So V ote

Context: House Hansard - 316 - May/23/24

May/24/24 11:54:39 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, in committee yesterday, as the members were studying an overhaul of the court challenges program, a Bloc Québécois amendment was rejected, which is appalling. It was a very simple amendment that called for just one thing: That the court challenges program respect the Official Languages Act, that it respect the law recognizing that French is under threat, that it recognize the existence of other laws, such as the Charter of the French Language in order to protect our language, and that it recognize the need to advance the existence of a majority-French society in Quebec. Why is it so hard for the Liberals to respect the Official Languages Act?

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Context: House Hansard - 316 - May/23/24

May/23/24 10:09:09 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, will the minister reconsider the decision not to require French-English bilingualism for the commissioners of the future miscarriage of justice review commission, or will French once again be optional in Canada?

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Context: House Hansard - 282 - Feb/14/24

May/23/24 10:06:18 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to hear that and I am taking note of it because we are talking about more than 6,000 rulings, many of which are important references for numerous lawyers in Quebec and Canada. This mainly affects French-speaking lawyers, obviously, because the translation that was not done was into French. The documents are available only in English. If I understand correctly, the minister is committing to providing resources so that this recommendation from 2021 can finally be implemented by the Supreme Court. Am I hearing a commitment from him on that this evening?

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Context: House Hansard - 268 - Dec/14/23

Feb/14/24 5:00:58 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-35

Madam Speaker, I congratulate the minister on her speech and on her fine efforts to speak French. We always appreciate that. The Bloc Québécois will vote in favour of this bill despite the fact that we feel that the federal government is once again trying to interfere to some extent with Quebec's and the provinces' jurisdiction. For example, family policy is not a federal responsibility; it is a provincial responsibility. It would have been so much easier to give the tools, by which I mean the money, to Quebec and the provinces so that Quebec could improve its very effective system and the other provinces could develop a system similar to the one in place in Quebec. The predecessor to this bill was Bill C‑303. The previous bill included a provision, clause 4, that allowed Quebec to opt out of this agreement with full compensation. That is always a good way to ensure Quebec immediately accepts and supports federal government bills that encroach on the jurisdiction of the provinces and Quebec. Can the minister guarantee that, despite the absence of that provision in Bill C‑35, the government still intends to respect Quebec's jurisdiction and Quebec's right to opt out with full financial compensation?

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Context: House Hansard - 262 - Dec/5/23

Dec/14/23 3:16:30 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, there have been discussions among the parties and if you seek it, I believe you will find unanimous consent to adopt the following motion: That the House: (a) affirm that Radio-Canada plays a crucial role in Francophone information and cultural vitality in Quebec and in Canada's Francophone and Acadian communities; (b) recognize that the announced cuts could be detrimental to the promotion of French-language culture, at a time when the federal government recognizes that the French language is under threat in Canada; (c) express its strong reservations of planned cuts at Radio-Canada and that it reiterates that the preservation of the public broadcaster's services in the various regions of Quebec and in Canada's Francophone and Acadian communities must be a priority.

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Dec/5/23 2:59:24 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Radio‑Canada outperforms CBC. From news and current affairs to television series and soaps, Radio‑Canada is doing better than CBC. That is certainly not because there are more francophones in the country. We know that for a fact. However, Radio‑Canada, which has fewer employees and higher viewership, is being cut just as much as CBC. If anyone wanted to sabotage the French network, that would be the way to do it. There is no way the Minister of Canadian Heritage did not know about what was coming. Did she alert her colleague, the Minister of Finance, before the economic update?

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May/11/23 1:20:18 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the Government of Quebec is already doing a lot of good things to manage immigration and to welcome francophone immigrants. It is true that as far as my colleague from Hochelaga is concerned, other than a slight Hochelaga accent, we can say this is a perfect integration in French. She is a colleague that I hold in high regard. Quebec often has its hands tied because of Ottawa, which manages immigration for the most part. The fact that Ottawa is looking to set immigration levels at 500,000 people a year is a big problem. The crux of the problem is the fact that this will create a huge imbalance in the demographic weight and in the political weight of Quebec. I think that we could debate this at length, my colleague and I, but, essentially, we agree on the fact that there are a lot of fine examples of immigrants who were welcomed and integrated successfully.

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May/11/23 1:16:27 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question. First, I take issue with one of the premises of his question. We are not painting immigration in a negative light. On the contrary, we are in favour of immigration. We are in favour of immigration policies that will ensure that French is able to thrive and that get people interested in speaking French, as he said about people in his province of Manitoba. I think it is great news that francophone immigration is on the rise, that francophones are being welcomed, that French is being seen in a positive light and that people in Manitoba and other provinces are interested in learning to speak it. However, the situation in Quebec is different than in the rest of Canada because French is the common and official language in Quebec. It is in danger in the English-speaking ocean of North America and Canada. The reality is not the same in Quebec. We need to protect French because it is at risk. We are not trying to help a minority grow. It is a majority language in an ocean where it is a minority and at risk. That is the difference. That being said, we are all in favour of immigration.

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May/11/23 1:03:48 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, several studies over the past few months and years have shown that francophones outside Quebec rely heavily on the strength of French in Quebec and on the support for French in Quebec to protect them in their official language minority community. Why does my colleague think it is a good idea to improve and strengthen French outside Quebec but let it get weaker within Quebec? Does he not think that francophone communities outside Quebec are ultimately at risk of suffering the consequences and getting weaker themselves?

