SoVote

Mr. Denis Trudel (Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, BQ)

Apr/7/22 11:15:13 a.m.
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Re: Bill C-14

Madam Speaker, from what I gather, my colleague agrees with this motion. That is obvious since Alberta is getting four seats. I guess I would be happy too if Quebec were getting four more seats. Some hon. members: It is three seats. Mr. Denis Trudel: It does not really matter whether it is three or four. It is still more seats. We are going to remain at 78 seats. Let us be frank. This bill reduces Quebec's political weight. I would appreciate it if my colleague from Victoriaville would let me—

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Context: House Hansard - 55 - Apr/7/22

Mr. Denis Trudel

Apr/7/22 11:15:56 a.m.
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Re: Bill C-14

Madam Speaker, in 2010 the Conservatives introduced a bill that diminished Quebec's political weight. The National Assembly, which at that time included the very Liberal former premier Jean Charest, unanimously adopted the following motion: That the National Assembly reaffirms that Québec, as a nation, must be able to enjoy special protection for the weight of its representation in the House of Commons; That the National Assembly asks the elected Members from all political parties [in Ottawa] to abandon the passage of any bill whose effect would be to diminish the weight of the representation of Québec in the House of Commons. I would like to hear my colleague's thoughts on that.

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Context: House Hansard - 55 - Apr/7/22

Mr. Denis Trudel (Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, BQ)

Apr/7/22 1:05:48 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-14

Madam Speaker, last spring, my colleague, who is a member from Quebec, voted in favour of the Bloc motion recognizing Quebec as a nation with French as its only official language. The Bloc Québécois believes that if Quebec is a nation, it should have special political weight to protect its specificity. Under this bill, Quebec will be allowed to keep 78 seats but, unfortunately, that will be out of a total of 343. Its political weight in this federation will therefore drop from 23.7% to 22.74%. As a Quebecker, how can my colleague accept this drop in Quebec's political weight?

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Context: House Hansard - 55 - Apr/7/22

Mr. Denis Trudel (Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, BQ)

Apr/7/22 1:33:46 p.m.
Watch
Re: Bill C-14

Madam Speaker, we often hear the argument that Quebec is well represented because we have the Prime Minister and ministers. I would simply like to point out to my colleague that the Island of Montreal is experiencing a serious housing crisis, with 25,000 people waiting for low-income housing. However, the Island of Montreal is represented by the Prime Minister and six senior ministers, including the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Minister of Canadian Heritage. This is significant, but despite this, the crisis has continued for seven years, so having ministers is not the answer to everything. I want to talk about the French language. My colleague must be sensitive to this in Nova Scotia. According to the numbers, the status of French in Quebec is so precarious that the percentage of people whose mother tongue is French may drop to just 69% by 2036, which might as well be tomorrow. If we do not use this bill as an opportunity to protect our political weight, if we do not stand up for ourselves, we will never be able to protect the French language. I would like to hear my colleague's thoughts on this.

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