Louise Chabot

[Privilege, December 16th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, what we are seeing today is unprecedented, if I can use that term.

I hear members on the other side of the House asking questions about the infamous GST measure, a measure that was ill-conceived and one of the reasons why the minister decided she had enough and resigned her position. I find the whole thing rather odd.

I would like the Conservatives to reassure Canadians. I heard them say twice during their speeches that Canadians want a carbon tax election. However, I do not think that the Conservatives are reading the room correctly.

I think that Canadians want an election that will establish a much more consistent and sustainable agenda, rather than one suggesting that the carbon tax is the answer to everything. Do the Conservatives think that getting rid of the carbon tax will fix everything?

[Privilege, December 11th, 2024]

Madam Speaker, I agree with my colleague on one point, which is that the Liberals are trying to cover up all the scandals.

The House did issue an order for the government to table these documents, but the government refused to do so. That is what has been paralyzing the House since September. This reminds me of another scandal that the government tried to dodge, the WE Charity scandal. I remember that shortly after I was first elected, the House was prorogued in an attempt to sweep the issue under the rug.

Still, there are other scandals that no one is talking about. They have to do with workers. One example is the Phoenix pay system, which the Conservatives brought in and this government promised to fix, but never did. Another example is the employment insurance system that the Conservative government of the day gutted, leaving unemployed workers struggling to make ends meet.

Would your party be prepared to restore a reliable Phoenix pay system for workers, as well as an EI system that will reconcile—

[Business of Supply, December 9th, 2024]

Madam Speaker, at least the motion addresses housing and the housing crisis we are currently experiencing. However, I am not sure that this measure aimed at eliminating the GST will mean more housing units, and especially not social housing units.

The Liberals are happy to argue with the Conservatives, because their own strategy does not work. I would like to hear what my colleague has to say about that.

Recently, in response to the homelessness crisis, the government decided to invest another $250 million in the Reaching Home program, except there are bloody strings attached. As a condition, Quebec would have to submit all of its projects. We do not need to submit any projects. The tents we all see on the streets speak for themselves.

I would like to hear the comments—

[Business of Supply, December 9th, 2024]

Madam Speaker, the Conservatives are currently proposing to eliminate the goods and services tax, or GST, on the construction of new houses and condos. The question now becomes, will this actually do anything to address the skyrocketing demand for social housing?

The Liberal Party touts its various programs, including the housing accelerator fund and the public lands acquisition fund. Many programs are also available through the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. However, one of the problems with these programs is that the results are so hard to gauge because these things take such a long time and because, when the federal government does decide to invest, it attaches 56,000 conditions, even though housing falls under the jurisdiction of Quebec and its municipalities.

How can my colleague say that the Liberal government's strategies are more effective than a proposal like cutting the GST?

[International Day of Persons with Disabilities, December 3rd, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, since today is the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, I want to pay tribute to three organizations that are here on Parliament Hill today: the Comité d'action des personnes vivant des situations de handicap, the Confédération des organismes de personnes handicapées du Québec and the Environmental Health Association of Quebec. They have come here to call on the government to take meaningful action.

It has been 18 months since Parliament passed the bill creating the new disability benefit, a crucial measure for lifting thousands of people out of poverty. However, 18 months on, the regulations needed for paying out this benefit are still not in place.

In the meantime, persons with disabilities are poorer and poorer, trapped in a system that does not meet their most basic needs. How much longer do persons with disabilities have to wait before the government takes action to protect their dignity and their right to a decent life? The Bloc Québécois supports their fight.

[Privilege, November 18th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, we just spent a week in our ridings, which is very good for us as elected officials. Our constituents are asking us what is happening in the House. My answer is simple: Nothing is happening.

The reason nothing is happening is not that the things we are debating here are unimportant. It is that members are using a parliamentary power to drag out a debate that is paralyzing the government. The government is also accusing the opposition of paralyzing it, but it is not doing anything to get itself out of that situation. Basically, this situation is convenient for the government.

As an elected member who truly values our role in democracy, I want to ask my colleague a question. The accusations that have been made against Randy are serious.

We are talking about the Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Official Languages. What other mechanism could we use to get to the bottom of this issue, which has already been addressed by the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics? Why is this issue being addressed as a question of privilege that is going to keep paralyzing the House for who knows how long?

[Privilege, November 6th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, we are watching a very long show. Every week for some time now we have been going over the same episode. Yes, the motion was supported by the opposition parties. Indeed, the fund we are talking about seemed rather seriously tainted, so the fund was blocked. Back home, there are companies that would benefit from this fund. However, it is being undermined by who knows what until the documents are produced. We want to have the documents.

Let us keep watching the episode. If the smoke clears tomorrow morning and we receive the documents, what does my colleague think will happen next?

[Employment Insurance, November 5th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, with Bill C‑418, the Bloc Québécois is taking action where the Liberals have failed since 2015.

We are proposing a single eligibility criterion of 420 hours or 12 weeks of 14 hours, enhancing benefits from 50% to 60%, increasing the minimum entitlement period to 35 weeks, increasing the special EI sickness benefits to 50 weeks, and the list goes on. In short, we are proposing real reform.

Will the Liberals support it?

[Employment Insurance, November 5th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals promised comprehensive EI reform in 2015, in 2019, and in 2021. Then they promised that it would happen by the summer of 2022 at the latest, and after that, they swore it would be done by Christmas 2022. Nine years and four ministers later, the Liberals have done nothing. EI is still leaving six out of 10 workers to fend for themselves.

That is why the Bloc Québécois introduced an EI reform bill that will correct these inequities. Will the Liberals support it?

[Employment Insurance Act, November 5th, 2024]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C‑418, An Act to amend the Employment Insurance Act (accessibility and other measures).

Mr. Speaker, it is with the support of my very dear colleague, the member for Manicouagan, that I am immensely proud to introduce a bill that proposes robust measures to strengthen the Employment Insurance Act. It would reform eligibility criteria, the duration of benefits and the amounts provided. I am the Bloc Québécois employment and labour critic and I have been championing and supporting this cause to reform the EI system since my first day in 2019, along with workers and the unemployed.

The Bloc Québécois is taking action where the Liberal government has failed. Its failure is appalling, because it chose to do nothing despite its 2015 commitment to reform the system and its many promises since then. In the wake of the pandemic, the government itself recognized that it had taken too long to act. This policy choice has left thousands of unemployed workers out in the cold, victims of an outdated law that protects them poorly or not at all. The system has failed to adapt to the realities of today's workplace and the resulting injustices and inequities continue, yet the problems and solutions were identified long ago.

Today we are introducing a Bloc Québécois bill, a solid bill that is aligned to current realities and would better protect a greater number of workers. I am thinking of the workers in the seasonal industry. I am thinking of young people and women who have non-standard jobs and do not have access to employment insurance. I am thinking of pregnant women who lose their job and do not benefit from the protections of employment insurance. I am thinking of the people who are left out in the cold by the system. Thousands of workers who contribute to employment insurance are not protected by the legislation. Employment insurance coverage needs to be expanded to more people. It is about fairness.

Our bill corrects several major flaws with employment insurance and we invite the Liberal government and its Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Official Languages to also side with the workers, keep their promises and implement the proposals we are making today.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)