers in many pies. In this case, a company with only two employees was entrusted with the task d…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, although we are firmly in favour of this—we have stood up to defend this idea 11 times—I get the impression that there is a good deal of smoke and mirrors here. Again, I want to say that we strongly support it. In fact, Quebec has had its anti-scab legislation since 1977. The bill before us mentions a rather vague exception that talks about a threat to the life, health and safety of…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, it is not a point of debate. Words have meaning. Saying that I am encouraging the government to kill people has no place in a debate. The member can say he disagrees with me, but he cannot say that.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I will not stand for anyone saying that I am telling the government to kill people. I demand an immediate apology.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, Voltaire said that fanaticism pretends to be the child of religion. I think we have proof of that again today, unfortunately. Our colleague stated the Conservatives' position on freedom of choice, on medical assistance in dying and on providing relief to people who are suffering. The Conservatives want to abolish medical assistance in dying. That is what we just heard. The Liberals …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I congratulate my colleague for his responsible speech. Scaremongering is absolutely deplorable. That said, even though the Conservatives make a habit of scaremongering, I consider it our duty to address any reasonable apprehensions that the public may have. Obviously, MAID is a permanent and irreversible solution. Could my colleague briefly tell us how MAID precludes the possibilit…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, my colleague spoke a bit about the Indian Act. That word itself is a violent, racist word that harkens back to an extremely violent colonial history. The previous name was even more repugnant, if such a thing is possible. The current Indian Act is an amendment to an old law whose name I would not even dare utter. What does my colleague think about the fact that today, in 2024, a suppo…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, my colleague has previously worked on this file; he has also served in the National Assembly, but if I am not mistaken, it was not at the time of the debate on medical assistance in dying. He will correct me if I am wrong. Could he explain any significant differences that may exist in terms of the sensitivity with which the two parliaments, the two states, have dealt with this issue…
Read full speech →Statements By Members
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to welcome to the Hill guests who are particularly important to my riding. I am talking about young members of 953 Saint‑Hyacinthe Squadron. Their involvement and constant presence in the Saint‑Hyacinthe community is unmatched. The squadron was founded in 1995 by Robert Ledoux, and 70 cadets answered the call from day one. Although its then president, Serge Roy, left us f…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague from the Standing Committee on International Trade for his kind words. I am surprised he is in the House because we are supposed to be meeting right now. I will be going there right after this, and I imagine we will see each other over there in a few minutes. His question is about the immigration that is needed in Quebec. Quebec is the only province that knows w…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for her question. However, I would like to remind her that it is up to us to choose the subject of the motion we want to debate during our opposition days. Yes, Chalk River is a huge problem. However, the fact remains that immigration is an important issue that needs to be addressed. The Quebec national government has been calling for action in this area. That s…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I would first like to note that I will be sharing my time with the member for Terrebonne, who is going to give us a hard-hitting speech. She said so herself. Quebec or McKinsey? For our part, we choose the first option. Clearly, Ottawa is choosing the second. By meekly accepting the targets set by a sprawling firm, a state within a state, Ottawa is the real armchair quarterback here…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for her question. However, she is talking about Liberal talking points. Personally, I am under the impression that we do not usually get answers from the Liberals. My colleague told us that she asked a Liberal member a question, but he did not answer. I am stunned. It is a good thing I am not sitting down, because I would have fallen off my chair in shock when I…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, representatives of the aerospace industry are on Parliament Hill at the invitation of the Aerospace Industries Association of Canada. I want to wish these dynamic industry players a warm welcome. They are making us one of the few major aerospace hubs on the planet. This strategic sector's presence on Parliament Hill is an excellent opportunity for us to confirm our unwavering support.…
Read full speech →