44th Parl. 1st Sess.
April 29, 2024 11:00AM
- Apr/29/24 12:39:13 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the member for Jonquière.
I am very pleased to be discussing the budget today. We have read it, and it looks more like a Liberal election platform than real fiscal policy, which is exactly what we feared. We in the Bloc Québécois had made some very clear demands of the government. We wanted certain things to be included, things we have been talking about for years, such as increasing old age security starting at age 65. Unfortunately, that was not included in the budget. We also noted significant federal interference in the jurisdictions of Quebec and the provinces. That is unacceptable. I will let my colleague from Jonquière elaborate on that.
When the budget came out, the Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard said she was shocked that the Bloc Québécois was voting against the budget before even reading it. That is what she said. I did my homework. I did read the budget before criticizing it. That was the right thing to do. I read it and saw that there was not really anything in it for eastern Quebec, nor for the Lower St. Lawrence or for Gaspésie—Îles‑de‑la‑Madeleine. It was pretty clear to me that the minister had not contributed to writing the budget or there would have been more funding for that region, which is very important in eastern Quebec.
I feel a need to quote some excerpts from a Radio-Canada article from the Gaspésie—Îles‑de‑la‑Madeleine region that appeared the day after the budget came out. The title says it all: “A budget with nothing major for the regional economy”. In the article, municipal officials say they do not really have any details on the money that was announced and they are waiting to see how this will materialize on the ground. Obviously, fishers and seasonal workers are disappointed. Daniel Côté, the mayor of Gaspé, says elements of the budget interact with Quebec's jurisdictions, such as housing and shoreline erosion. He asks, “What is that going to look like in the community, in concrete terms?”
What he is asking for is essentially to have more in terms of how the money is invested. When the federal government interferes in provincial areas of jurisdiction, adding yet more conditions, that obviously means less flexibility for Quebec and the municipalities, which is a bad thing. They are afraid of constitutional quarrels and distrustful of budget announcements that come without concrete measures. Éric Dubé, the mayor of New Richmond, says that “these are promises, but they are not accompanied by an operational program. There are announcements, but we wake up two years later and nothing has come of it.” I know that Mr. Dubé is speaking from experience.
Like the mayor of New Richmond, the mayor of Gaspé hopes that the details will be better defined and that the terms of the federal and provincial infrastructure program will be renewed quickly. That is what the Bloc Québécois wants too, particularly for the investments in housing. Let us give Quebec and the municipalities their share, with no strings attached. The budgets for existing federal programs, such as the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation's programs and affordable housing programs, need to be renewed. There are projects on hold in my riding. They are ready to move forward. They have the backing of the Quebec government, but the federal government says that there is no more money in these budgets. Let us start by renewing these types of budgets, which are extremely useful for the municipalities, especially in the Gaspé.
The mayor of New Richmond is thrilled with the announcement of funding for Via Rail. That is a good thing, which I will come back to later. It has been just over 10 years since Via Rail stopped passenger rail service to the Gaspé. For years, community groups have been calling for rail service to be restored. It is good news that initial funding has been allocated for the replacement of the fleet. It remains to be seen whether that results in passenger trains returning to the Gaspé.
In the city of Gaspé, the mayor was waiting for funds to fully renovate the Cap-des-Rosiers lighthouse, as well as additional investments for Forillon Park. I will come back to that as well.
Expectations have not been met when it comes to regional air transportation. I cannot agree more with the mayor of Gaspé that we need investments in regional air transportation. The Gaspé Peninsula's economy centres on the fishing industry. The mayor wishes the federal government had provided some support for the industry, which has been hit hard by the rapid decline of crustacean species, such as shrimp, as well as fish species, such as Greenland halibut. Unfortunately, apart from investments in small craft harbours, there is not much in the budget for this industry.
Claudio Bernatchez, executive director of the Association des capitaines-propriétaires de la Gaspésie, says he would have liked the budget to signal, or at least hint at, Ottawa's interest in discussing the future of our fisheries. The fishing industry is facing a crisis. People feel as though the government is seeing only the short-term picture, when we need a global long-term vision of the marine ecosystem. Mr. Bernatchez says that he wants to know how the fisheries will be restructured and how a minimum of economic activity can be ensured in our coastal communities, especially in eastern Canada.
He says, “for now, we have no resources and are powerless in the face of a government that does not seem to consider a future for this industry.” These are strong words, but the criticism is well-founded in the circumstances.
