Parliamentary Speeches
539 speeches by Xavier Barsalou-Duval — Page 4 of 11
Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I have been following this debate since the beginning of today's opposition day. It started at 10 o'clock this morning. It is now one o'clock in the afternoon, and there are still several hours of debate to go before the end of the day. There was something that struck me. Since the beginning of the sitting, not a single Liberal member from Quebec has risen to speak about this. Not a s…
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for her question, which has nothing to do with the motion before us today. Perhaps she is ashamed of her party's position, because she would not be able to explain to her constituents why $10 million earmarked for her riding was allocated to the rest of Canada. To answer my colleague's question, yes, this proposal was acceptable to us. We voted in favour of the …
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Madam Speaker, my colleague raised a very good question. In fact, I really think that Quebeckers did not know about it. I think that is the first reason. It received very little media coverage. Very little was said about it because, during the election campaign, all the attention was focused on the American threat. We were told that Canada had to be united, that we had to set aside all our convict…
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Madam Speaker, I am glad my colleague opposite has asked that question again because I was champing at the bit to answer when my colleague from Saint‑Jean asked it. He is telling us that the rebate was planned and that the poorest Canadians might have needed it and that it would have been unfortunate to take that away from them. There is absolutely nothing stopping a government from implementing p…
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Mr. Speaker, I congratulate my colleague, who is the first Liberal member from Quebec to have the courage to rise in the House. However, I am not sure whether he fully understands his government's decision. As he said, Quebec is not subject to the carbon tax. Considering that we did not pay the carbon tax, we are not entitled to the rebate. However, in April, May and June, when there was no carbon…
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Madam Speaker, I would like to start by congratulating my colleague for her brilliant speech. It was the first speech of the day, and I think we are off to a good start. I hope that the coming speeches will live up to the standard she set. Today we are debating the Bloc Québécois's motion on the infamous carbon rebate. Why are we discussing this today? Because it is a major issue for Quebec and, m…
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Mr. Speaker, I listened carefully to the Conservative member's speech. I have to say that this does not happen every day, but I agree with much of what he said today. I would like to ask him about one thing in particular. Throughout the election, the Liberals sold us the new Prime Minister as a magician. He was going to solve our problems, he was extraordinarily talented, he could do anything, and…
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Mr. Speaker, I congratulate my colleague on his speech in the House. I have not seen him often in the past, so I assume that he is a newly elected member. The member told us that he wants to get moving and that he is part of a government that is taking action. I find that interesting to hear. It is basically true, and we can see that. The government has introduced a few bills so far. These are fai…
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Madam Speaker, I have a question for my colleague that is particularly relevant to Quebec, but that may appeal to his Canadian spirit. We often hear about the infamous equalization payments and the fact that English Canada, especially in the west and Alberta in particular, sends a lot of equalization payments to the rest of Canada. This time, however, it seems that Quebec made a large lump-sum equ…
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Madam Speaker, I have two questions in one for our esteemed Minister of Finance, the member for Saint-Maurice—Champlain. I would assume that, as a seasoned parliamentarian, he has a solid understanding of the value of Parliament and the importance of respect and consideration for Parliament. His government was pretty pleased with itself for getting the throne speech and the ways and means motion a…
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Madam Speaker, $1 million is not the next 6/49 jackpot; it is the amount of public money that the federal government has already wasted fighting Bill 21, Quebec's secularism bill. The Supreme Court has not even begun hearing the case, but the Liberals have already spent $1 million of our tax dollars on attacking secularism in Quebec. Is there a limit to the amount of money Quebeckers will have to …
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Madam Speaker, one does not respect Quebec's jurisdictions by attacking Quebec's laws. I do not think the minister really understand his role. By spending $1 million in legal fees to challenge Bill 21 before the court proceedings have even begun, the federal government is proving one thing: It will stop at nothing to crush Quebeckers and undermine Quebec's secularism. It will stop at nothing to at…
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Madam Speaker, like many Conservative Party members, my colleague has a great deal to say about the infamous carbon tax. The subject is clearly inevitable in the context of the bill, since it contains a section on eliminating the carbon tax for individuals. In fact, the government eliminated the carbon tax for individuals, but it still sent cheques giving Canadians refunds for taxes they never pai…
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Madam Speaker, my Conservative colleague is asking an excellent question. I cannot say that I have a clear answer to that question. The problem is that, if we get rid of the GST on new homes and for everyone, for first-time homebuyers and for other buyers, it might lead to higher prices. Often, people will offer the maximum amount they can afford in order to purchase a home, particularly in a cont…
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Mr. Speaker, I am rising today in the House to speak to Bill C‑4. It is interesting because we are still in the early days of this Parliament, which is often the time when we assess a government's priorities, by observing the first steps that it takes. Usually, after an election, a government seeks to implement its priorities. Our first disappointment in looking at this government's priorities, Bi…
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Madam Speaker, my colleague from Mont-Saint-Bruno—L'Acadie said that he met a woman named Manon who was having trouble making ends meet. I thought that was interesting. We have a government that decided to request new funding for new spending. However, it does not have a budget. I am pretty sure that if Manon wants to be able to pay her rent and buy groceries, she has no choice but to make a budge…
