Élaine Michaud

[Antique Snowmobile Festival, February 3rd, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to take a moment to tell people about the 20th edition of the Neige en fête festival, which will take place from February 12 to 15 in Saint-Raymond, which is in my riding, Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier.

The Neige en fête festival is Quebec's largest annual gathering of snowcats and snowmobiles. Every year, hundreds of fans from across the country and even the United States gather in Saint-Raymond to give people a chance to see these distinctly Canadian antique vehicles.

For years, snowcats and snowmobiles were the primary means of transportation during our harsh winters, and they remain an important part of our heritage.

Nowadays, snowmobiles still hold a special place in the hearts of Quebeckers. They are also an economic driver for quite a few regions, including Portneuf.

I would like to thank and congratulate Denys Tremblay, chair of the organizing committee, his team and the volunteers who make this festival such a success year after year.

I invite everyone, including all of my colleagues, to come to the Neige en fête festival in Saint-Raymond to admire these beauties from another era that bear witness to our past and the genius of our home-grown innovators.

[Citizen Voting Act, February 3rd, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, I have a technical question to ask my colleague from Lotbinière—Chutes-de-la-Chaudière. I really did not hear my colleague mention this in his speech.

There is a new section in Bill C-50: section 143, subsection 2.11, which specifies the documents that Elections Canada may consider to be a piece of identification. It says that these are documents issued by local governments, the federal government, provincial governments or an entity that is incorporated or formed in Canada. However, it does not specify whether that includes aboriginal governments. This provision still leaves a grey area and it could restrict the right to vote of Canadian citizens who live here. They will have to present two pieces of identification, but they will not necessarily have access to anything other than a document issued by an aboriginal government.

I would like my colleague to state whether his government considers this to be included in the bill or not. If it does, will they clarify this provision in committee?

[National Defence, February 2nd, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, according to an email exchange obtained by the Ottawa Citizen, one of the Prime Minister's military advisors described the October 22 attacks in Ottawa as “a strategic opportunity” to affirm the purpose of the Canadian military mission in Iraq.

Does it seem normal to the government that on the day of the attacks in Ottawa, people in the Langevin Block were thinking about scoring political points and justifying the war in Iraq rather than focusing exclusively on the safety of Canadians?

[National Defence, January 30th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister solemnly told Canadians that our soldiers' mandate was to advise and assist, not accompany, Iraqi troops.

We now know that that is false. Yesterday, the government gave us a lesson in semantics to explain to Canadians that, in fact, they are the ones who have misunderstood. The government is saying that the mission has simply evolved.

Now that the government acknowledges that the mission has changed, will the Prime Minister at least ask for the opinion of the House on what comes next?

[National Defence, January 29th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, our soldiers have been in Iraq for months now, and we still do not know the exact nature of the mission. The Chief of the Defence Staff said today in committee that, for now, there are very few Canadian Forces members on the ground.

Does that mean that the government plans to send more combat troops to Iraq?

[Privacy, January 28th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, we all support having the Communications Security Establishment closely monitor downloads connected to terrorist activities. However, 10 million to 15 million downloads a day being monitored sounds like an awful lot to me.

Is the government ensuring that Canadians' personal activities are not being monitored—or should I say spied on? How is the government ensuring that Canadians are safe but that their privacy is respected?

[National Defence, January 28th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, I am not sure that the minister understood my colleague's question, which was actually quite simple. Have the Kurds asked for armoured vehicles, yes or no?

Why are we hearing about this from Kurdish news sources instead of from the Prime Minister here, in the House?

[National Defence, January 27th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, contrary to what the Conservatives promised, Canadian soldiers are presently on the front lines in Iraq in a combat role.

Furthermore, according to the defence department, only Canada has put itself in this situation.

The real question here is not whether our soldiers should return fire, but why the Conservatives have put our soldiers in this position without informing Canadians of the true nature of the mission in Iraq.

[Business of Supply, January 27th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for his question. He has just given another example of the Conservatives' disastrous decisions.

Frankly, I am running out of words to describe to what extent the government's decisions have had a negative impact on families in my riding of Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier. I know my colleague from Beauport—Limoilou is seeing the same thing in his riding.

The October 2015 election cannot come soon enough. Let us hope for a new government, an NDP government that really cares about the middle class and Canadian families.

[Business of Supply, January 27th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for his question and compliment him on his mastery of Molière's language. I really appreciate the effort, and I am very impressed.

Let us get back to the crux of the matter, the problem that we are currently facing. The budget has been postponed. They say they will table it in April, but what do we know about it? We know nothing because the government is refusing to give us any information. When the Minister of Finance talks to journalists, he says it is exasperating to have to keep answering the same questions. If he actually bothered to give a clear answer, then maybe we would stop asking him those questions, but that seems to be a pretty complicated concept. That is where we are. Nobody has any idea what kind of budget we are in for.

The other especially negative consequence is that very tough choices will have to be made. What cuts will the government make to balance the books? If the government really believes that that is the goal it wants to achieve, fine. However, how will they achieve it? They have already closed Veterans Affairs Canada offices and raised the retirement age to 67. Plenty of decisions like that are being made, and they will have a direct negative impact on Canadian families. That is what the Conservatives' incompetence has wrought, and that is a real shame.