Anne Minh-Thu Quach

[The Environment, May 14th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, speaking of the climate emergency, I want to point out that the majority of young people realize that climate change is a serious issue. As part of the government's youth policy, a number of young people submitted briefs calling on the government to stop subsidizing oil companies. The government, however, continues to hand over millions of dollars to this industry.

The NDP recognizes that climate action is urgently needed. We are calling for ambitious GHG reduction targets and an end to the Trans Mountain project.

Does the government recognize that action is urgently needed? Will it support the NDP's motion and declare an environmental and climate emergency?

[Canada–Madagascar Tax Convention Implementation Act, 2018, May 14th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, I do not think my colleague opposite understood the question asked by my colleague from Jonquière. She was saying that the agreement between Canada and Madagascar is a bilateral double taxation convention. For years, the NDP has been calling on successive Conservative and Liberal governments to review these bilateral conventions and to include statutory rules requiring countries to share tax information to avoid secret banking transactions and tax evasion. That did not happen.

As the member said, we have 93 bilateral conventions, but some of them were signed with tax havens. Our country loses billions of dollars that could be invested in health and education here, in Canada. There are still no statutory tax rules that would allow us to bring that money back.

[Canada–Madagascar Tax Convention Implementation Act, 2018, May 14th, 2019]

Madam Speaker, I listened very carefully to the member opposite who just spoke. He said that it is very important to him and his party to fight tax evasion. However, after signing 90 tax conventions with other countries, Canada still does not have legislation to fight tax evasion.

For several years, the NDP has been calling for legislation that will require the automatic disclosure and exchange of banking information. The Liberals have always refused to pass such laws, and we are losing billions of dollars every year. As we have said many times, this money could be invested in education and health. It could help us protect the environment.

A report released today called “The KidsRights Index 2019” ranks Canada 49th on protecting children's rights, even though Canada is a G7 country. The index is based on the following five criteria: right to life, right to health, right to education, right to protection, and enabling environment for child rights.

Young people across the country are taking to the streets to denounce the fact that Canada is not doing enough to protect the environment. Young people with ENvironnement JEUnesse have even taken legal action against Canada for violating their environmental rights. The government likes to pat itself on the back for investing $1 billion in the Canada Revenue Agency, but that investment has not led to any prosecutions. There is a shortage—

[Indigenous Languages Act, May 9th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for pointing out that Bill C-91 contains a number of flaws.

Inuit communities, in particular, were not heard and their needs were not taken into account in the drafting of this bill. Eleven measures proposed by the Inuit were not included in this bill. Why were they not included when the government claims that this bill is the result of extensive consultation?

We know that the majority of Inuit in Nunavut speak Inuktut. I believe the figure is 84%. They were not consulted and they are not getting any funding under this bill that would have allowed them to support their communities and to ensure that funding is provided by indigenous and Inuit peoples only.

[Criminal Records Act, May 6th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my Beloeil—Chambly colleague for his enlightening speech, which was based on evidence and explanations provided by experts on the subject. I am really concerned about the fact that the record suspension the Liberals are proposing in Bill C-93 means that individuals would still have criminal records.

We know that most of the people with criminal records for simple possession are young people. They start out in life with a criminal record that prevents them from getting a job, finding a home, doing volunteer work or getting involved in the community. They are stigmatized for the rest of their lives because the bill will not expunge their record or help these young people.

The Prime Minister loves talking about his youth council, but he does not give its members a say on public policy issues. Young people really should have their say on a bill that does nothing to destigmatize them.

My colleague from Beloeil—Chambly talked about public health benefits, but I think this approach is just going to make things worse because of anxiety and stress. I think young people are struggling with that. There is no solution. Plus, this debate is happening in May, with just five or six weeks to go in this parliamentary session. That means no bill will be forthcoming as a result. This bill is a disaster. I would like to hear my colleague's thoughts on that.

[Rural Digital Infrastructure, May 3rd, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, it is very important to me to talk about digital issues in rural areas because 29 of the 30 municipalities in my riding are rural and, like other rural areas, they have serious connectivity problems.

On March 13, I met with Réjean Sauvé, who has been with the Coop CSUR for 12 years. The coop has developed expertise on rural and remote connectivity in several countries and criticized the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, the CRTC, for giving big corporations preferential treatment and standing in the way of small co-operatives, which exist not to make money but to serve their communities' connectivity needs.