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Madam Speaker, that is also a very good question. We specifically mentioned a target in our election platform. If I am not mistaken, that target was approximately 20% of non-market housing. If this goal were reached, it would lead to a significant number of non-market homes, which could greatly improve the situation and help many people who do not have the same financial means as others. At the mo…
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Madam Speaker, my colleague is surely among the people who voted to ask the government to present a budget before the summer, because that is one of the things both the Bloc Québécois and the Conservative Party were calling for. I know that the member has been in office for quite a few years. Does he think that when the House votes in favour of something, it has any value? Is that something the go…
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Madam Speaker, during the election, no one promised a government whose first priority would be to rub shoulders with oil and gas companies, to work on creating new pipelines and to invite the King. It seems to me that this government has strange priorities. No one told us the government would take the Conservative Party's platform and implement it. That is what Quebeckers voted against. I also thi…
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Madam Speaker, I have spent a lot of time listening to speeches from the Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons since the beginning of this Parliament, and it is just getting started. I should also point out that we heard from him a lot in the previous Parliament, as well. What fascinates me is how he always speaks with such conviction. He truly believes wh…
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Mr. Speaker, in her speech, my colleague from Côte-Nord—Kawawachikamach—Nitassinan talked about the infamous cheques related to the government scrapping the carbon tax, which were sent out even though no money was collected elsewhere in Canada. These cheques were sent everywhere in Canada except Quebec, even though the government did not collect anything from the rest of Canada. This means that, i…
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Mr. Chair, how much longer are we going to wait before a decision is made? It has already been too long, in my opinion.
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Mr. Chair, the Canada Gazette has published new regulations for travellers' rights. Can we expect these regulations to be implemented by the current government?
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Mr. Chair, I would like to thank the minister for joining us today. I am pleased that she is willing to participate in this exercise. I hope it will be positive and constructive as well as informative for those who are listening. First, I would like to mention that I will be sharing five minutes of my time with the member for Gaspésie—Les Îles-de-la-Madeleine—Listuguj. On January 10, the governmen…
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Mr. Chair, I like that answer. What remains to be seen is how soon we can expect to see the money. Will it come from existing funds? Will we see it in a future budget or perhaps even sooner?
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Mr. Chair, if the government intends to resolve the situation, that means we can expect the $9 million to be refunded to SMEs in Quebec and the $11 million to be refunded to SMEs in Canada. However, can we also expect the return of the much-touted subsidy for zero-emission vehicles in general, beyond the money that was owed?
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Mr. Chair, time is flying, and there is another topic I would like to discuss. The minister must be familiar with Via Rail. Since October 11, 2024, its trains have been forced to slow down because of a dispute with Canadian National, or CN. Last December, the government asked CN to produce documents to justify its decision. Litigation made its way to the Superior Court. On April 23, the Superior C…
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Mr. Chair, I thank the minister for her beginning of an answer. In Canada, dealers have lost $11 million. They paid rebates out of their own pockets. I think that selling electric cars is a good thing. We know that there were availability issues, and we know that there was also some resistance in the industry. I believe that it is a very positive development that dealers decided to join in the eff…
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Mr. Chair, we will have to look at the entire budget to see whether we will indeed vote in favour of it. It would be helpful if there were positive measures for electrification. Let us talk about electrification. The government made many promises during the election. Right now, we see that one of the Prime Minister's priorities is to meet with oil and gas companies and to try to ensure that new pi…
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Mr. Chair, this situation has been going on since October 2024. We are in June, which means it has been more than six months, even eight months. In the meantime, Via Rial is losing customers and keeps experiencing delays. It is a Crown corporation that falls directly under the government's authority. Is the future of this Crown corporation important to the minister? If so, why is it taking so long…
Read full speech →Speech from the Throne
Madam Speaker, I congratulate my colleague on her election and on her speech. Although I do not agree with everything she said, the fact remains that she is here to represent her constituents. I assume that what she says is also representative of her constituents' views. Since we are talking about representing the voices and views of our constituents, the Prime Minister of Canada decided, when it …
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Mr. Speaker, I am concerned about my colleague's last statement that any measure limiting greenhouse gas emissions should be axed completely. On the contrary, I think it is important to have incentives to limit emissions. However, I will move on to another topic since I already asked his colleague that question and I expect he would give me the same answer. In his speech, the member talked about h…
Read full speech →Speech from the Throne
Mr. Speaker, I would like to congratulate my collegue on being elected in the riding of Beauport—Limoilou. I knew his predecessor, Julie Vignola, who was an excellent MP from 2019 to 2025. She worked hard on the issues and was very interested in the Quebec City region. I think that my Liberal colleague will have some big shoes to fill in the coming years. How does he intend to continue the work th…
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Mr. Speaker, I congratulate my colleague on his election. I listened carefully to his speech, but there seemed to be one thing missing from it, and that is the issue of climate change. I was wondering if my colleague had any concerns about that. There was also no mention of this subject in the government’s throne speech, even though we know that unprecedented forest fires are currently raging in w…
