- Member of Parliament
- Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry
- Liberal
- Saint-Maurice—Champlain
- Quebec
- Voting Attendance: 62%
- Expenses Last Quarter: $108,626.98
- Government Page
- Oct/18/23 3:35:29 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Canadians watching at home should remember what the facts are in the House. The moment that we heard about allegations of misconduct, we immediately commissioned a third-party independent expert to investigate these allegations, who reported back to me. We have suspended, in good governance, the funds that would be disbursed to protect the interests of Canadians.
I can assure the member that we will take all measures required to make sure that proper governance is applied in all agencies of the Government of Canada.
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- Feb/7/23 3:07:12 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I respect the member a lot. He is my critic. However, this is not the time for recrimination. This is the time for solutions. That is exactly what we are doing on this side of the House.
Yesterday, I spoke with the CEO of Mitsubishi Chemical in Japan. We all understand, in the House, what we should care about is preserving jobs, preserving the plant in Quebec City and making sure we keep the technology. That is exactly what we are doing. We are going to fight for the workers, because we know this is a technology that could save lives in the future.
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- Feb/3/23 11:36:43 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I would like to remind my hon. colleague, for whom I have enormous respect, as he knows, that we were in “prevention mode” at the time. It is important to remember that, at the time, there was not enough scientific data to know what kind of vaccine was needed to fight COVID-19.
Canada was one of the few countries in the world to invest in the various families of vaccines to ensure the health and safety of Canadians. As I said this morning, this is not the time for recrimination; it is the time for problem solving. That is exactly what we are doing.
Last night I talked to CEOs from across the country until almost midnight to try to find a solution and save the jobs, technology and intellectual property.
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- Feb/3/23 11:35:21 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for his question.
We are currently working to save the jobs, the technology and the intellectual property. That is the priority today. We are in problem-solving mode.
Yesterday, I was in contact with the mayor of Quebec City and our colleagues in Quebec City. I was even in contact with the president of Mitsubishi in Japan. One thing is certain: We are in problem-solving mode to preserve the jobs, because the priority today is the people in Quebec City for whom this issue is top of mind. We want to work with them, and we will be in problem-solving mode for the next few weeks.
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- Dec/7/22 3:07:33 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, there is one thing I would like to say. There is nothing more important than protecting the health and safety of Canadians, and that is what we did as a government. When we started in government, the fill-finish capacity at the beginning of COVID was around 30 million doses. Thanks to the investments we have attracted in this country, now we can produce and fill and finish more than 600 million doses, in case anything happens.
We did not choose the pandemic; we will not choose it if there is another one, but we choose to be better prepared on behalf of Canadians.
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- Apr/25/22 3:07:39 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to take the opportunity to recast history a bit. It seems the member has lost the passage of time. When the World Health Organization declared a pandemic in March 2020, we made sure, as a government, that we would invest in all the families of vaccines to protect the health and safety of Canadians. Plant protein vaccines work and have been recommended by our experts. The investment we made was to protect the health and safety of Canadians. We will find a solution, and we will continue to work for Canadians across this nation.
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- Feb/21/22 1:25:26 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the member said it well. Thirty per cent of all trade between Canada and the United States is using the crossing at the Ambassador Bridge. As the member said, it is one thing to have the bridge open, but, as I have reassured colleagues on both sides of the border, we need to make sure that we keep the crossing open. It is one thing for it to be blocked once, but it would be devastating for the Canadian economy if there were new blockades on that very critical infrastructure. The Emergencies Act will not only give power, as the member said, to local enforcement authorities, but they could rely on other forces around the country to make sure order is restored.
We should all be concerned with keeping our critical trade corridors open in order to preserve jobs, to make sure our economy functions and to be seen as and remain a very reliable trading partner.
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- Feb/21/22 1:23:50 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question.
However, I believe that in a debate such as this, we must choose our words very carefully and appeal to the public for calm.
I would ask my colleague to read a letter written by different police chiefs from across the country stating the need to obtain additional powers to manage this unique situation in Canada's history.
I believe that we all want to restore peace and order across the country. These measures will help us stabilize the situation.
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- Feb/21/22 1:22:19 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I think my colleague would agree, after everything we have seen in terms of violence and intimidation, that the way to act in light of this is to be prudent and to make sure that as the situation is fluid, we give law enforcement authorities all the powers they need to make sure not only that they clear the crossings that have been blocked in Canada, but that they have all the powers needed to keep these trade corridors open.
There are businesses in the member's riding and I am sure he understands that we need to make sure our supply chains remain open at this critical point in our recovery.
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- Feb/21/22 1:12:15 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I am pleased to have this opportunity to participate in this historic debate. I will share my time with the member for Beaches—East York.
Three weeks, a convoy of protesters arrived in Ottawa to begin an illegal occupation of our national capital. At times, the Conservative Party rallied to the cause, which was amplified by a number of extremists on social media and appeared to be funded in part by foreign donations.
Those illegal blockades then spread to the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor, to the Coutts border crossing in Alberta and to other points across our nation. From that, we have seen supply chains disrupted, businesses shut down, workers forced to stay home and Canadians harassed in their own neighbourhoods. These blockades and occupations are illegal. They represent a threat to our economy, to our communities, to relationships with our key trading partners and to our international reputation.
Images of these illegal blockades are being broadcast around the world, images that are not representative of Canada, but are now affecting our global reputation. The blockades have massively impacted our supply chains and the availability of essential goods, and are putting at risk Canada's long-term economic prosperity. They have threatened our public safety and they are an affront to something all members in the House should dearly appreciate: the rule of law. This cannot and will not be allowed to stand in our country.
