Louis Plamondon

[Election of Speaker, November 22nd, 2021]

I will now call upon Mrs. Carol Hughes, the hon. member for Algoma—Manitoulin—Kapuskasing, to address the House for five minutes.

[Election of Speaker, November 22nd, 2021]

I will now call upon Joël Godin, the hon. member for Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, to address the House for not more than five minutes.

[Election of Speaker, November 22nd, 2021]

Before we move on to the second candidate, I would like to say a few words to my family from this exalted throne, because I forgot to do so when we started. My best to my whole family, my supporters and the voters in my riding, and especially to my partner of 27 years, who is currently battling cancer and is courageously staying the course. I am sure you will all join me in sending her our best wishes for a speedy recovery.

I now invite the hon. member for West Nova to speak for not more than five minutes.

[Election of Speaker, November 22nd, 2021]

Hello everyone.

I am very happy to be with you today.

This is the twelfth time that I have been elected and the fifth time that I have had the pleasure of presiding over the election of the Speaker.

Before the election, a journalist asked me if I had thought long and hard about seeking election. I told him that I had. I realized that Joe Biden and I were the same age. If he was able to run the United States, I should be able to run a riding.

After the election, the same journalist asked me if that was my last election campaign. After giving it some thought, I answered that I would only run two or three more times.

I apologize for speaking only in French for the time being. If I were to speak in English, I think you would still need interpretation. I will say a few words in English shortly.

Earlier, when we were entering, a member asked me what it takes to stay in shape and do this job at my age with such determination and so forth. I gave him three pieces of advice. I told him to eat what he does not want to eat, drink what he does not want to drink and to do the exercises that he does not want to do.

Let us turn our attention to serious matters.

Hon. members should have received by email last night the list of candidates for the speakership, the list of members who have withdrawn and the list of members who are ineligible as candidates. Those lists are available at the table if members wish to consider them before the vote.

Before we continue, I would invite those members whose names are still on the ballot but who do not wish to be considered for election to kindly rise and inform the Chair accordingly.

Since no member has risen, pursuant to Standing Order 3.1, the House must proceed to the speeches of candidates for Speaker. I would ask you to listen closely to these speeches.

Notwithstanding any Standing Order, any procedure or any practice adopted by this House, and to help the newly elected members identify the candidates for the office of Speaker, I will recognize in alphabetical order each candidate by name and electoral district.

When the last candidate to address the House completes his or her speech, I will leave the chair for 30 minutes, after which members will proceed to the election of the Speaker.

I will now call upon Mr. Marc Dalton, the hon. member for Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge, to speak for not more than five minutes.

[30th Anniversary of the Bloc Québécois, June 15th, 2021]

Madam Speaker, today is the 30th anniversary of the founding of the Bloc Québécois. Thirty years ago, on June 15, 1991, I hosted the founding convention in Sorel-Tracy. On that day, Quebec rallied behind a party, its party, that would defend its interests unequivocally. Every day since then, the Bloc Québécois has fought on all fronts for the Quebec nation.

Today, by chance or a quirk of fate, our anniversary coincides with a historic debate on enshrining Quebec in Canada's Constitution as a nation whose official and common language is French.

Thirty years later, the Bloc Québécois is the only party that can present this measure to affirm Quebec. At every opportunity, the Bloc represents our identity, our values, our language and our culture. Thirty years and many historical events later, the Bloc Québécois continues to turn the established order on its head, and it is proud of the trust placed in it by the Quebec nation to be the standard bearer for its will and aspirations.

[Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Act, March 9th, 2021]

Madam Speaker, I request a recorded division.

[Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Act, March 9th, 2021]

Madam Speaker, I would like to begin by thanking everyone who participated in this debate, which is wrapping up tonight and will conclude tomorrow with a second reading vote.

I would especially like to thank my leader for his support for Bill C-216 and for always putting agriculture at the top of his political agenda. I would also like to thank our agriculture critic, the member for Berthier—Maskinongé, for the time and effort he put into supporting this bill. He and the member for Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot even travelled around all the regions. At the end of their tour, they came to one conclusion: support for Bill C-216 is crucial. That is what they heard from every leader in the agricultural sector.

