COVID-19 Emergency Response  Mr. Speaker, in March, the Bloc Québécois demanded support for businesses' fixed costs. On April 11, the Bloc got the government to vote in favour of a motion to help with fixed costs. Six months on, we are still waiting. Another lockdown began on October 1. More than 12,000 SMEs are in jeopardy.

COVID-19 Emergency Response  Mr. Speaker, this has been essential for six months now. Roughly 12,000 SMEs currently in red zones have been forced to shut down to combat COVID-19. Meanwhile, fixed costs continue to pile up, including rent, first and foremost. The commercial rent assistance program is a disaster.

COVID-19 Emergency Measures  Mr. Speaker, SMEs, like restaurants or bars, survived the first wave of COVID-19 by going into debt. That is no longer an option. Loans no longer cut it. If we want to avoid thousands of bankruptcies during the second wave then we have to help our businesses pay their fixed costs.

COVID-19 Emergency Measures  Mr. Speaker, what the government announced on Friday is more loans. However, there is a limit to how much debt bars and restaurants can take on. There is a limit to what can be put off to tomorrow. In its throne speech, Ottawa promised to help businesses being closed by order of the public health authorities.

Aerospace Industry  Mr. Speaker, in the Speech from the Throne, Ottawa says it wants to help industries that have been hard hit by COVID-19, but there is not a single word about the aerospace industry. That omission represents Quebec's primary export sector, 43,000 good jobs, $18 billion in sales, and the third largest aerospace hub in the world.

Aerospace Industry  Mr. Speaker, we need targeted programs and a comprehensive policy, not rhetoric or piecemeal measures that lack vision. The Prime Minister's indifference towards this sector is nothing new. In 2016, he said that what is good for a Montreal MP is not necessarily good for a Toronto or Calgary MP.

COVID-19 Response Measures Act  Mr. Speaker, probably much like in every corner of Quebec and Canada, this obviously has had extremely serious repercussions. Agriculture and agri-food are huge in my riding. While Saint-Hyacinthe is a major centre for agri-food processing, the service industry is also very important for the region.

COVID-19 Response Measures Act  Mr. Speaker, my colleague certainly asked a leading question. We often hear about things being impossible, but it is often a self-imposed impossibility, so to speak. In many cases, it could be called self-censorship. Motivation can often be found when needed, but at other times it is elusive.

COVID-19 Response Measures Act  Mr. Speaker, I believe the member is asking about working together, working with governments at different levels. In the past two weeks, health transfers have been a popular topic. Of course, when there is a pandemic, work is done within a Parliament or between governments at different levels, but the Quebec National Assembly is unanimously calling for health transfers.

COVID-19 Response Measures Act  Mr. Speaker, we are currently debating Bill C-4. A debate is fine, but it would have been nice if the government had observed the rules of democracy from start to finish. Near the end of her speech, my colleague said that the government could have prorogued Parliament for just 24 hours, rather than the five weeks.

COVID-19 Response Measures Act  Madam Speaker, the minister told us that it was not going to last a few weeks, but a full year. I would like to ask her why we are once again being presented with a temporary measure when so many changes could have been made to employment insurance. After the EI program was ransacked for years and the EI fund plundered, why is the measure temporary?

Government Business No. 1  Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for her presentation and I am trying to understand something. As my colleague the member for Lac-Saint-Jean said earlier, we had proposed a benefit with a work incentive. We can assume that the CERB was relevant when it was introduced, while we were in lockdown and everything was shut down.

Government Business No. 1  Mr. Speaker, I have a quick question, but I would first like to thank my Conservative colleague for his presentation. There are many things we agree with, of course. It makes no sense to take us hostage as a Parliament, walking in at the last minute, presenting this at the last second, holding a knife to our throat and telling us that we have to rush it through.

Aviation industry  Mr. Speaker, there was not a word about aerospace in the Speech from the Throne. It is inconceivable that it be left out. Aerospace is to Quebec what the automobile is to Ontario. Greater Montreal is the third-largest aerospace hub in the world, after Seattle and Toulouse. It is the leading exporter, which translates into 40,000 direct jobs and 100,000 indirect jobs.

Questions Passed as Orders for Returns  With regard to the criminal charges the government laid in December 2019 against the Volkswagen Group concerning the approximately 120,000 diesel vehicles whose nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions exceeded the standards allowed, broken down by the German companies of the Volkswagen Group, the Canadian companies of the Volkswagen Group, the U.S. companies of the Volkswagen Group, and directors, executives and employees: (a) why did the government file charges for 58 counts of importing non-compliant vehicles instead of one count for each of the 120,000 offences; (b) why did the government file charges for two counts of misleading information instead of one count for each of the 120,000 offences; (c) why did the government not file any charges against the Canadian companies of the Volkswagen Group; (d) why did the government not file any charges against the U.S. companies of the Volkswagen Group that took part in the illegal acts that affected Canada; (e) why did the government not file any charges against the directors, executives and employees who were involved in these offences; (f) why did the government not file any charges regarding the 120,000 offences for selling, renting or distributing these non-compliant vehicles; (g) why did the government not file any charges of fraud concerning the 120,000 pieces of software that prevented the non-compliance from being detected; and (h) why did the government not file any charges regarding the illegal pollution caused by these 120,000 vehicles in Canada?