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Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 228

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
October 3, 2023 10:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 228 - Oct/3/23
Mr. Alain Therrien (La Prairie, BQ)
  • Oct/3/23 1:49:25 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I cannot begin without acknowledging the person who masterfully held the office of the Speaker of this Parliament for seven days: the member for Bécancour—Nicolet—Saurel. I thank him. He was a model of impartiality.
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Context: House Hansard - 228 - Oct/3/23
Mr. Alain Therrien (La Prairie, BQ)
  • Oct/3/23 1:49:54 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, before I recognize you, I would like to recognize the candidates whose names were on the list today. We had a tough choice to make. I tip my hat to them. They are great parliamentarians who have always created a space for debate and who have been extremely effective. Mr. Speaker, I congratulate you on behalf of myself and the Bloc Québécois. We are very pleased to see you in the chair. We are very proud of you. All of the Speakers who came before you were faced with the challenge of moving from a sometimes very partisan role to one where they had to set aside partisanship and become impartial. I am sure that you will be able to fulfill this role and that you will maintain the impartiality required for our Parliament to do noble work for our fellow citizens. They expect nothing less from us. I, too, want to use a hockey analogy. I really hope that you will be an impartial, effective and respectful referee. On behalf of myself and the Bloc Québécois, my whip and my leader, I offer you our full co-operation. I look forward to working together so that ideas can come first and be the top priority in Parliament.
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Context: House Hansard - 228 - Oct/3/23
Mr. Alain Therrien (La Prairie, BQ)
  • Oct/3/23 3:30:31 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, last week Statistics Canada reported that there were almost half a million non-permanent residents in Quebec in July. That is 150,000 more than last year, and it is all because of Ottawa. Quebeckers may well be the most welcoming people in the world and the most open to immigration, but we will have to wake up and smell the coffee at some point. There are half a million non-permanent residents here, and we just cannot handle them all. Public services cannot keep up. Will the government be reasonable and adjust its targets so they are in line with our capacity to accommodate people?
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Context: House Hansard - 228 - Oct/3/23
Mr. Alain Therrien (La Prairie, BQ)
  • Oct/3/23 3:31:42 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Quebec immigration minister, Christine Fréchette, is asking the federal government to wake up. She said that these figures “change the game” in terms of the “state of the situation”. Quebec controls its permanent immigration, but not its temporary immigration; that falls to the federal government. With half a million non-permanent residents in Quebec alone, the pressure on our education system, our ability to teach people French, our housing supply and, in short, our ability to integrate people is becoming too great. Will the government lower its targets?
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