Parliamentary Speeches

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, everyone in Quebec was disgusted to learn that the fat cats at Air Canada gave themselves $20 million in bonuses while the company was depending on public money to survive. Those greedy executives needed $6 billion of our money and certainly did not deserve taxpayer-funded bonuses. Yesterday I asked the government to take action. All the Liberals said in reply was that they were proud…

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, the government decided back in October that it would support Air Canada. The first thing that the freeloaders at Air Canada decided to do was to pocket $20 million, knowing that it would ultimately be replaced with taxpayers' money. Public funds were going to be used. What did they do in the meantime? They laid off 20,000 people, workers who lost their jobs and became unemployed. They…

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, Air Canada's planes have been grounded because of the pandemic, but its senior executives are flying high. After receiving $6.5 billion in government assistance, the bosses at Air Canada got greedy and gave themselves $20 million in bonuses using taxpayers' money. After laying off 22,000 people and fighting so that they did not have to compensate travellers for cancelled flight ticket…

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, I cannot believe the minister thinks that is okay. The government is offering Air Canada $5.9 billion on the condition that its senior executives cap their compensation at $1 million a year, which is already quite a lot when the company depends on public funds to survive and when it just put 22,000 families in poverty by dismissing half of its workers. Nevertheless, the bosses at Air …

Routine Proceedings

With regard to federal spending, since January 1, 2006: what is the total amount of federal investments to control golden nematode, broken down by (i) year, (ii) department, (iii) city, (iv) project?

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, the people of Lac-Mégantic were victims of a rail disaster. The people are still waiting for a bypass so they can rebuild their town with peace of mind. The Prime Minister has committed to building the bypass. He even signed a petition to get it done. Will he keep his word and work toward getting the bypass completed as quickly as possible?

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, the question I just asked the Prime Minister is exactly the same as the one asked by my colleague from Terrebonne on May 19, 2016, five years ago. What has changed since then for the people of Lac-Mégantic? Nothing has changed, nothing at all. The train still travels through downtown, which was ravaged by fire and where 47 people were killed. The Prime Minister promised that the rail …

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister's chief of staff said she treated the complaint with the utmost seriousness even though she did not know the nature of it. Basically, she knew that there were serious allegations against General Vance, but she did not tell the Prime Minister and she did not tell the Minister of National Defence, even though this was not the first time there had been allegations of s…

Private Members' Business

Madam Speaker, I want to congratulate my colleague on his speech, which was interesting. My speech will be along the same lines as his, as it was all very sensible. In his speech, my colleague said that Bill C-208, an act to amend the Income Tax Act, is not partisan. The bill does not belong to the Liberal Party, the Conservative Party, the NDP or the Bloc Québécois. In fact, since there were no q…

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, the most frustrating example of this inaction is the government's failure to implement the recommendations that Justice Deschamps made six years ago, even though it promised to do so and claims to be a feminist government. It can try to convince us that it is doing everything it should, but, unfortunately, it does not do what is required when it is informed of intolerable situations…

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, my colleague raises a very good point. I would not go so far as to say that the official opposition motion is completely unnecessary, because it also asks whether the Prime Minister was aware. He claims he was not, but everyone around him was. His government is adamantly refusing to allow his chief of staff to appear before the committee, which is really frustrating. At the end of t…

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his very important question. We have asked the same question five times and still have not gotten an answer. In the past, the minister claimed that he was not aware of the allegations of sexual misconduct. Now, on television, he is no longer even answering the question. As a result, we are wary of the minister's answer, or rather his lack of answer. It is di…

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, I wish to inform you that I will be sharing my time with the hon. member for Rivière-du-Nord. After reading the Conservative motion, I cannot say we were surprised that such a motion was moved. For weeks now, we have been disappointed time and time again by the government's failure to act or properly contain this situation. Instead, the scandal continues to grow. It all began when t…

Government Orders

Mr. Speaker, I listened to my colleague's speech and even to the previous speech. What I gather is that it is all about business. I did not hear the word “workers” very often in those speeches. There is not much consideration for workers. It is unfortunate since they are the ones unloading the cargo. They are the ones working in the port of Montreal. Let us go back in time a bit and take a look at…

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, in the speech he just gave, my colleague referred to a 2015 ruling on workers' right to strike for the purpose of negotiating their agreements, among other things. We could add to that the recent attempts by the Maritime Employers Association to stop Port of Montreal workers from striking by turning to the Canada Industrial Relations Board and then the Federal Court of Appeal. Both …

Private Members' Business

Mr. Speaker, I congratulate my colleague on introducing this very important bill. At one point, the federal government hinted that it was considering applying the Charter of the French Language, or Bill 101, at the federal level. In the end, this was not at all the case, according to the Liberals' famous white paper. In it, the government indicated that its vision was rather to give francophones t…

