Pablo Rodriguez

[Justice, April 16th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, I will reiterate something my colleague knows full well: Quebec is secular and Canada is secular. That is a fact. We are working with that.

What I do no understand is that when we, as Quebeckers, want to speak to Quebec's issues, the Bloc Québécois tell us to mind our own business. The Bloc members tell us that every time. Now they are jumping for joy because a foreign leader came here to Canada and told them what to do. Someone comes from another continent and we have to listen to him.

I will repeat this to my colleague with all due respect: We are 35 members from Quebec elected by Quebeckers; we are proud Quebeckers, and we will always stand up for Quebec.

[Housing, April 16th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, we are Quebeckers and we are minding our own business. When we talk about housing we are told that the little Quebec Liberals need to mind their own business. When we stand up in the House and talk about ensuring that no child goes to school on an empty stomach, we Liberals from Quebec are told to sit down and mind our own business. However, when a prime minister from a foreign country comes here from another continent, we are told we need to listen to him. People would do well to listen to us because the 35 members from Quebec stand up for Quebec and for Canada and we will continue to do so.

[Justice, April 15th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, Canada is a secular country. Quebec is a secular province. No one disputes that.

The Bloc Québécois is trying to stir the pot, to pit one government against another, saying that since we are proud Quebeckers, we should separate because we are different from others.

I say no. I can be a proud Quebecker and a proud Canadian at the same time. There is no need to choose between the two. The Bloc Québécois members only talk about referendums. While they are talking about referendums, we are talking about building a fairer, more open, more inclusive society. That is what a strong Quebec in a united Canada looks like.

[Housing, April 15th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, everyone has their own priorities.

We are talking about investing in housing, but the Bloc members are saying no, they need a referendum. We are talking about investing in our young people and our seniors. The Bloc says they need a referendum. We are talking about ensuring that kids no longer go to school hungry. The Bloc says no, and that the solution to everything is a referendum.

While they are preparing for a referendum, we are preparing for the future.

[Health, April 9th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, the Bloc Québécois is never happy.

We invest in housing; they are unhappy, they complain. We invest in children; they are unhappy, they complain. We invest in food programs; they are unhappy, they complain.

The Bloc Québécois is completely losing its identity. In fact, the Bloc members are being eclipsed by the Conservatives.

[Health, April 9th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, when we invest in housing, the Bloc Québécois and the Conservatives complain. When we invest in a program to ensure that our kids do not go to school hungry, the Bloc Québécois and the Conservatives complain. When we invest in our seniors, the Conservatives and the Bloc Québécois complain.

These two parties are like two peas in a blue pod. At the end of the day, we are dealing with a grumpy smurf and a grouchy smurf.

[Housing, April 8th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, once again, we are discussing and negotiating with the Quebec government.

The Bloc Québécois does not speak on behalf of Quebeckers. It campaigns against the current government on behalf of its little cousin, the Parti Québécois.

Meanwhile, what we are doing is signing agreements with Quebec. We have signed agreements on housing, on child care, on regional Internet access, on a whole range of measures. Why are we doing this? Because it is good for all Quebeckers.

What is good for Quebeckers is bad for the Bloc Québécois.

[Housing, April 8th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, my colleague spoke about picking a fight. Bloc Québécois members are the all-time champions of picking fights. They live and breathe to bicker and fight. That is their raison d'être, trying to drag Ottawa into a fight when we are working with Quebec.

I have said it before: We invest in housing, they vote with the Conservatives. We invest in day care, they vote with the Conservatives. We are investing to ensure our kids do not go to school hungry, they vote with the Conservatives.

This is the latest alliance: the “Conservative Bloc”.

[Housing, April 8th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, the Bloc Québécois is not the Government of Quebec. We talk to the Government of Quebec.

Quebec's minister responsible for Canadian relations said this week that he believes we can work out win-win agreements. That is what he thinks, that is what the Government of Quebec thinks, and that is what we think. It is a win for Quebec and a win for Quebeckers. It is just not a win for the Bloc Québécois.

Again, let them do as their Conservative friends, cousins and brothers are doing. They are now one and the same. They are the Conservative Bloc.

[Housing, April 8th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, is the Bloc Québécois against investing in housing in Quebec, against investing in our child care centres and against making sure that young children in Quebec are going to school with full bellies instead of empty ones? If so, then they can do like the Conservatives and vote against our proposals.

In any case, the Bloc Québécois and the Conservatives have become one and the same today. They have become the “Conservative Bloc”.