As the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, my focus is on ensuring that our post-COVID‑19 economic recovery is dynamic, robust and sustainable. I know we are positioned to prosper thanks to our resources, our talent and our extraordinary ingenuity, not to mention our stability, our trade relations and our respect for the rule of law.
That is why it is so concerning that at the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor, billions of dollars in goods did not cross the border when the illegal blockades took place. The blockades in Coutts, Alberta and Emerson, Manitoba meanwhile have affected approximately $48 million and $73 million in trade each day, respectively.
The situation here in Ottawa is of concern. We have all seen it. Downtown businesses have been forced to close, putting people out of work. The Rideau Centre mall, which we all know, as well as the businesses operating in it, just down the street from Parliament, is currently losing $3 million in business per day because it was forced to close due to harassment of staff and illegal actions from occupiers. These costs are real. They threaten businesses big and small, and they threaten the livelihoods of Canadian workers.
Canada is one of the world's principal economies. It relies on solid and secure supply chains to support our economy. However, because those supply chains are global, they are more vulnerable to risks and shocks. With the effects of the pandemic, as we have all seen, supply chains around the world have already suffered unprecedented pressure.
The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in disruptions in production and in shipping. We have seen that companies across the world are experiencing demand uncertainty, supply and logistical delays, and significant operation stoppages. The blockades and protests have added to the already heavy burden that Canadian businesses across our nation and citizens have been asked to manage during this pandemic. We cannot allow illegal blockades to hijack Canada's economic recovery and endanger the livelihoods of Canadian workers. That should be appreciated by all members in the House.
I would like to remind members of the House of some of the devastating effects of these blockades as we debate the confirmation of the declaration of the state of emergency under the Emergencies Act.
I can tell colleagues that auto sector manufacturers like GM, Stellantis, Honda and Ford had to either reduce or completely suspend manufacturing last week as a result of the Sarnia and Windsor trade corridor blockades. That should be of concern to all members of this House.
I can also point to Douglas Porter, chief economist at BMO. He stated, “For every week the protests continue, it could start to cut first quarter growth by up to a couple tenths of a per cent”. That should be of concern to all members of this House. As we continue to reopen our economy and come out on the other side of the omicron wave, any reversal of our economic fortunes is an unnecessary blow to business owners and Canadians, who have already been through so much during this pandemic.
I know that every member of this House is concerned about the recovery, but we should all do what is right and make sure that there are no more illegal blockades in this country. The impact of these illegal blockades goes well beyond our borders, sadly. Canada has no closer friend and ally than the United States of America. It is a partnership forged based on geography, common interests, deep people-to-people connections, and strong and secure economic ties. It is a relationship we defended and protected when we renegotiated CUSMA, despite pleas from the Conservative Party for us to fold and capitulate, and it is one that we are defending here today, together.
During recent conversations with my international counterparts and private-sector stakeholders, it was obvious that both we and the United States recognized the importance of our integrated supply chains and the need to work together to ensure the free movement of goods between our two markets.
It is for these reasons, and others, that our government took the unprecedented but necessary step of invoking the Emergencies Act to restore public order and to protect our economic well-being. This is not a decision we take lightly, nor is it one that we ever wanted to make, but it is a step that is needed in order to give law enforcement authorities the tools they need to face this very unique situation in our country.
These measures are reasonable and proportionate. Canadians at large agree, because they are looking to us to ensure predictability and the rule of law, protect supply chains and restore our economic vitality. Goldy Hyder of the Business Council of Canada, for example, said, “we welcome this as a step toward ending illegal blockades across the country and upholding the rule of law.”
Perrin Beatty, of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, to cite one more example, said, “The government’s decision to invoke the Emergencies Act indicates how serious the threat to public safety and our economy from the ongoing blockades at various points in Canada has become.”
In conclusion, I would remind colleagues on the Conservative bench that it was in fact Perrin Beatty who first introduced the Emergencies Act in 1988 as the former minister of national defence for the then Conservative prime minister Brian Mulroney. Perhaps the party that once portrayed itself as the defender of law and order, and as a champion of the free market, should re-examine how it is standing today.
We know who we are standing with on this side of the House. We are standing with workers at the Stellantis Windsor Assembly Plant, who had their shifts cut due to supply chain blockages. We are standing with small business owners in Ottawa, like those of Moo Shu Ice Cream and the local coffee shop Little Victories, which had to close their doors due to safety concerns. We are standing with Canadian truckers, who did their jobs and kept our shelves and our warehouses stocked during this pandemic. We are standing with Canadians who want these illegal blockades to end, and with the support of the House in today's motion, they will.
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- Nov/29/21 2:31:09 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would first like to thank my hon. colleague for her important question. As members of the House know, from the beginning, we have been strong advocates for equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines around the world, specifically through the COVAX system. That is why we will continue to work with our international partners to overcome potential barriers. We are also leading an initiative within the Ottawa Group to make these vaccines available to people around the world. We will continue to play a leadership role in ensuring that vaccines can reach every citizen on the planet.
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- Nov/26/21 11:51:49 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to congratulate my colleague on his re-election.
He will recall that our government invested $1 billion to rebuild Canada's biomanufacturing sector just 30 days after the World Health Organization declared a pandemic. What was the result? Medicago moved into Quebec City, where the member lives, Novavax will be produced in Montreal, and Moderna plans to set up a facility in Canada. We will continue to protect the health and safety of Canadians.
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