Roger Clavet

[Air Canada Public Participation Act, November 3rd, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Alfred-Pellan for his intervention on this bill, which may be worthwhile, as has just been mentioned, on the condition that Air Canada meets its obligations, in particular its language obligations.

We parliamentarians often have to travel, in Quebec and Canada—pretty well all over. We often see that Air Canada has a very hard time meeting its language obligations. My colleagues and other members of this House will agree that it is hard to get proper treatment in one's own language.

French is sometimes recorded. The crew tell us they do not speak French properly or try to convince us they do. Has my colleague had this experience with flight attendants?

It is essential to at least be able to speak properly in one of the two official languages. In Quebec, the language is French. In our opinion, we have to be able to take a plane and be served in the language of our choice. That applies to Quebec and to Canada in the case of minority language communities. It would be common decency on the part of the government to pressure Air Canada to meet its obligations under the Official Languages Act. Canada has in fact signed an agreement in this regard and has linguistic obligations.

I know how interested my colleague is in transportation issues. He has obviously spoken about them to the Minister of Transport, who should also oversee the interests of Quebeckers and Canadians in the area of transport.

Would it not be possible in what has been proposed to call for greater respect of Canada's language obligations, as this is true for all airports? Airlines such as Air Canada appear to take a certain wicked pleasure in saying that there are, finally, two official languages in Canada, but one of them always seems a little more official.

I would like to hear what my colleague from Alfred-Pellan has to say.

[Petitions, October 25th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, like other of my colleagues in the Bloc Québécois, I am extremely pleased today to present a petition in favour of maintaining postal operations in Quebec City.

You can see the size of the petition. It has been signed by 130,000 people who oppose the closure of the postal sorting facility in Quebec City. They call for mail processing operations to be maintained in our regions, and for the related jobs to be maintained as well.

It is with great honour and pleasure that I am today presenting a portion of the petition, signed by several thousand people.

[Global Television Network, October 21st, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, recently Bloc Québécois MPs from the Quebec City area were contacted by employees at Global in Quebec City, who are afraid that 20 permanent jobs at the Quebec City station will be lost.

When it submitted its licence, Global agreed to make Quebec City its main base and create 75 jobs. Since then, their promises have been vanishing into thin air. Quebec City and several socio-economic stakeholders had supported Global's acquisition of the Quebec City station because this company had guaranteed there would be 20 hours of local production and local jobs.

Today, the Quebec City area stands firmly behind the staff at the station who, with the backing of their union, are asking Global to review its decision and the CRTC to require the broadcaster to respect its commitments.

The Bloc Québécois supports the claims of Global employees and it too is asking this broadcaster to review its decision and to keep the jobs in Quebec City.

[Food and Drugs Act, October 7th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, I listened carefully to the speech by my NDP colleague from Winnipeg Centre. He is an experienced member and not one to talk through his hat. He has a great deal of experience in terms of his research.

When he spoke on Bill C-28 to amend the Food and Drugs Act, he raised various concerns that I too understand. They relate to the use of a particular pesticide. In English, he was talking about 2,4-D. If I understood correctly, this pesticide was an ingredient in the famous agent orange used at Gagetown. So we can understand his concern.

However, my concerns are also understandable. I want to know how, when it comes to herbicide use, we can reconcile the need for health and safety with the way people sometimes artificially beautify their lawns, which I find quite frivolous.

Was this the meaning of his remarks, when he said that we may be starting down a slippery slope by allowing the use of this type of product and that the legislation fails to provide adequate protection in order to prevent such risks? I would like him to expand on this.

[Taxation, October 7th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, the minister's answer leaves me speechless, somewhat like Quebec right now. I did not ask for the minister's resume. I just want him to comment. Even minister Benoît Pelletier said, “The federal government's position does not even meet the needs of contemporary Quebec”.

How can the Minister of Foreign Affairs reconcile his position with that of his own Prime Minister, who said in May 2004 that the door must be wide open to Quebec, no ifs, ands or buts?

[Taxation, October 7th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, as the meeting between Quebec and Ottawa on the respect of Quebec's jurisdictions in international relations is about to begin, the positions of the two governments seem irreconcilable. For Jean Charest, “what is a Quebec jurisdiction at home is a Quebec jurisdiction everywhere”, whereas for the Minister of Foreign Affairs, to consult Quebec is specious.

Can the minister tell us what he intends to propose, so that Quebec can finally have full control over its jurisdictions, including abroad?

[Maison des Grands-Parents de Sainte-Foy, October 5th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, on September 11, the Maison des Grands-Parents de Sainte-Foy hosted a big gathering of past and present volunteers to celebrate the fifth anniversary of its official opening.

The Maison des Grands-Parents is an organization of seniors who, when the time came to take a well-deserved retirement, decided to get involved with elementary school children, and especially those in difficulty. They are dedicated to providing these children with presence, support and unconditional love in helping them do their homework, which has meant some retraining for many of the seniors.

I pay tribute to these 75 or so women and men of great generosity who have understood that their loving presence can make a world of difference in a child's life.

The Bloc Québécois recognizes the exceptional contribution of the volunteers at the Maison des Grands-Parents de Sainte-Foy to the life of their community, and we wish them health and energy to continue fulfilling their mission for many more years.

[Immigration, June 27th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, if we are talking about humanitarian reasons, there are much more serious and clear cases that should find favour in the minister's eyes. I am talking about the Mexican family of five children the government plans to deport shortly.

Does the minister realize that he should direct his largesse elsewhere, instead of giving this Syrian citizen the right to have her child in Canada? Instead of chasing separatists all over the place, is the minister capable of doing his job and bringing forth an intelligent solution?

[Immigration, June 27th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, while hundreds of people are waiting for their immigrant status to be resolved, we learn that the daughter of a Syrian general, who, until recently, was responsible for the domestic intelligence service, will be coming to Canada shortly to give birth.

How does the government explain that this individual, as well as other members of her family, has a visa to give birth in Canada and is getting Canadian citizenship immediately?

[Democratic Republic of the Congo, June 17th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, according to a documentary on Australian television, a Canadian company in Congo-Kinshasa, Anvil Mining, played an active role in the massacre of over a hundred civilians by the Congolese army.

Does the government intend to follow up on the call by a group of NGOs to investigate Anvil's role and responsibility in this tragedy, as required by resolution 1596 adopted by the UN Security Council?