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Context: House Hansard - 150 - Jan/31/23

May/11/23 12:37:09 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I would like to congratulate my colleague and neighbour from Saint‑Hyacinthe—Bagot on his excellent speech, and at the same time wish him a happy birthday. There was a lot of passion in his speech, and a lot of facts too. There is one thing that concerns me greatly about the erosion of the political weight of Quebec within Canada. Laws are being passed in Canada to protect certain aspects of culture, including French, culture itself and the people who shape our cultural sector, which is always under threat, always at risk. In fact, it is often in danger, and we often have to come to its rescue. With the Century Initiative, Quebec risks losing its political weight. What does my colleague think Quebec will have to do to protect itself from this increased risk of Quebec culture withering away?

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Context: House Hansard - 92 - Jun/20/22

Jan/31/23 11:15:55 a.m.
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Re: Bill C-35

Mr. Speaker, I commend my colleague opposite on her speech and particularly for saying a few words in French near the end. That is always appreciated. It was very kind. I thank her for that. We have heard this before. Quebec already has a child care system that has been in place for a long time. It was implemented by Pauline Marois, who was the Quebec education minister in 1997. This is not the kind of thing that can be set up overnight. It is something that is built up and improved over time through trial and error. We are improving our system from year to year. If there is one thing that Quebec does not want to see with something like this that is working relatively well, it is federal interference. There are several recent examples of that with passports and employment insurance. Those are well-documented fiascos. We also do not want to see the federal government put its big paws all over Quebec's child care system. The federal government and Quebec reached a financial agreement that would enable Quebec to opt out of the system with full compensation. That was good to see. It would enable Quebec to use that money for other things. However, that was in the previous version of the bill; it has not been included in Bill C-35. Does my colleague agree that the bill should be amended to specify that Quebec can opt out with full compensation? What are her thoughts on that?

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Context: House Hansard - 87 - Jun/13/22

Jun/20/22 5:37:20 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-11

Madam Speaker, I congratulate my colleague from Nanaimo—Ladysmith on the quality of her French. That was perfect. I could take 20 minutes to answer that question. Of course the government should have imposed tax rules on online businesses much earlier. Even now, I do not think adequate measures have been brought in, far from it. When it comes to contributing to the broadcasting system, to the cultural industry and to content, some companies are making an effort and trying to do something, but it is still not nearly enough. I do not want to point fingers at every single company, because there are some that are trying to produce things here. However, several aspects still need to be fixed or brought in. Rules and a legal framework are needed. Once the framework is in place, it will be much easier for these businesses to generate original Quebec and Canadian content that meets both our expectations and the financial needs of the community.

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All Topics

Context: House Hansard - 87 - Jun/13/22

Jun/13/22 7:08:20 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-11

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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Context: House Hansard - 77 - May/30/22

Jun/13/22 7:06:34 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-11

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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Context: House Hansard - 69 - May/11/22

May/30/22 2:44:07 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, a true Quebecker would stand up, defend French and defend Quebec culture. I want to talk about the Liberals' actions when it comes to French. The posting for the appointment of a new CRTC chairperson states: “Proficiency in both official languages would be preferred”. It is not mandatory, simply preferred. The Liberals decided to make French optional for the person responsible for the regulation and future of Quebec television and the entirety of our telecommunications system. They feel it is okay to put someone who does not speak French in charge of an entire segment of our culture. Do the Liberals realize that their actions speak for themselves, and that those actions speak English?

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Context: House Hansard - 62 - May/2/22

May/11/22 9:28:52 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-11

Mr. Speaker, I congratulate my colleague from Argenteuil—La Petite-Nation on his speech. It was a great pleasure to listen to him talk about improvements that have been made to Bill C‑10, including on the discoverability of content and on developing francophone content. I heard him talk more about francophone, Quebec and Canadian content also. Of course, it was the Bloc Québécois that really pushed for these improvements. He also talked about another very interesting fact: the specific requirement to create original French‑language content, in other words content produced in French, not translated content. I was listening to my colleague's speech and I wanted to know whether he realizes that he could almost be a Bloc member. He would just have to change his repertoire on Wednesday afternoons and I think we could get him to cross the floor.

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Context: House Hansard - 45 - Mar/24/22

May/2/22 2:16:36 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, last Thursday, our great lady of Quebec song, Ginette Reno, was named a Knight of the Legion of Honour, the highest national honour of the Republic of France. This singer, with a distinctive voice that is both tender and powerful, can sing that she is qu'une chanson, only a song, but everyone in Quebec knows that she is much more than that. She knew how to take her craft Un peu plus haut, un peu plus loin, a little higher, a little further, by showing that L'essentiel, the main thing, is Quand on se donne, when you give yourself, completely. To give you an idea of the depth of her talent, when Ginette sings O Canada before a Canadien's game, she even gives separatists goosebumps. A warm and authentic person known for both her engaging personality and her talent, she is an incomparable ambassador for Quebec and a living treasure of French culture. We salute this touching initiative by our French cousins who also offered her Des croissants de soleil pour déjeuner, croissants made of sunshine for breakfast. Thank you to France, and congratulations to Ginette.

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Context: House Hansard - 37 - Feb/28/22

Mar/24/22 7:05:16 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-246

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Calgary Shepard. I wish he had asked me that question before I started my speech, because I could have spent 15 minutes answering it and I would have done so with passion. Quebec itself has a duty to protect the French fact in North America. Quebec is a francophone island in an anglophone sea. There are francophones in the United States too. I think Quebec has a responsibility to stay strong in order to protect such francophone communities outside Quebec. I would suggest that a quick look at the work we are doing in committee, specifically on the broadcasting bill, will make it clear that the Bloc Québécois does take the reality of francophone communities outside Quebec to heart. This is a subject I find extremely interesting. I could go on talking about it for some time, as I said, but I will give other people a chance.

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