44th Parl. 1st Sess.
March 20, 2024 02:00PM
- Mar/20/24 2:19:06 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, today is the International Day of La Francophonie, and I hope that all francophones and francophiles in Canada and around the world have a wonderful day of celebrations.
There is plenty to celebrate. If we look at the numbers, La Francophonie comprises 29 countries where French is the official language, including Canada. That means that there are more than 450 million francophones around the world and more than 600,000 francophones who call Ontario home.
As a proud Franco-Ontarian, I also want to take this opportunity to highlight the many contributions Franco-Ontarians make by enriching our language and culture within Canada's francophone community outside Quebec. I want to give a shout out to London's francophones, who have made our community thrive. Thanks to them, we can live in French in London, with two school boards that administer ten schools. We work in French. We also have resources to help newcomers live fully in French in a minority city. I commend all the hard-working organizations that support our community.
Long live the Francophonie, and long live francophones in Ontario and London.
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- Mar/20/24 2:21:28 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we have some special visitors with us on Parliament Hill today. Over a dozen mayors and reeves have come to see us. Just by being here, they remind me of the beauty of the St. Lawrence, the mountains and the islands, and the deep love of life that defines their magnificent region.
What a great opportunity to clear our minds of some of the ugly comments recently made by others and, instead, acknowledge the hard and demanding work done by our municipal officials. Their task is not easy. It demands discipline, leadership and detailed knowledge of their community and of laws and regulations. They must also show empathy, kindness and courage.
My Bloc Québécois colleagues and I feel it is important to recognize them for their commitment and offer them our deep gratitude, admiration and co-operation. They are the very heart of Quebec's vibrant towns and villages.
Hats off to our municipal officials. To our visitors from Beauport—Côte-de-Beaupré—Île d'Orléans—Charlevoix and L'Isle-aux-Coudres, enjoy your stay.
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- Mar/20/24 2:26:09 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, that is precisely the opposite of what the Parliamentary Budget Officer said. On March 18, he said in committee that when we consider the economic impact, most families will be negatively affected by the carbon tax. What the Prime Minister is saying is not true. Canadians are going to pay more. There is also a second carbon tax that applies directly on the backs of Quebeckers.
Are the Bloc Québécois members going to vote for Quebec families or are they going to once again vote for their boss, the Prime Minister?
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- Mar/20/24 2:31:41 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, yesterday, the Prime Minister made a good joke. He told us about how well he gets along with the Premier of Quebec and how well they work together.
The reality is that everyone in the Quebec National Assembly except the Liberals—no surprise there—is calling for Quebec to be given all powers over immigration.
Is blatantly refusing François Legault's critical request without any explanation the Prime Minister of Canada's idea of friendship with Quebec?
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- Mar/20/24 2:32:15 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague knows full well that Quebec has more power over immigration than any other province in Canada and that I sat down with Premier Legault last Friday to say, yes, let us work together to meet the objectives of Quebeckers and the Government of Quebec.
We are here to help businesses and to ensure that public services and housing are not overwhelmed. We will work hand in hand, as we have always done. We are here to deliver for Quebeckers and all Canadians, all together.
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- Mar/20/24 2:32:54 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, if the Prime Minister is here to deliver for Quebeckers, then that is another epic fail to add to his record.
The Government of Quebec has paid for education, health, income security, child care and all government services. The Liberal government told Quebec to pay for it and said that it would pay Quebec back. The bill has reached $1 billion, but now that Quebec has a huge deficit on its hands, the Liberal government is saying, “Find the $1 billion yourself. I will not be giving it to you because we are such good friends. Now scram”.
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- Mar/20/24 2:33:34 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, if I were the leader of the Bloc Québécois, I would be careful not to imply that there are more Quebeckers on his party's side than ours. We also speak for Quebeckers. We represent Quebec ridings, and we are here to work hand in hand to deliver for Quebeckers, especially when it comes to health care, where we are working to improve services. The federal government is here to spend billions of dollars on the priorities of Quebeckers and Quebec. We are here to work together, and we will continue to do so on both sides of the chamber as Quebeckers.
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- Mar/20/24 2:45:04 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I do not put much stock in polls. Polls should not dictate a government's choices. That said, before he says who is speaking for whom, the Prime Minister ought to know that the Bloc Québécois has been ahead of the Liberals in every poll for longer than I can remember.
If the Prime Minister is doing that poorly in the polls, so poorly that even the Conservatives are outperforming the Liberals in Canada, perhaps it is because he does not respect Quebec, Quebeckers or the National Assembly.
Does he think that treating Quebec with contempt is a good idea because he knows he will never gain any seats in Quebec anyway, or because trashing Quebeckers will at least win him votes in Canada?
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- Mar/20/24 2:45:46 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, people know very well that in democracies, there is only one poll that counts, and that is on election day.
The Liberal Party has won more seats in Quebec than the Bloc Québécois in the last three elections. That is because we are here to deliver meaningful results for Quebeckers and all Canadians with health agreements, help for dental care and seniors, $6 billion for day care in Quebec and other investments that help create economic growth, jobs for the future for Quebeckers and a greener world for all.
These are the investments we are making to represent Quebec, and we will continue to deliver.
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- Mar/20/24 2:47:03 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, let us consider the facts: 1.5 million Canadian seniors have signed up for our dental care plan, which the Conservatives voted against. More than a third of those seniors live in Quebec. That means hundreds of thousands of Quebec seniors will be getting free dental care thanks to federal investments in dental care.
We are here to deliver results for Quebeckers. We will always be here for Quebeckers and for all Canadians.
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- Mar/20/24 3:03:11 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the leader of the Bloc Québécois is mistaken. We increased old age security for seniors 75 and up because we know that they have more expenses than other families.
Yes, we recognize that even in Quebec and across the country, there are people who cannot afford their diabetes medication or their birth control because they are not covered.
We are here to work with Quebec to deliver results and ensure that people can get their diabetes medication and their birth control. We will be here to ensure that people stay healthy.
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- Mar/20/24 3:03:52 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I do not know if seniors use a lot of birth control, but I know that in Quebec, diabetes medication is paid for.
I will come back to one point, because I do not think he knows what I am talking about. The Canada community-building fund should allow municipalities to do whatever work they choose to do. However, to make it look like it is putting money into housing, the government wants to force small municipalities to invest money from the Canada community-building fund in housing.
Can the government be honest and let municipalities do what they want with their money?
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- Mar/20/24 3:04:33 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it seems there are some challenges today when it comes to the facts.
Our housing accelerator fund gives money directly to municipalities across the country so that they can build more housing more quickly, except in Quebec, where we gave the Government of Quebec $900 million. It then combined that with another $900 million for municipalities across Quebec to build housing more quickly.
We are here to work in a manner that is respectful of jurisdictions, in partnership with Quebec, to deliver for municipalities large and small across the province.
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