44th Parl. 1st Sess.
June 13, 2022 11:00AM
Madam Speaker, I am very pleased to hear from the Minister of Tourism and Associate Minister of Finance and to see how passionate he is about Bill C‑11. I completely agree. Canadian content has not been promoted like this in years, and our neighbour to the south is a threat.
I would like to ask the minister if Bill C‑11 will help creators, especially francophones in Quebec. We know there is a lot of talent there and that they need to be encouraged. Will the bill help our creative industry in Quebec?
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Madam Speaker, I am so tired of hearing the Conservatives spout lies about Canada's arts industry. I cannot take it any more. I have spent so many nights here working on Bill C-11 until midnight and listening to the same speeches about censorship and freedom of expression, speeches about things that have never been proven, that do not exist. The only place those things exist is in the Conservatives' parallel universe.
This nonsense needs to stop. We need to help Canada's arts community. Everyone agrees.
If we accept the Conservatives' premise and do not pass Bill C‑11, what is the Conservatives' solution? What will they do?
We are not saying that it is perfect. However, if we do not go ahead with Bill C‑11, what will the Conservatives do to help our artists in Quebec and Canada?
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- Jun/13/22 2:15:28 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, my constituents would say that Lac-Saint-Jean is a great place to live. I am well aware of that. What I did not know, however, is that there is one town in the region that keeps people young. This year, not one, not two, but three residents of Normandin are celebrating their 100th birthday.
Lucien Cloutier, a former employee with Quebec's transportation and highways departments, is a tireless walker and has clearly found the secret to staying in shape.
Jeanette Baril, a talented gardener, seamstress and cook, is a dedicated mother to her family and to her community.
Last but not least is Jérémie Lévesque, who will blow out the candles for the 100th time on October 23. This farmer is still very active on the farm and is surprisingly energetic and jovial.
I cannot speak for my colleagues, but I have to think that the fountain of youth is in Normandin.
I want to wish Mr. Cloutier, Ms. Baril and Mr. Lévesque a very happy 100th birthday.
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Mr. Speaker, the Quebec Liberal lieutenant was right on Friday when he told journalists that “there is only one endangered [official] language in North America and that's French”.
That could not be any clearer and that is why we are calling out Bill C‑13 on official languages for not protecting French in Quebec, even though it is the only endangered official language.
Will the government finally understand that the threat to French in Quebec is English and that Bill C‑13 in Quebec protects English, not the endangered language, French? It makes no sense.
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Mr. Speaker, once it becomes clear that French is the only official language that is in jeopardy, then the next logical step is to let Quebec manage its French language itself. Instead, the federal government is giving priority to Bill C-13 to promote an institutional bilingualism that makes French optional.
This is a direct attack on the only official language in jeopardy: French. That is why the Government of Quebec proposed amendments to Bill C-13 to protect French in Quebec, as Quebeckers are calling for.
Will the government amend Bill C-13 so that Quebeckers can finally manage their own affairs and protect their language where they live?
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- Jun/13/22 2:37:27 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, last Thursday, Quebec gave $6.2 million to help Akwesasne patrol its territory 24 hours a day against gun trafficking. Quebec was there, Akwesasne was there, but where was the federal government?
How is it possible that this border is not already monitored on a full-time basis? Borders are a federal responsibility. After a year and a half of non-stop shootings in Montreal, it is infuriating to see that the government has not yet deployed all possible resources.
What is stopping the federal government from addressing the problem of gun trafficking?
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- Jun/13/22 2:38:05 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question and his leadership.
I share his concerns about the firearms file. That is exactly why we are continuing to work closely with the Government of Quebec, indigenous peoples and Akwesasne and to provide additional resources to stop the illegal trafficking of firearms at the border. We will continue to work with them to protect our communities.
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- Jun/13/22 2:39:14 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, on this side of the House, we will work 24/7 to protect our communities, and that includes controlling the border to stop the illegal gun trade.
That is precisely why we have already transferred $46 million to the Quebec government. That is precisely why we are in a renewal process with our indigenous communities to protect our communities.
Bill C-21 is currently before the House. I hope that the Bloc Québécois will support this very important bill to protect our communities.
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- Jun/13/22 2:39:54 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I hear the member saying that the government is going to do everything it can, but that means that it has not done anything yet.
Nothing has been done to combat gun trafficking at the border. It has gotten to the point where Quebec and the indigenous police have had to step up their own patrols, without any help from the federal government. Nothing has been done in the House either. Bill C-21 does not propose anything at all to crack down on gun trafficking and organized crime.