I would like to extend a special thanks to Mr. Groleau, president of the Union des producteurs agricoles, who sent a two-page-long letter to all party leaders in the House, asking them to support the bill. Here is part of that letter:

It is time to face the facts. Giving up guaranteed Canadian market share to foreign markets in exchange for potential, and sometimes unlikely, gains is not sustainable. Parliament must take a clear position that reflects your respective commitments in favour of supply management. It is very important to us that you support Bill C-216.

Will this letter, which was sent to all party leaders, be tossed in the trash? No, we must take this message into account and reflect carefully before voting, because it is important to all farm production in Quebec and Canada.

Essentially, the bill simply asks to respect the fact that Quebec and Canada have different agricultural models, based more on agricultural autonomy than on milk, egg and poultry exports. Under international trade rules, certain sensitive products can be protected. All countries have sectors whose products are kept off the table in international negotiations. Why should it be any different for Canada? Why could we not do the same? Supply management is a perfect case.

We are not asking the export sectors to stop exporting. We are simply asking that supply management no longer be used as a bargaining chip at every round of international negotiations to expand market opportunities for certain products. Today we are asking parliamentarians to do something non-partisan that is good for farmers in western Canada, Ontario, Quebec or the Maritimes, and would allow thousands of families to earn a decent living and support thousands of others.

Let us not forget that every farm represents several families. Across Canada, more than 20,000 family farms are supply managed; we are talking about 20,000 businesses and quite a few families. Are we going to jeopardize so many lives and livelihoods? I do not think so.

I know that everyone in the House is appreciative and proud of the work that our farmers do across Canada. Voting for Bill C-216 does not mean voting against the other producers, who are not losing anything, but voting for the farmers and processors who chose a different farming model. It means voting to defend their values and their way of life, which represents rural living and respecting our agriculture.

Therefore, I humbly ask my dear colleagues to act without partisanship so that our regions will no longer have to fight their government to prosper, develop and, above all, to feed us.

Tomorrow, let us stand together to support our supply-managed producers. Lets us stand together to support responsible and sustainable production. Let us stand together to preserve our family farms. Let us stand together so that our farmers get a fair price at the farm gate. Let us stand together to encourage our next generation of farmers to invest with confidence in agriculture. Let us stand together to ensure our food sovereignty. Finally, let us stand together and say loud and clear that there will be no more breaches in supply management.

We ask a lot of our producers. Tomorrow, they deserve our support.

[Yves Martin, February 24th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, another major architect of the Quiet Revolution has passed away. On behalf of the Bloc Québécois, allow me to honour the memory of Yves Martin and offer my condolences to his family and loved ones.

History will remember Mr. Martin as a founder of the Université du Québec network. Generations upon generations will continue to flourish as a result of the legacy of Mr. Martin's work to foster the intellectual enrichment of his nation. A sociologist by training, he was also central to the creation of Quebec's ministry of education and therefore the tremendous gains in education that have since enabled our young people to aspire to a future that lives up to their ambitions. Yves Martin was one of those bureaucrats who were fully devoted to public service and who laid the foundation of modern Quebec.

The Bloc Québécois also remembers his generous collaboration and, more broadly, his contribution to the sovereignist movement, alongside our greatest premiers. I thank Yves Martin for his dedication.

[Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Act, November 24th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, I fully share the member's concerns. For now, the minister is trying to reassure us by saying that supply management is not affected by this agreement with England. Since England was part of the agreement with Europe, it should not get an extra share. England needs to get its share from Europe, nothing more, so that nothing about the Canada-Europe agreement changes. However, I still have doubts, since nothing has been signed yet and all we have is a Liberal Party promise. A little piece of supply management is always affected.

Like him, I am crossing my fingers that this does not happen. What worries me most is the negotiations that are under way with Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay, Venezuela and Bolivia, which are known as the southern countries. Supply management may be affected, particularly poultry and egg producers.

[Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Act, November 24th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, I must tell my hon. colleague that he is absolutely right. I remember very well the $4.3 billion that the Conservatives promised during the negotiations with Europe. However, they were very slow to table it, and there was a change of government. The government said that it would keep that promise. Again, that is going very slowly. It is more than slow. A first instalment was paid last year, but there was nothing this year. They are now talking about $1.8 billion instead of $4.3 billion. We know that supply-managed producers are losing $450 million per year. The Minister of Agriculture urgently needs to speak with the Minister of Finance.

A budget will be tabled soon; an economic statement is coming on Monday. I hope that they will say something about this promise and that a concrete announcement will be made this year.