One of the problems is that programs like connect to innovate have been disastrously mismanaged. The Auditor General himself said so in 2018. For instance, one rule says that if a single household within a hexagon covering roughly 25 square kilometres is connected, no other homes in that hexagon can receive other services. In many rural areas like Saint-Télesphore, Sainte-Justine, Sainte-Marthe, Hemmingford and Saint-Anicet, as soon as there is the slightest bit of wind or rain, the Internet connection drops out. However, there are people living in these communities. There are students, business owners and health care workers who need to stay connected to the Internet. Furthermore, the problems affect not just high-speed Internet, but cell service as well.

This problem is so serious that small co-operatives hoping to offer services to rural residents say they are struggling, because they have to contact people in order to compete with a big company like Bell, as is the case in the Soulanges region. They have to contact people to perform periodic speed tests and build their cases. The resources this requires are out of reach for small co-operatives. They do not have engineers to prepare all these files, and it is hard to apply for federal funding to develop these services in rural areas.

The government can boast about its 2019 budget providing billions of dollars over the next 10 years. However, we want people living in rural areas to have a strong economy or access to quality education right now, not in 10 years.

Why does the government treat people living in rural areas like second class citizens? In a G7 country like Canada, there should not be a double standard for connectivity.

For example, in 2018, Bell received funding under the connect to innovate program to provide service in Saint-Télesphore. However, Bell is only serving 83 households at present compared to 400 households that were formerly serviced by Coop CSUR. The big companies only sprinkle money in rural areas. There is no real positive effect in small local communities. It is also impossible to obtain the timeline for the real results of the projects and funds awarded. It is all very nebulous and there is a lack of transparency.

In addition, the CRTC says access to aerial infrastructure should be shared among small and large companies, but that infrastructure is not available to small co-operatives like Coop CSUR. Small co-operatives run up against all kinds of obstacles when they want to help small rural municipalities, but big corporations are not interested in small municipalities, because there is not enough profit to be made off of too few people.

The bill introduced by the member for Pontiac is interesting, but previous Liberal and Conservative governments should have taken steps a long time ago to implement a national digital strategy that requires companies to serve all households in remote areas. That did not happen because those governments lacked any semblance of vision.

[The Environment, May 3rd, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, first the Liberals missed their GHG reduction targets, and now they are going to miss their conservation targets. Without biodiversity, our planet will die. Students are striking for the environment every Friday.

The Liberals are not even close to conserving 17% of terrestrial areas and 10% of marine areas by 2020. In my part of the country, organizations like Ambioterra are already involved in conservation work, but the Liberals' $100 million will not be used to raise awareness or to monitor conservation of natural areas.

When will organizations get the funding to do the work on the ground and track conservation efforts?

[The Environment, May 3rd, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, first it was GHG reduction targets—

[Business of Supply, May 1st, 2019]

Madam Speaker, it is rather difficult to believe in the Liberals' competence right now. The parliamentary secretary boasted about having 40 years of experience in agriculture. However, the Liberals just signed agreements that gave away 10% of our dairy farmers' market share. What is more, the Liberals have still not begun to compensate these farmers, who are anxiously awaiting that compensation, since it equates to 30 days of pay to date.

The Liberals have also failed to do anything on the diafiltered milk file. The canola issue is a diplomatic crisis, but the government is trying to find a scientific solution. There has not been a Canadian ambassador in China for three months. The Liberals are dragging their feet on every agricultural file.

Why are they waiting so long to compensate those who need it and to find a diplomatic, rather than scientific, solution to this diplomatic crisis?

[Budget Implementation Act, 2019, No. 1, April 30th, 2019]

Madam Speaker, once again, I rise to talk about the environment. This is the number one priority for young people, who have been participating in marches and protests across Canada for weeks now. The Liberals love to talk about how they have a plan and how it is working, but reports were released last week, and according to the Environment Canada report, the Liberals will not reach their targets, which they cribbed from the Harper Conservatives, until 2230. They promised to reach their targets by 2030. That is 200 years too late to limit global warming to 1.5°C. What are we going to do?

On February 10, people in Salaberry—Suroît drafted a motion and came up with lots of ideas. For example, they suggested putting GHG reduction targets in a binding law that would force the government to honour its commitments under the Paris Agreement by 2030, not 2230.

What does my colleague think about the fact that the Liberals are not keeping their promises and are even going to—