This budget is also disappointing for groups advocating for unemployed workers, who feel ignored by the federal budget. The coordinator for the Mouvement action chômage Gaspésie—Îles-de-la-Madeleine, Nadia Mongeon, “feels that the new fiscal year will offer nothing new and no improvements for seasonal workers, apart from things having to do with an employment insurance IT system.” Which is to say that the long-awaited employment insurance overhaul, promised years ago by the Liberal government, has still not arrived.
Basically, what the government announced regarding employment insurance amounts to “up to five additional weeks—for a maximum of 45 weeks—to eligible seasonal workers in 13 economic regions.” That is a temporary measure set to expire in October 2024. The government is proposing to extend this measure, which, I would remind members, was meant to be temporary. It seems, then, that this oft-promised EI reform has been postponed indefinitely, and there is simmering discontent in the community. People have been waiting for this for a long time, especially in a region such as ours where seasonal industries abound.
The Mouvement action chômage Gaspésie—Îles-de-la-Madeleine, which for years has fought for this, shared the reaction of the Mouvement autonome et solidaire des sans-emploi, which denounces the Liberal government's disdainful attitude toward the unemployed: “Apart from the extension of the temporary measures,” as I mentioned just now, “there is nothing in the 2024 budget offering respite to the thousands of people who find themselves each year without work and who receive little if any government assistance.”
Nevertheless, groups advocating for the unemployed and unions all answered Ottawa's call by proposing a common set of recommendations with an eye to the 2024 budget. The movement says it is frankly surprised that the government decided not to act on any of their recommendations for its budget. They had presented three priorities: “make the system more accessible, end discrimination against women so that they would not lose their right to employment insurance if they become pregnant, and adapt the scheme to regional realities dictated by the seasonal industry”. Obviously, none of these measures ended up in the budget.
That being said, there are investments for small craft harbours. As indicated in the budget, those investments are for harbours that were severely damaged by hurricane Fiona in 2022. We are talking about approximately $463 million. Will that be enough to repair and maintain all of the small craft harbours in eastern Quebec? I do not think so. The government seems to intend this money to go mainly to ports that were damaged in the hurricane.
The government says, “This investment will support local economic development for generations to come, particularly benefitting Canadians working in the fisheries, aquaculture, tourism, construction, and marine engineering sectors”.
I personally do not feel like this $463‑million investment for small craft harbours is going to help all those people. Obviously, wanting to repair these harbours is good news. However, as one fisherman said, it is all well and good to have new spots to dock the boats, but that does not get them out to sea.
I should note that there is no support for fishers affected by species-specific moratoriums. There is nothing for pelagic fishers affected by mackerel and herring moratoriums. There is nothing for shrimp fishers. Although there is no moratorium on shrimp, quotas have been slashed. There are no support measures for those fishers. The government could have proposed buying back licences. That is what the mayor of Gaspé has been proposing for a few weeks now, and it could prove helpful. There is nothing for processors either. A seafood processing plant has closed in Matane, which is in my riding.
Hundreds of owner-operators are at risk of bankruptcy. We need more investments in fisheries. I would like to continue, but my time is already up.
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- Apr/29/24 12:49:53 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague, since I was unable to address half the topics I wanted to.
I was talking about support for the fishing and tourism industries, and I was going to say that it is startling to see that there are no additional investments for the restoration of the Cap-des-Rosiers lighthouse, the tallest lighthouse in Canada. It is located in the Minister of Fisheries's riding and operated by Fisheries and Oceans Canada, yet only a few pennies have been allocated to patch up the holes and replace the windows. The lighthouse requires major renovations, but there is still no investment for that.
The same thing is happening with Exploramer, a museum in the RCM of Haute-Gaspésie, the most disadvantaged RCM in Quebec. The museum needs more funding to build a shark exhibit that would draw hundreds, if not thousands, of visitors each year. Costs are skyrocketing, and this might be an opportunity for the government to invest more to allow this extremely disadvantaged RCM to have something interesting to offer the tourism industry.
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- Apr/29/24 12:52:06 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the government loves to compare itself with other countries, especially other G7 nations, and say that Canada's economy is on track.
Speaking of tracks, Canada is one of the countries that invests the least in sustainable transportation and public transit. Canada is a vast country. We have a railway that is supposed to serve remote and rural regions like the Gaspé Peninsula. I touched on the subject earlier, but Via Rail stopped passenger service to the Gaspé Peninsula more than 10 years ago. It is high time that that service was put back on the rails, on properly built rails. The Quebec government is currently repairing the railway, but we need a clear signal from the federal government and Via Rail indicating that passenger rail service will once again be offered to Gaspé residents.
The initial investment will make it possible to replace the fleet, but we need to make sure that money is provided to offer service in remote regions like the Gaspé.
