Louis Plamondon

[Election of the Speaker, December 5th, 2019]

I now call upon Geoff Regan, the hon. member of the electoral district of Halifax West, to address the House for no more than five minutes.

[Election of the Speaker, December 5th, 2019]

I now invite Carole Hughes, the hon. member for the electoral district of Algoma—Manitoulin—Kapuskasing to address the House for not more than five minutes.

[Election of the Speaker, December 5th, 2019]

I am very pleased to preside over the election for a fourth time in Parliament. It is becoming a habit, and I admit that I quite like this magnificent chair. I will speak mainly in French, which will give you an opportunity to appreciate the extraordinary interpreters that we have here in the House of Commons.

Before the official ceremony begins, allow me to acknowledge my family, who are certainly watching, as well as the constituents of Bécancour—Nicolet—Saurel, who put their trust in me for the 11th consecutive time in 35 years.

I learned after the fact that being elected 11 consecutive times ties the record set by Sir Wilfrid Laurier in 1904. This has not happened for 115 years.

I also want to acknowledge my staff, who have done extraordinary work with me for many years, as well as all constituents.

I congratulate and welcome all the new members.

New members will discover that it all goes by so fast. When I was first elected there were no cell phones, no computers, no fax machines. It was heaven.

Let us begin.

The list of members who have withdrawn or who are ineligible as candidates is available at the table.

The list of candidates has also been placed on each member's desk and is also available at the table.

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

The five members will therefore remain on the ballot.

Pursuant to Standing Order 3.1, the House must proceed to the speeches of candidates for Speaker.

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

Now I invite Joël Godin, the hon. member for the electoral district of Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, to address the House for not more than five minutes.

[Infrastructure, May 15th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, the Canada-Quebec infrastructure agreement is very clear. Canada's role in infrastructure is to provide funding, and that's it.

Quebec's public transit fund is short $200 million because increased ridership from the outskirts of Montreal was not taken into account.

Rather than making announcements about Quebec highways, which do not fall under the federal government's jurisdiction, will the Minister of Infrastructure instead do his part and give Quebec the $200 million it needs?

[Infrastructure and Communities, May 14th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, instead of making grand statements, I invite the minister to reread the Canada-Quebec infrastructure agreement. It states that “Canada's role in any Project is limited to making a financial contribution, and that it will have no involvement in the implementation...or...operation. Canada is neither a decision-maker nor an administrator”.

The minister's election announcement about Highway 19 is nothing but talk. Not even one centimetre of the highway will be built.

Instead of arguing, the government should transfer the lump sum to Quebec.

[Infrastructure and Communities, May 14th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, the Quebec government builds our infrastructure, not Ottawa. The Canada-Quebec agreement is clear on this. Infrastructure is a provincial and municipal responsibility. However, Ottawa is trying to impose conditions on us, and the result is a tramway project in Quebec that has been stopped in its tracks. Our projects are going nowhere because Ottawa prefers to argue.

Will the minister stop creating conflicts and send Quebec the infrastructure funding as a lump sum with no strings attached, as the Quebec government has asked?

[Citizenship Act, May 13th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, we all want to rise to defend the French fact in Quebec. We all want to propose solutions to ensure that this beautiful language remains a living language.

Contrary to what the previous speaker said, the use of French is declining in Quebec. Our language is at risk. We are not saying that immigrants are bad people. However, the conditions for welcoming them do not currently include the obligation to learn French. That is what my colleague's bill is proposing.

Naturally, we agree with protecting francophone minorities outside Quebec, and the government should take action on many fronts in that regard. However when we compare this to what is provided to the anglophone minority in Quebec, we are completely off course.

I did a little experiment. I went to Crescent Street in Montreal. I went into six restaurants and I was first greeted in English at each one. When I spoke French, they spoke to me in French. English is far from being at risk in Quebec.

There are two major hospitals in Quebec, each with a $2-billion price tag. One is French and the other is English. In Montreal, there are more English than French movie theatres, and there are more English publications than French ones.

We polled immigrants, who make up 50% of Montreal's population. According to the poll, most believe that francophones only make up 25% of Quebec's population. They are not aware of the French reality. That is why we must establish mandatory measures to ensure they learn French, integrate into the francophone majority and ensure the survival of French in Quebec.

Bill C-421 does that. It is a very moderate bill. It would inevitably be accepted by immigrants if they knew before arriving in Quebec that they had to comply.

My colleague, who also wants to address this bill, will speak for the two minutes remaining.

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, April 29th, 2019]

With regard to federal spending in the riding of Papineau, for each fiscal year since 2010-11, inclusively: what are the details of all grants and contributions and all loans to every organization, group, business or municipality, broken down by the (i) name of the recipient, (ii) municipality of the recipient, (iii) date on which the funding was received, (iv) amount received, (v) department or agency that provided the funding, (vi) program under which the grant, contribution or loan was made, (vii) nature or purpose?

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, April 29th, 2019]

With regard to federal spending in the riding of Bécancour—Nicolet—Saurel, for each fiscal year since 2010-11, inclusively: what are the details of all grants and contributions and all loans to every organization, group, business or municipality, broken down by the (i) name of the recipient, (ii) municipality of the recipient, (iii) date on which the funding was received, (iv) amount received, (v) department or agency that provided the funding, (vi) program under which the grant, contribution or loan was made, (vii) nature or purpose?

[Petitions, April 9th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, I have the pleasure of presenting a petition initiated by Alexandra Cournoyer, from the municipality of Sainte-Victoire de Sorel, and signed by over 1,500 people, that calls for financial support to offset dairy farmers' losses and for mandatory labelling standards to inform consumers about the source of the milk in the dairy products they buy.

I commend this young woman for taking this initiative and raising awareness among young farmers in Quebec and Canada.