Pablo Rodriguez

[Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, February 1st, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, the Bloc Québécois is not doing anything. Apart from asking questions in the House, Bloc members are doing absolutely nothing while the minister works, collaborates and holds discussions with Quebec.

We started by contributing $50 million. That is a huge amount. Next we paid close to $70 million, and yesterday, $100 million. That is a lot of money. The Bloc should not ridicule these financial efforts. We commend the Quebec government for the enormous amount of work it has done. We applaud the work done by the Government of Canada, which has been also enormous.

We will continue to work collaboratively despite what the Bloc wants, which is bickering. There are no quarrels here. We are working together.

[Housing, January 30th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, it must be extremely difficult to be a Conservative member from Quebec.

Members will recall that before the holidays, the Conservatives repeatedly voted against Quebec, against the Plains of Abraham project, against farmers, against the Magdalen Islands and against the St-Tite festival. This year, their leader added fuel to the fire by coming to Quebec and insulting all Quebeckers and our leaders.

I urge the member to leave the dark side and come join us in working for all Quebeckers.

[Questions on the Order Paper, January 29th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, in November 2022, following a competitive procurement process, the government contracted the services of external advisors, namely CPCS and WSP, to explore options to improve intercity passenger rail frequencies, on-time performance, and shorten travel times in Southwestern Ontario. The external advisors have been making steady progress and are nearing completion of their analysis. They are on track to deliver a final report with options to the federal government in early 2024.

The delivery of the final report is a few months later than originally anticipated due to unforeseen delays in obtaining all the requisite information from external partners to complete the analysis.

The government has committed to releasing a summary of the report once it has been reviewed by Transport Canada. The summary will be written in a manner that is accessible to the public and that protects any proprietary information that has been provided by external parties.

[Housing, January 29th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, everyone knows that to achieve success in housing, we have to learn to communicate with each other, to co-operate with cities and the private sector, to work together. That is the complete opposite of what the Leader of the Opposition did when he came to Quebec. He insulted the mayor of Montreal, the mayor of Quebec City and mayors everywhere. He comes to insult all Quebeckers, and we do not need him.

We know how to build housing, and together with the Minister of Housing, we are going to build housing. The Leader of the Opposition needs to stop insulting Quebeckers.

[Carbon Pricing, December 12th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, when Quebeckers sit down at the dinner table this Christmas, they will be wondering why the Conservatives voted against the dental insurance program. Why did they vote against the child care program? Why did they vote against the high-frequency train? Why did they vote against the rail bypass in Lac-Mégantic? Why did they vote against the festival in St‑Tite? What have they got against that festival? We like going there.

[Democratic Institutions, December 11th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, I understand that my colleague fantasizes about the monarchy and reopening the Constitution.

On this side of the House, we prefer to tackle the challenges of our society like housing, the rising cost of living and, most importantly, Conservative cuts. They want to make cuts in areas where cutbacks would be totally unacceptable. They voted for cuts in areas that are incredibly important for Quebec and all Canadians. They should be ashamed.

[Carbon Pricing, December 11th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, if I were a Conservative member from Quebec, I would be embarrassed this morning. I would choose my words carefully. They voted against funding for the Mégantic bypass, against assistance for Quebec's dairy, egg and poultry producers, against funding for the Plains of Abraham and against assistance for the Magdalen Islands following the hurricane. They even insulted the people of the Magdalen Islands.

If I were a Conservative, I would be darned embarrassed.

[Carbon Pricing, December 6th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, I am trying to understand the Conservatives' obsession with battling the fight against climate change. I am certain they cannot even spell it, especially given that they do not acknowledge its existence. Right now, they are doing everything they can to make sure nothing is done about it.

The other day, they told us to talk to senators. Now they are telling us not to talk to senators. We do not even have any senators. This morning, when we got to our caucus meeting, there were no senators. On their side, however, there is a whole group of senators talking to them. To top it off, their senators do not even show up to vote. That is their problem. Let them deal with it.

[Carbon Pricing, December 6th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, has the member been living under a rock? Where was he when there were forest fires this summer? Where was he when there was flooding? Where was he when people were being displaced? Where was he when everyone else was noticing the impact of climate change on our farmers and on our everyday lives? Where was he this morning? I was at our caucus meeting this morning, and there were no senators present, while he was surrounded by Conservative senators. He should speak the truth.

[Government Priorities, December 5th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, I commend my colleague for his excellent work.

Quebeckers are proud to participate in the energy transition with the battery industry. Our government is proud to support it.

The Conservative leader thinks that investing in Quebec is a waste. Quebeckers know that Radio-Canada is vital for our language, our culture and our democracy. The Conservative leader wants to destroy Radio-Canada. He does not like difficult questions.

With Bill C-13, we strengthened the rights of francophones across the country. The Conservative members do not even let their colleagues work in French. We will continue to advance the priorities of Quebeckers. We will not let the Conservatives send us back to the Stone Age.