Government Orders

Mr. Speaker, my colleague from Joliette expressed the frustration that we are all feeling over this situation. In his speech, he talked about the issue of work schedules. Essentially, what the workers want are better work schedules. I am told that every day, the dock workers at the Port of Montreal have to call in between 6 p.m. and midnight to find out whether they have to go to work the next day…

Madam Speaker, earlier in his speech, Mr. Housefather said—

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I sometimes forget. When my colleague from Thérèse-De Blainville asked the hon. member for Mount Royal whether the bill would contain guarantees for workers that the employer would not start imposing shifts again, he said yes. However, when pressed on the issue by our leader, the hon. member for Beloeil—Chambly, during question period, the Prime Minister refused to answer…

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, where has the government been over the past few weeks? It was nowhere to be seen. Every time this government is involved in a dispute, it turns into an economic crisis. Last year, the Liberals let the CN labour dispute drag on until a propane shortage threatened farmers. They let the Wet'suwet'en conflict drag on to the point where the Prime Minister even recommended sending in the po…

Government Orders

Mr. Speaker, I am glad my colleague reminded us about that. As the member for Thérèse-De Blainville pointed out in her speech earlier on, in Canada's recent history, more labour disputes seem to have been dealt with through special legislation than through negotiation. In recent years, the government has been either Liberal or Conservative. That is disappointing because workers' rights have been t…

Government Orders

Mr. Speaker, the member talked about the Government of Quebec. He also mentioned some others, but I do not know as much about what is going on in the other provinces. I live in Quebec, I would like Quebec to be its own country, and I focus my attention on Quebec. The member is picking and choosing the words that suit his purpose and focusing on those. Perhaps he did not listen to everything the Go…

Government Orders

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for the question. It is clear that for the Conservatives, it is all about leaving it up to the market. The market is not so great when it comes to free collective bargaining. Then it becomes about leaving it up to management. The Liberal Party engages in doublespeak. When it is time for action, it may have other interests. I do not know who is funding the Liberal …

Government Orders

Mr. Speaker, I want to start by saying that my colleague from Thérèse-De Blainville gave an excellent speech. I think that we all need to learn from her compelling experience in organized labour, and the government would do well to listen to people like her. The situation we are in right now is a little unusual. The strike at the Port of Montreal was not unexpected, since this labour dispute has b…

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, this morning, the press reported that the president and CEO of CN thought the strike at the Port of Montreal would have less of an impact than feared because everyone has seen this coming for weeks. Businesses have diverted their cargo to other ports in places like Halifax, and the routes have been changed. Everyone is just waiting for things to come to a head since the federal govern…

Private Members' Business

Madam Speaker, I listened to the comments of my colleagues from the other parties about the bill introduced by my colleague from Mirabel. I must say that I was disappointed, but not necessarily surprised. The purpose of Bill C-271 is to amend the Governor General's Act to primarily do two things. The first is to set the annual salary of the Queen's representative at $1. If this could be done for t…

Routine Proceedings

With regard to Canada’s constitutional system: has the Privy Council Office produced any documents, studies, opinion polls, memos or scenarios exploring the possibility of a fundamental change to Canada’s constitutional system, including the abolition of the monarchy, and, if so, what are (i) the nature of the constitutional changes being considered, (ii) the anticipated timeline for such a change…

Routine Proceedings

With regard to the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, since 1993: has the Service signed an information-sharing agreement with the Sûreté du Québec, and, if so, what is the content of that agreement?

Routine Proceedings

With regard to confidential documents: what is the government’s disclosure policy?

Routine Proceedings

With regard to federal spending in the constituency of Pierre-Boucher—Les Patriotes—Verchères, since October 19, 2015: what is the total amount of federal investment, broken down by (i) year, (ii) department, (iii) project?

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, I appreciate the member's question. The government often claims that it has supported the airline industry. That is true, but the problem is that the airline industry, like many of the industries hit hardest by the crisis, did not receive more assistance than the others. Why would the government provide the same level of support to an industry that is desperately struggling as it do…

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his very pertinent question. One element that I was unable to address in my speech was assistance for the aerospace sector. If planes are no longer flying, airlines are not going to buy planes. That is the bottom line. There is also the fact that the federal government has completely abandoned Quebec's aerospace sector. I note that there is aerospace infrast…

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the member for Abitibi—Témiscamingue. Today in the House, we are debating the motion moved by the Conservative Party, which is calling on the government to do a number of things, including introducing in the next federal budget a number of measures to support workers in the highly impacted hospitality, tourism and charitable sectors; providing repayabl…

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague from Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie for that great question. I would take it one step further. I would say it is not just the Liberals. It seems to be consistent across all Canadian institutions. That is one of the reasons we think Quebec would be better off governing itself, being a country. Unfortunately, Canada is an English country with French in Quebec and in sm…