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- Apr/29/24 1:05:51 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would simply point out to my colleague from Winnipeg North that we do not need the federal government to take care of children in schools. Rather, it is the federal government that needs Quebec. It copied the Quebec government's child care program. It is trying to copy the Quebec government's family-related policies. It is interfering in jurisdictions in which Quebec is already quite comfortable and has the expertise. Those folks over there who have no expertise in education want to impose conditions on people who do have expertise for them to be able to access funding. It makes absolutely no sense. All Ottawa has to do is transfer the money to Quebec. People have the skills and expertise to ensure that funding goes where it is needed and improves everyone's life. This is already the case in Quebec, where family coverage is among the best in the world.
We will take no lessons from the Liberals. These proposals have been made for purely electoral reasons, and they should admit that.
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- Apr/29/24 1:07:58 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the first thing we can do is try to diversify our economy, certainly.
Today, there are massive investments of public money in something that is doomed to fail, namely carbon capture and storage strategies and efforts to try to make oil cleaner in order to increase production. In the meantime, we are not taking the same direction as the United States with its Inflation Reduction Act. We are not investing in clean technologies and we are not supporting the sectors of the future that are promising and, I must point out, are located mainly in Quebec.
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- Apr/29/24 1:08:45 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I commend my colleague from Jonquière on his excellent speech.
There is a lot of talk about interference. We know that there are new pharmacare and dental insurance programs that already exist in Quebec. There is a considerable overlap and the Liberals refuse to give a right to compensation.
Could the member elaborate on that?
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- Apr/29/24 1:09:13 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, that compensation is essential.
The Government of Quebec is asking for $2.9 billion. This does not appear in the budget. In my introduction, I talked about the fiscal imbalance. Well, that is what is going to happen. The federal government generates and creates expectations. Then, it withdraws from programs. It is the Government of Quebec that is obligated to meet these imperatives. This puts pressure on Quebec. The federal government never pays the political price. It is groundhog day.
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- Apr/29/24 2:00:41 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Jean-Pierre Ferland made his mark on the history of Quebec and international music with his inimitable voice and timeless compositions. His outstanding career spanned more than six decades, and included popular hits like Je reviens chez nous and Un peu plus haut, un peu plus loin.
Jean-Pierre Ferland was a poet of song, captivating his audience with his meaningful lyrics and haunting melodies. The influence of his musical legacy will live on in future generations of artists and fans. His passion for music and his dedication to his art and his language, French, have become a lasting part of Quebec's cultural landscape.
Jean-Pierre Ferland is a true musical legend. His songs will continue to resonate across time, bringing comfort and inspiration to everyone who hears them.
I can assure Jean-Pierre that we will keep the fires burning so that our home remains the warmest, most welcoming and most enduring of places. My wife Isabelle and all Quebeckers join me in thanking him and wishing him a final bon voyage.
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- Apr/29/24 2:03:09 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, a truly great man passed away on Saturday. Jean-Pierre Ferland, known to all as our petit roi, is mourned by his wife, his family and millions of grieving subjects. Quebec swayed to his music for more than 65 years.
He was born in Montreal like a flower blooming in a cracked sidewalk and later settled in Saint-Norbert. He bestowed upon us hundreds of songs, each a masterpiece. From Immortels and Écoute pas ça to Je reviens chez nous and Un peu plus haut, un peu plus loin, his repertoire is marvellous and monumental. He sang of love and women his whole life long. His magnum opus, Jaune, was a massive success and perhaps the greatest album in Quebec history.
Fortunately, he is not really gone, not truly. I will always be with you On your shoulders, in your lapI am because we must exist The artist café's constant cat
I am grateful to Jean-Pierre. We were lucky to have had him.
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- Apr/29/24 2:04:15 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, this year, Vanier College’s architectural technology program and department is celebrating its 50th anniversary.
The program offers hands-on technical knowledge of building and construction techniques, coupled with the study and practice of aesthetics and architectural design. Its state-of-the-art equipment facilities, mandatory internships and field work in the industry and, of course, its skilled, knowledgeable, passionate and caring teachers, including Michael Lancione, who works tirelessly to ensure his students get the most of out of this program, are the factors that I take into account when I say that the program is a huge success.
Vanier College has produced countless architectural technologists who have contributed to the development of Quebec over the past 50 years. I congratulate Vanier College and the architectural technology department. We are proud of Vanier College's hard-working teachers and students, and we look forward to seeing what the next 50 years will look like.