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Mr. Speaker, I congratulate my colleague from Rosemont—La Petite‑Patrie on his re-election. During his speech, I heard him underline something that I myself have raised several times today regarding the Speech from the Throne, and that is the absence of any serious commitment from this government regarding climate change. It is very disappointing. I would go so far as to say it is worrisome. I am …
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Mr. Speaker, I congratulate my colleague on his election. I welcome him to the House. As we all know, there are currently major forest fires burning in western Canada. We lived through forest fires in Quebec not so long ago. It was not easy. We also know that these forest fires release huge amounts of carbon. According to publicly available data, the forest fires we have experienced over the last …
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague asks a very good question. Upon reading the Speech from the Throne, we see that the issue of climate change is nowhere to be found. It is as if it no longer exists, as if there is no more pollution or tar sands, and as if climate change went away and everything is fine. I find the Liberals' conversion into Conservatives on this mind-boggling and unbelievable. It is as tho…
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague talked about unity. That is very interesting, because those who want unity act accordingly and reach out. Instead, what this government decided to do was invite the British monarch, who is rejected by nine out of ten Quebeckers. I find that mind-boggling. Had the Liberals proposed that during the election campaign and 44 Liberal members were elected, then perhaps it would…
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Mr. Speaker, I have a question for my Conservative colleague about his speech. He was talking about economic and fiscal issues. We know that one of the first things this government did when it came to the House was to say that it would lower taxes. Then the government increased spending and asked for more money to run its operations. No budget has been tabled. We do not know when it will happen, b…
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Mr. Speaker, in 1724, François, Jacques, Jean and Pierre Archambault, four brothers under the age of 20, settled in New France on the banks of the Richelieu River, on land that was then part of the seigneury of Contrecœur. Other families joined them, and in 1750, the community was large enough to get its own church. After the deportation in 1755, the community became home to many refugees, who set…
Read full speech →Speech from the Throne
Mr. Speaker, I congratulate my colleague on his speech and on his election as a member of Parliament. I listened to the Speech from the Throne last week, and it concerned me. I do not know if my colleague is as concerned as I am, but I am concerned about the government not presenting a budget. I am also concerned that the government seems keen to go full speed ahead on fossil fuels. When the gover…
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Mr. Speaker, I find it fascinating to watch the Liberals and Conservatives duke it out over which of the two is more pro-oil and which of the two wants pipelines built the most. My question for my Conservative colleague following her speech is the following. In light of this sort of transformation of the Liberal Party into the Conservative Party 2.0, does she get the impression that she is losing …
Read full speech →Speech from the Throne
Mr. Speaker, before I officially begin my speech, I want to thank the voters of Pierre-Boucher—Les Patriotes—Verchères for putting their trust in me for a fourth time in this election. It is a great privilege that I do not take lightly. I will do my best to do right by the people of Pierre-Boucher—Les Patriotes—Verchères. Since today's debate is on the Speech from the Throne and since my leader ga…
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Mr. Speaker, I would suggest that members of the House listen again to what I said and reread what I wrote to see whether I used the words “fearful or “cowardly”. I do not believe that they will find them anywhere in my speech. However, what I did say is that a large number of Quebeckers held their noses and voted Liberal, and many of them made no secret about it. When I was knocking on doors, I h…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, a Léger poll shows that 87% of Quebeckers feel zero attachment to the monarchy. That is why Quebec's National Assembly unanimously passed a motion demanding that all ties between Quebec and the monarchy be severed. Quebeckers are democrats, not monarchists. However, the Liberals' first act after the election was invite the King of England to parade around at Quebeckers' expense, which…
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Mr. Speaker, Quebeckers did not vote for that. Quebeckers were hoping for a serious government that would table a budget to help Quebec's economy face up to Donald Trump. Today they are seeing that the Liberals' priority was not the budget, because there is no budget. It was not support for the economy, because there is no support. Their priority was pomp and circumstance with the King of England.…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I listened to the speech by my Liberal colleague, the parliamentary secretary to the government House leader and I was a bit shocked. In listening to him talk about virtually everything and nothing, I really got the impression that he is living in a parallel universe. Between the chaotic circus we saw yesterday in Parliament and the calls for the Prime Minister's resignation by near…
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Mr. Speaker, time is running out for Lion Electric, and the federal government must play its part. Lion Electric has until December 16 to reach an agreement with its creditors. That is this coming Monday. Today, the federal government must send a clear message to investors that all the conditions are in place to restart Lion Electric's orders. It must immediately announce to potential buyers of el…
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to hear a yes. The employees at Lion Electric deserve better than that from the federal government. There are three days left to save the Quebec flagship of electric transportation. The investors, the cities involved, the Government of Quebec; everyone is fighting to save Lion Electric in Quebec. In the meantime, there is just Ottawa who is asleep at the switch. The feder…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, the survivor's benefit cannot be transferred if someone decides to get married after they turn 60. This rule is practically antediluvian. I was not even born when it came into effect. My father was not even born then. My grandfather was not even born then. I am not even sure if my great-grandfather was born then. It is important to understand that, in 1930, a man's life expectancy was…
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