44th Parl. 1st Sess.
April 10, 2024 02:00PM
- Apr/10/24 2:19:18 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, to promote the French language in Quebec, we need to share it with all new Quebeckers, but, of course, learning our national language takes time. That is why I want to talk about an inspiring initiative that is being taken by the Provigo in Boucherville. The grocery store gave all of its new employees who are learning French a button that says “I am learning French. Thank you for speaking slowly”. What an extraordinary way to encourage employees as they learn and to encourage customers to take part in this learning process by being understanding, patient and kind.
On behalf of the Bloc Québécois, I want to thank the owner of Provigo, Mona Turbide, and the person in charge of the French language training, Martine Coulombe. I also want to commend the workers who are learning French for their perseverance. I hope that this initiative will snowball and be implemented all over Quebec.
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- Apr/10/24 2:22:35 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, this Prime Minister's incompetence is not worth the cost. His actions and overspending at the federal level have made a mess of inflation, interest rates, the military, immigration and the list goes on. Instead of cleaning up his own mess at the federal level, he is creating other problems with costly announcements and meddling in provincial jurisdictions.
Why is the Prime Minister imposing his incompetence on Quebec's jurisdictions?
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- Apr/10/24 2:23:13 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is quite amusing to hear the word “incompetence” coming from the Conservative leader. When he was the minister responsible for housing, he created six affordable housing units across the country during his entire mandate.
A few weeks ago, he accused Quebec municipalities of being incompetent. On March 15, alongside Quebec City leadership, we announced 324 affordable housing units.
Who is incompetent, the Conservative leader with his six units or Quebec municipalities with hundreds of affordable housing units?
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- Apr/10/24 2:24:34 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Conservative leader spoke a moment ago about the Government of Quebec. I was speaking about the municipalities. With the leadership of the Quebec government, we signed an agreement to build 8,000 affordable housing units in the coming months. During his term as minister responsible for housing, the Conservative leader created six affordable housing units, and yet he called Quebec’s municipalities, including Quebec City, incompetent.
When will he agree to come with me and meet Quebec City municipal officials to apologize in person?
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- Apr/10/24 2:30:14 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, for the past three weeks the Prime Minister has made pre-budget announcements in Quebec’s areas of jurisdiction, but not today. No, today, he is at the Foreign Interference Commission. That means he does not have time for domestic interference. Health, schools, housing, dental care, early childhood centres, it is not the Bloc Québécois that fancies itself as the Government of Quebec, it is the Liberals.
Ottawa may well have the money, but Quebec has the expertise. If the Liberals want to help in an area under Quebec’s jurisdiction, they should increase the transfers. What are they waiting for?
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- Apr/10/24 2:31:24 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the government is treating us to a veritable budget striptease, one item at a time.
The way things are going, we will be having a five-minute lock-up on April 16. There will be nothing left to announce. What will be left to spend after using billions of dollars to infringe upon Quebec's jurisdiction? What I know for sure is that competence is not a jurisdiction of the Liberal government: Phoenix, passports, ArriveCAN, processing of asylum seekers. Nevertheless, that is no reason to trample upon Quebec's jurisdiction.
Could it kindly transfer instead of encroach?
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- Apr/10/24 2:32:04 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am so happy to answer a second question and give a second example of how we are working very well together.
On the question of housing, two times $900 million equals $1.8 billion. This agreement, which we signed just a few weeks ago, will allow us to build the largest number of affordable housing units ever built in the history of the province of Quebec. This will greatly benefit Quebeckers, especially lower-income residents.
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- Apr/10/24 2:41:08 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years of this Prime Minister, rents have doubled and the dream of home ownership for our young people is dead. Food banks are reporting record demand.
Everything he touches turns bad. He is ruining everything in Ottawa, and now he wants to impose his incompetence on Quebec with his centralizing pre-budget announcements. Does the Prime Minister understand that his meddling is simply making things worse for Quebeckers?
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- Apr/10/24 2:41:42 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, on the contrary, we are investing to build homes in Quebec.
For example, with the housing accelerator fund, we are concluding an agreement worth $1.8 billion with the province of Quebec to build 8,000 affordable housing units across the province. The Conservative Party opposes this investment. That is unbelievable.
We continue to invest in order to make things better and build more affordable housing as quickly as possible.
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- Apr/10/24 2:42:17 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, how can you trust them?
When it comes to any federal responsibility, like border management, managing our military, ArriveCAN or employment insurance to name just a few, it is apparent that everything goes haywire with this government. Now he is adding insult to injury by encroaching on areas of Quebec jurisdiction.
Does the Prime Minister understand that he will just make the situation worse for Quebeckers and for all other Canadians?
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- Apr/10/24 2:42:46 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague the Minister of Housing has already talked about the 8,000 affordable housing units that Quebec municipalities will build in the coming months and years.
