Jean Dorion

[Intergovernmental Affairs, February 23rd, 2009]

It is unacceptable for the federal government to own such a large number of properties in the national capital and to use them, including the Plains of Abraham, to increase federal visibility.

If the government was sincere when it recognized the Quebec nation, would it not be right for it to return this land so that the visibility campaigns led by its apostles of Canadian visibility could cease?

[Intergovernmental Affairs, February 23rd, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, no nation in the world would accept that a portion of the land on which its national assembly is built belongs to another nation. As stated by former Liberal minister Benoît Pelletier, in January 2006, the transfer of the federal lands is not symbolic; it is a question of exercising the rights and responsibilities of the National Assembly of Quebec.

Does the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs now intend to address the request made by the Government of Quebec, which her government has not yet acknowledged?

[Foreign Affairs, February 13th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions took effect on March 18, 2007. Pressed by Quebec, Canada signed this convention, along with 95 other countries.

Since the United States still has not signed the convention, will the Prime Minister put this item on the agenda for his meeting with President Obama, in order to convince him to sign this convention?

[National Battlefields Commission, February 6th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, he is not answering the question.

Knowing that this strategic plan was requested by the Canada Information Office, the federal government's propaganda machine overseen by Alfonso Gagliano, how can they continue to say that there is nothing there and that the re-enactment is not partisan and not politically motivated?

[National Battlefields Commission, February 6th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, we now know that the re-enactment of the battle of the Plains of Abraham is a propaganda project cooked up under the sponsorship program. From 1998 onwards, the strategic plan of the National Battlefields Commission was to counter the governing PQ and to sell Canadian unity. this plan was written up by none other than Gosselin Communications, a key player in the sponsorship scandal.

Does the government recognize that by refusing to denounce the approach taken by the National Battlefields Commission, it is accepting ownership of the propaganda brought to light by the Gomery Commission?

[Situation in Sri Lanka, February 4th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, like my colleague from Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, and like many others here this evening, I am so pleased we are having this debate. I also have personal reasons to be concerned about the situation in Sri Lanka. I worked at the Quebec department of cultural affairs and immigration in the early 1980s, when we saw the first Tamil refugees arrive in Quebec. I served as a liaison officer with the Tamil community and, at the time, I knew them in a context that was in no way bureaucratic; rather, it was in a context of community initiatives, celebrations and cultural events. I got to know some of them quite well and I became convinced that it was not on a whim that thousands of these of people fled their country to come and settle in ours. They had been subject to brutal repression.

Canada would be well advised to intervene to ensure that a ceasefire is declared, as so many people are calling for at this time.

I would also like to congratulate the Tamil community for its very orderly manner of demonstrating this afternoon. It impressed many people.

[Quebec Sovereignty, February 4th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, with the support of the Liberal Party, the Conservative government has opted to abandon Quebec. The results are: crass interference in Quebec's areas of jurisdiction; a unilateral change to equalization, to Quebec's detriment; a reduction of Quebec's political weight in the House of Commons; the creation of a Canada-wide securities commission. That is what the federalists have to offer Quebec.

The government prides itself on practising open federalism and claims to recognize the Quebec nation, but these few examples demonstrate once again that Quebec has everything to lose by staying in Canada.

The Canadian parties continue to impose measures on us that are at odds with measures shown to be successful in Quebec. Quebec has the ability to take charge of the economic, political, cultural and social means at its disposal. It is capable of controlling its own destiny.

Quebec sovereignty cannot come soon enough.

[The Budget, January 30th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, in voting against the Bloc Québécois subamendment, the Liberal Party and the Conservative Party openly decided to abandon Quebec. Their Quebec representatives should have followed the example of two Liberal members from Newfoundland and Labrador who chose to oppose the budget because it is contrary to the interests of their province.

Thus, the Conservatives, propped up by the Liberals, are ignoring Quebec's concerns regarding the equalization ceiling. They are ignoring the many federal intrusions into Quebec jurisdictions. They are ignoring the unemployed, with only 47% having access to the employment insurance system. They are ignoring Quebec's manufacturing and forestry sectors that have been hit hard by the crisis.

The Bloc Québécois has put forward the unanimous priorities of the National Assembly of Quebec. They have been rejected by the Conservatives and the Liberals, who thus choose Canada over Quebec.

[Infrastructure, January 29th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, this government has said time and again that it will respect the jurisdictions of Quebec and the provinces. Yet the Minister of Finance announced in his budget that he will make direct loans to municipalities for infrastructure, going over the head of the Quebec government.

Can the Minister of Finance explain how this respects Quebec's jurisdictions?

[Foreign Affairs, December 1st, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, the situation in Thailand is so serious that countries like France, Australia, China, Switzerland and Spain have taken steps to repatriate their citizens. In the meantime, Quebeckers and Canadians there have still not heard from their government.

When will the Minister of Foreign Affairs recognize that he must act now to implement a repatriation plan?