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- Apr/29/24 2:27:56 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, when the Prime Minister was revealing his budget, or rather his plan to interfere in Quebec's jurisdictions, he justified it by saying that people do not care which level of government is responsible for what.
However, a Leger poll found that 82% of Quebeckers believe that the federal government should respect the division of powers. This proves that the Prime Minister is out of touch with reality. Quebeckers are clear. They want the federal government to work with other governments.
Instead of electioneering, why will the Prime Minister not give Quebeckers the money they are owed? That is what Quebeckers want.
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- Apr/29/24 2:29:06 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Quebeckers are not the only ones who are against jurisdictional interference. Every provincial and territorial premier added their signature to that of the premier of Quebec in a letter calling on Ottawa to respect their jurisdictions: health, education, housing. They are all calling for the right to opt out with full financial compensation whenever the federal government steps out of its jurisdiction. Everyone is against federal interference from coast to coast to coast.
The Prime Minister thinks that everyone else is wrong, but perhaps he is just looking to pick a fight.
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- Apr/29/24 2:42:53 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, first I will address the mistake the member made. He said it takes two years to get a work permit. It actually takes three months. Clearly, we can do more, but we need to be factual in the House of Commons.
If I am hearing the member correctly, I understand that he is going to support our budget, which puts billions of dollars on the table for the provinces, for housing in particular.
As for asylum seekers and how we should be welcoming them as a country, I think we can do better, but Quebec and Canada will need to work together.
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- Apr/29/24 2:44:28 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, that means he would have to listen, not just read off a sheet of paper.
This morning, Quebec's immigration minister said that Quebec is still taking in too many asylum seekers and that the federal government needs to spread them out across Canada.
First of all, Quebec has exceeded its integration capacity. Second, the federal immigration department is racking up delays in processing files. Consequently, families are finding themselves destitute because of the federal government's incompetence when it comes to immigration. These are human beings, not numbers.
Will the minister do his job?
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- Apr/29/24 2:52:23 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, this morning the Journal de Montréal reported that 25% of Quebeckers cannot afford to live with dignity, and that even working 50 hours a week is not enough to ensure they do not end up in a precarious situation. This is what we have come to, after nine years of this government. The statistics are clear.
The Bloc Québécois claims to promote the interests of Quebec, but voted with the Liberals on every budget allocation to support this exorbitant, inflationary spending.
Do the government and the Bloc Québécois have the courage to admit that they have failed Quebeckers and must stop their out-of-control spending?
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- Apr/29/24 2:54:15 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, last week, the Conservative leader showed his true colours when he refused to denounce certain views. He is still refusing to do it. I wonder to what extent the Quebec caucus of the Conservative Party supports his words and actions.
The Leader of the Opposition is speaking without conviction or clarity on what should be a very simple issue. His silence speaks volumes. That is not leadership.
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- Apr/29/24 2:55:25 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question. I have a great deal of respect for him.
I am sure he noticed that the Minister of Finance's recent budget focuses on intergenerational equity. This budget gives every generation a chance by investing in the priorities of Quebeckers. It focuses on housing and the cost of living, but also on growth.
I am sure my colleagues from Quebec saw our announcement last week regarding a record investment from IBM in Bromont. This will help Quebec and Canada become a leader in the semiconductors sector.
A confident nation is a nation that invests. That is exactly what we are doing.
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- Apr/29/24 2:58:06 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, obviously, my Quebec Liberal caucus colleagues and I share the member's concern about the importance of the Port of Valleyfield. I intend to raise these important questions with the CBSA. We understand how important the port is for residents and for the region's economy.
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- Apr/29/24 3:39:33 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I rise to table a petition initiated by the folks at Transport Action Canada and signed by over 9,000 Canadians who are calling for a vibrant future for sustainable, affordable, safe and public passenger rail in this country.
The petitioners call on the government to pass my bill, the rail passenger priority act, to invest in the replacement of Via Rail's long-distance fleet, to put riders and workers on the board of Via Rail and, most importantly, to ensure that high-frequency rail on the Windsor-to-Quebec corridor is procured publicly, built publicly and operated publicly in the public interest for the good of all Canadians.
They call for government leadership and for a vibrant future for passenger rail, and I hope that the government will deliver just that.
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- Apr/29/24 4:15:38 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, one of the Bloc Québécois's budget requests was to reimburse Quebec for taking in asylum seekers. We estimate the cost at roughly $900 million.
My colleague's political party boasts that it would interfere less in the jurisdictions of Quebec and the provinces.
Does my colleague think that decent reimbursement of the money that Quebec spent on an area of federal responsibility should have been included in the budget?
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