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, the federal government keeps telling us that it is strict, but if that were true, it would no longer be possible to book trips down south a month and a half after the holidays. If the federal government were so strict, airlines would have refunded customers who chose not to travel rather than offering cheaper flights. If the federal government were so strict, Quebec would not have had…

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, 90% of Quebeckers want the government to ban travel until there is a significant drop in COVID-19 cases. In spite of everything, the Prime Minister is claiming that he has banned travel when we know that is not true. It is not true because people can still travel down south by buying a ticket from an American airline instead of a Canadian one. Ninety per cent of Quebeckers are fed up …

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, I am not sure whether the government House leader believed what he was saying. The government finally took action, but it did not solve the problem. The problem is that there are people heading south on vacation. Today, under the new conditions, they can still go south. The only difference is that they have to use a U.S. airline instead of a Canadian one. That does not work. What is h…

Private Members' Business

Mr. Speaker, today's debate is about Bill C-208, an act to amend the Income Tax Act with respect to the transfer of small business or family farm or fishing corporation. This is a very important issue, and I am concerned about the government's ongoing failure to take action on it. This problem comes back year after year, and it has still not been resolved. In Quebec, one in three SMEs is a buyout.…

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, the government House leader is claiming that the government has responded to the Bloc's demands, but that is false. The Bloc called for a ban on all non-essential flights that are still available, since people can still head south with U.S. airlines. This is not rocket science. The government needs to ban all non-essential flights. It needs to force airlines to refund customers who ca…

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, I cannot believe that I have to ask the Prime Minister yet again when he is going to close the borders. It is completely absurd. How can it be that non-essential travel still has not been banned? How can it be that quarantine periods are still not mandatory or monitored? How can it be that people who are intelligent enough to cancel their trips are not being reimbursed for the cost of…

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, we are starting to get a little tired of and fed up with the government's indecision. It is the same old story. In the first wave, the Prime Minister was so slow to close the borders that the City of Montreal got fed up and did what the federal government should have done at the airport. We are now in the second wave, and the Government of Quebec is trying to monitor quarantines, rath…

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, everyone in Quebec is asking the Prime Minister for the same thing. They want him to ban non-essential flights, make sure people abide by quarantines and ensure that those who had to cancel their vacations are reimbursed. It is January 27 and the Prime Minister has still not resolved the problems that emerged before Christmas. He waited until all of the travellers who have been return…

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, he talks about quarantines, but he is not even enforcing them. Action must be taken, but there is no easy solution. The Prime Minister was elected to make difficult decisions. Quebec makes difficult decisions every day. It imposed a curfew, and that was a difficult decision. Quebec hospitals are triaging patients. Figuring out who can or cannot be treated is a difficult decision. Queb…

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, the federal government cannot ban non-essential flights. It cannot force airlines to reimburse people who cancel their flights. It cannot monitor quarantine. There is so much the feds cannot do that the Government of Quebec wants to step in and punish people who violate quarantine, but the feds cannot even accept Quebec's help. If the federal government cannot help, at least it should…

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, it will be difficult to give a brief answer to this question. This is an example of the willingness to not take action on issues that are affecting people, such as airlines that do not reimburse their clients. Furthermore, the government is giving the wage subsidy to these companies but saying that they will not see federal money until they have reimbursed their clients. However, ai…

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for her question. I have to say, I do not really see the link between what she is asking and the speech I just gave, but her question is interesting nonetheless. I think it is important to support people to give them a decent income, to get poverty under control and to ensure that everyone has a chance in life. However, what sometimes worries me about these kind…

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, I would like to begin by congratulating my colleague from Montarville for his outstanding speech. I was very touched by his testimony and the letter he read. When the government does not get the message, it is important to do something and find other ways to get the message across, and this was a good one. I am going to focus on one particular aspect of the economic update, namely t…

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for that really important question. Unfortunately, I do not think the federal government has even looked at cases like this yet, cases where people are struggling with debts to pay, with credit card balances to pay off. People often plan to pay for their trips after they return from their travels and go back to work, but what do they do when they have no job to …

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, everyone is waiting for Ottawa to ban unnecessary travel, monitor quarantines, close the borders and reimburse people who cancel their trips. The Prime Minister has the nerve to call a press conference to announce diddly-squat. I am not making this up. He called a press conference and proceeded to announce nothing at all. It looks like the Prime Minister will never step up. Quebec is …

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, the government is twiddling its thumbs while people are losing their jobs and thousands of people are not getting their refunds. Now it is in the hands of the courts. In an initial ruling today, the courts indicated that the companies must refund the flights. The Prime Minister spends his time lecturing Quebec during his press conferences in front of his residence. What is he doing to…