We already know about the six affordable housing units that the Conservative leader built during his time as housing minister.
What my colleague may not know is that in his own riding, the Charles IV housing project alone has built 163 affordable housing units in the past few months, which is 25 times more than the number of affordable housing units his Conservative leader had built across the country during his entire mandate.
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- Apr/10/24 2:43:26 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the expression area of jurisdiction contains the word “jurisdiction”.
When someone has a toothache, they do not call the hairdresser, any more than they would call the federal government. Federal dental coverage is not even available yet, and already everyone is furious with Ottawa. Seniors are furious because after being promised free care, they are going to have to foot the bill. Dentists are furious because Ottawa blames them. This is all because Ottawa, which knows absolutely nothing about this, promised free care without knowing how much it would cost.
Why not act like the tooth fairy and put the money under Quebec City's pillow?
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- Apr/10/24 2:44:07 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is absolutely essential for everyone across the country, including Quebeckers, to be able to receive oral and dental care. That is our goal and that is what we are going to do.
I will definitely continue to work with the Government of Quebec in a spirit of co-operation. It is only the Bloc Québécois that is looking for problems and picking fights. Our government is looking for solutions that ensure that everyone can get the health care they need.
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- Apr/10/24 2:44:44 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the money Ottawa is spending on dental care could be used to improve Quebec's health insurance plan, or RAMQ. Quebec even said that that is what it wants to do. Instead, Ottawa is creating a bureaucratic duplication that is infuriating everyone before the program even gets off the ground.
As for housing, Ottawa could pay out the money now, but instead it is picking a constitutional fight until 2025. It has to be said, the federal government does not exactly have the Midas touch. Everything it touches turns into mud instead of gold. Why would we allow this government to interfere in our jurisdictions if every single time things take longer, are poorly done, cost more and are all wrong?
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- Apr/10/24 2:45:25 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the oral health care program is quite simple. Plan members receive a card that can be used at any dentist's office across the country. With this card, dentists can use the same system as any other type of insurance. People can receive services easily.
If Quebec wants to run the oral health program, that is no problem. We can work together. It is essential that services be available to Quebeckers immediately. That is our response.
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- Apr/10/24 2:56:06 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague is quite right to talk about the cost of living and the high cost of living for middle-class and lower-income families.
What is surprising, however, is that the Conservatives oppose the Canada child benefit, which reduces child poverty by 50% every month. They oppose dental care for children, and now for seniors. They are against investing in child care, which, in Quebec, has proven so important for gender equality and poverty reduction.
Now they seem to oppose investments in housing, despite the fact that their Conservative leader was the minister a few years ago—although he was not very good at housing then, either.
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- Apr/10/24 2:58:06 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years, this Prime Minister is just not worth the cost of his incompetence.
His inflationary policies have increased the cost of everything: rents have doubled, inflation is at a 40-year high, violent crime is making our streets more and more unsafe, and Quebeckers are getting less and less for their money.
After breaking just about everything in Ottawa, the Prime Minister has spent the last two weeks announcing that he now wants to impose his incompetence on Quebec's jurisdiction.
Can the Prime Minister mind his own business?
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- Apr/10/24 2:58:43 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, what we are hearing is the party of inaction. According to the Conservatives, doing nothing is the answer.
Well, no, the people watching us at home know we need to invest in housing, we need to invest in day care, we need to invest in workers.
If my colleague from Quebec wants to talk about success, let us look at the biggest private investment in Quebec's history. We attracted Northvolt to make the biggest investment here.
From our side of the House, we believe that by investing, we ensure prosperity not only today, but for generations to come.
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- Apr/10/24 2:59:21 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as the minister often says, after eight years, those watching at home know very well that the Prime Minister is the only one responsible for the incompetence he has shown in his area of jurisdiction.
It is no wonder that Quebec does not want him underfoot. The Prime Minister wanted to interfere in housing and the price of rent doubled in Quebec. He wanted to interfere in the lives of middle-class people, and he shattered young families' dreams of home ownership and middle-class workers now have to rely on food banks. When the Prime Minister interferes, Quebeckers pay a heavy price.
Will the Prime Minister listen to common sense and put aside his plans to meddle even further in areas where he has clearly shown that he has no expertise?
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- Apr/10/24 3:02:12 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the conditions set by Ottawa are not speeding up housing construction. They are slowing it down. Instead of getting the money out now, so that Quebec can get to work, the Liberals are picking a fight that will last until 2025.
The money they are holding back is meant for infrastructure, like water systems. However, that is only the first step, unless the Liberals want homes without drinking water built on vacant land. Imagine, we are no further ahead than installing running water. We have not even started talking about constructing buildings and already the federal government is slowing everyone down.
Why not just transfer the money now so that we can tackle the housing crisis now?
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