The federal government is offering half measures at the border and half measures in the House, but Montreal has an actual problem with illegal gun trafficking and organized crime, not half a problem. When will the federal government crack down on illegal gun trafficking and organized crime?
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- Jun/13/22 2:54:58 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I understand that this is a frustrating situation for Canadians in Quebec and across the country. We are responding to it.
We know that after two years of restrictions, Canadians want to travel. We have hired more than 600 people and we are in the process of hiring 600 more.
Service Canada employees are working days, evenings and weekends. We will try to do our best because Canadians want to receive their documents on time.
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Madam Speaker, it is very important for us to look back on the Canadian content requirements from the past and realize they offered the chance to have conversations with each other as Canadians and not some form of tyranny.
Is the hon. member, like me, puzzled about why the Conservatives seem to prefer letting the web giants and the streaming services determine what we watch, instead of supporting a bill such as this that would make room for indigenous people, Quebec content and the diversity that is Canada? I fail to understand why Conservatives prefer to let the big web giants and streaming services determine what we see.
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Madam Speaker, the member's question touches on a very important point, which is the fact that small tight-knit towns and communities, and we all know communities like that, are going to be crushed by the weight of large corporations that continue to derive what is important to them from the economy. What is very different in small communities, whether in rural Quebec or rural Alberta, is that they value the members of their community. They value the things they do. They value what is happening around them.
It is so important that we make sure there are financial resources to support small communities. Bill C-11, by way of making sure that we force those large industries, those large multimedia Netflixes of the world, to pay their fair share would mean that small communities can continue to do that work, but we need to pass this bill first.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for her speech.
From what I understood from it, she is saying that Bill C-11 protects those who have yet to adapt to new approaches, the new digital reality.
Is my colleague aware that Quebec francophone culture, with 8.6 million people, must still have some sort of protection in this ocean of 350 million anglophones that is the Americas?
I would like to hear her thoughts on that.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Avalon, for whom I have tremendous respect. We are both members of the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans. We all appreciate his work as chair, so I would like to take this opportunity to thank him. I also want to thank him for his speech. I was very happy to hear him talk about independent producers, who are literally the driving force behind the cultural economy in Canada and Quebec.
I would like my colleague to tell us about the work that committee members, specifically my colleague from Drummond, have done on the discoverability of French-language content. Can he comment on why it was important to protect French-language content in Bill C‑10 and, of course, in Bill C‑11?
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member for her comments. At the committee we serve on together, FOPO, she continues to amaze me with her intent, her questions and her knowledge of the industry. I also know her to be a performer, because she has gifted us with her talents at committee different times.
We have to protect our cultural identity, regardless if it is our French culture in Quebec, our Irish culture in Newfoundland and Labrador or our Ukrainian culture in Saskatchewan. We have to do everything we can. This country is unique given its diversity. As a government and as parliamentarians, we should try to build on it and make sure we do not lose it going forward, because if we lose our identity and culture, there is really nothing that says what Canada is.
We have to do everything we can to protect it, whether it be the French-language culture in Quebec or in other areas of the country. We have a great, talented country, and our music and talent speak for themselves.
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Mr. Speaker, I like my colleague. He is a friend and he is also my French teacher. We work together on the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage. I did not know he was that old.
Can he explain just how important this bill is for protecting Quebec culture and the French language?
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Mr. Speaker, we both started our careers in radio, but I have to say that I started a few years before you. I know that is somewhat hard to believe.
I would like to congratulate my colleague on the progress he is making in learning French. Last year, it was much more difficult for him to speak French. He just asked me a question entirely in French and I congratulate him.
It is not a secret. We talk about it often in the House. French in general is at risk and in decline, and it must be protected. It is true for the French language in everyday life, but it applies even more so to francophone culture. We are a francophone island in the sea of North America, and we are being invaded by American culture. We must protect francophone culture as best we can, especially Quebec culture, but francophone culture across Canada also. With bills such as Bill C‑11, we can make this difference and this distinction by protecting our culture.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague. We would be happy to help her work on her French. We are already seeing progress with the member for Perth—Wellington.
We have also received a lot of emails from members of the public, but I have to say that, with a few exceptions, none of these emails came from Quebec. They came from western Canada. I am not here to judge others' opinions. However, I believe that an interpretation, or disinformation, really, is what is behind the concern about Bill C‑11. This bill does not contain any threat to freedom of expression, from what I understand. At the very least, it does not contain any of the threats that people mentioned in the many emails we have received.
There is widespread support for this bill in Quebec. Almost none of the emails my colleague is talking about came from Quebeckers.
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