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Whip of the Bloc Québécois Member of the Board of Internal Economy

Claude DeBellefeuille

  • Member of Parliament
  • Whip of the Bloc Québécois Member of the Board of Internal Economy
  • Bloc Québécois
  • Salaberry—Suroît
  • Quebec
  • Voting Attendance: 67%
  • Expenses Last Quarter: $109,425.78

  • Government Page
Context: House Hansard - 138 - Nov/30/22
Mrs. Claude DeBellefeuille
  • Nov/30/22 3:49:46 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, had my colleague next to me not mentioned it, I would not have risen to concur in his point of order. I, too, was affected and felt insulted and even scorned by my colleague's comments. I believe my colleagues know that I am a social workers and member of my professional association. I also find that it is an insult to the profession to make a clinical judgment without an assessment about colleagues she does not know. Even with 25 years' experience in mental health, one is not necessarily an expert capable of making a clinical judgment about all of one's opposition colleagues. Mr. Speaker, I know that you have no authority over what happens outside the House. I had the opportunity to personally speak to the minister to ask her to withdraw her comments and qualify them. It seems to me that a good social worker would have said that it is possible that some individuals opposite may have mental health issues. You cannot make a blanket statement about one's colleagues as she did. It is written in the rules of our profession and we also learn that at school. Perhaps the minister needs to be reminded more generally to be more careful next time. Implying that members of the opposition have mental health problems is rather contemptuous, and it is simply not something we do in this job. Given that she has experience in the field, it is even more improper for her to do so.
253 words
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