- Member of Parliament
- Member of Parliament
- NDP
- Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie
- Quebec
- Voting Attendance: 64%
- Expenses Last Quarter: $114,314.06
- Government Page
- Feb/15/24 10:19:34 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, my third petition is from citizens who are concerned about human rights abuses and environmental damage caused by companies based here in Canada. They are calling on the Canadian government to require companies to prevent any negative impact on human and environmental rights throughout their global operations and supply chains. They are asking that these companies be required to exercise due diligence and that there be legal recourse to bring these companies to justice in the event of any human rights violations or environmental destruction.
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- Feb/17/23 11:15:26 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, for years now, a secret world has existed right alongside ours, without our noticing.
Without these thousands of men and women, there would be no agricultural production, no abattoirs, no food processing. There would be fewer security guards, fewer cooks, fewer maintenance workers and fewer people to care for our seniors.
These individuals are indispensable, but invisible. With no legal status and living in precarious situations, they are sometimes even exploited. They do hard but essential work, and yet are regarded as disposable. Without the rights and protections that we take for granted, they live on the margins, far from their families, often prisoners of closed work permits that make them vulnerable.
I am talking about temporary migrant workers. Quebec has welcomed three times more of these workers since 2015, totalling tens of thousands of people every year. The NDP is proposing that they be granted permanent residency. This would give them proper recognition and provide some hope.
In October, the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship said he was working on a comprehensive program to regularize non-status people. This initiative is critical. If we do not want to live in a society that has a second class of workers, it is the right thing to do.
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Madam Speaker, since we are talking about the rights of citizens, I would like to ask a question that is timely and urgent.
Does my colleague agree that a government should use the notwithstanding clause to take away workers' right to strike?
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- Jun/14/22 2:16:22 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, in the 11 years that I have been a member of this House, I have never seen this before.
The government services currently being provided to the public are awful, a total disaster. People are lining up at 3:00 a.m. in the hopes of getting their passports. One woman in my riding has been waiting for her EI cheque since February. This is June. Has anyone here ever tried to speak with someone at Service Canada? You have a better chance of winning the lottery.
I know of one case involving a foreign-born nurse who is going to lose his work permit if the deadline for his permanent resident status is not met. Let me be clear. We risk losing a nurse from our health care system because Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada is not doing its job.
There are hundreds of cases like this. Our business owners are tearing their hair out, and people are living in uncertainty and anxiety. One of the essential duties of any government is to provide good services in a timely manner.
I am asking the Liberal government to get its act together and, out of respect for Canadians, allocate the resources needed to make things work.
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- Jun/14/22 10:13:52 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the first petition that I want to table comes from a group of citizens who are concerned about our social safety net. We saw how those most in need were made extremely vulnerable by the pandemic.
These citizens are calling for a universal basic income funded with a wealth tax on Canada's wealthiest corporations and billionaires.
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- Mar/1/22 11:50:41 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question.
I believe I was quite clear in my speech. The equality of citizens is clearly a basic principle of democracy, but the demographic formula is not the only one we use. There are several others. We have shown that. This has consequences for the Prairies, the Maritimes, and Quebec as well. We can consider this discussion because we live under a system that has multiple criteria and exceptions.
As for immigration, I would say that Quebec and Canada are countries of immigrants. We are all to varying degrees sons and daughters of immigrants, except for the indigenous peoples and the Inuit.
I would like to see Quebec welcome more immigrants. I think that is also a good way to solve the problem of the labour shortage. However, at this time, the Government of Quebec makes decisions about economic immigration, as it should. It is up to Quebec to decide.
Personally, I believe that a good part of the solution to Quebec's political weight is demographics and immigration. It would also help solve the labour shortage.
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