Mr. Speaker, the jig is up. Ottawa's mask has fallen to reveal the true face of injustice. While Quebec has been faithfully keeping its commitments and fighting the scourge of climate change for years, Canadian power, blinded by its political interests, has betrayed the most basic principles of fairness.
On April 22, in a move unworthy of a just country, the Canadian government issued a colossal $3.7 billion in fake cheques labelled “carbon rebate” to people in provinces that year after year had refused to step up and do their part in what could be considered the fight to secure the future of this planet.
Meanwhile, we, the people of Quebec, have been exemplary and courageous; we have our faults and our qualities, but I think those are arguably qualities we share. Since 2013, we have led the way with our own carbon market, but we have gotten nothing in return—not one penny. Worse yet, we are being fleeced to pay for others who are dragging their feet when it comes to the environment. Is that Canadian justice? Is that how Canada rewards people for putting in an effort?
This is not a simple oversight. It is a cold and calculated betrayal. It is an affront to the people of Quebec, their virtue and their intelligence.
Who is going to pay for this joke? The people of Quebec, that is who. Our nation is providing $814 million to support a Canadian lie.
In 2025, while Quebeckers have shown themselves to be, as always, valiant and fair-minded, Ottawa, with a gimmick that is unworthy of founding principles and equal rights between peoples, has the nerve to perpetrate an unprecedented spoliation.
Between April 22 and April 28, just a few days before the general election, the federal government undertook an electoral strategy designed to pay out an astronomical sum in the form of cheques to people in the other provinces. Amounts ranging from $220 to $456 per person were sent out without a penny of carbon tax being collected during the period in question.
What about Quebec? Quebec was excluded and punished for being a forward-thinking nation. Why is that? We were punished because, over a decade ago, we chose to be responsible and we set up our own carbon market. We rejected inaction and neglect. Ottawa is now using that very virtue as an excuse to extort money from us.
Although Quebec did not receive any cheques, it did contribute money for that federal expense. This bears repeating: Quebec provided funds to enable that federal expenditure. It paid $814 million. Our taxes, our sweat, have been used to fund cheques sent to citizens of other provinces, without the slightest acknowledgement or compensation.
When the National Assembly of Quebec, the legitimate legislature of Quebeckers, spoke with one voice, across party lines, to demand redress for this injustice, what was the response? It was met with bureaucratic acrobatics. The Prime Minister stated that Quebec had chosen a different system. We have heard that as recently as today. To this, we say: Is it a mistake to act responsibility? Is it a crime to have foresight? The answer is no.
This is not a question of choice; it is a question of respect and justice. Ottawa stubbornly refuses to show us that respect.
The Bloc Québécois is not asking for anything extravagant in its motion. It is only asking for minimal redress for a proven, recognized and demonstrated prejudice; a simple return of what was taken from us; a simple acknowledgment that Quebec is not a fiscal cash cow here to satisfy Ottawa's electoral whims.
This injustice, however, is only a symptom. Of course, as long as Quebec is tied to a state that decides unilaterally, that distributes resources according to its partisan interests, that excludes Quebec when it suits it and taxes us when it needs to, we will be condemned to suffer.
We demand, with the quiet strength of people who are in the right, that Quebec be compensated without delay for the entirety of its stolen contribution.
The Prime Minister of Canada, the leader of a morally bankrupt Liberal government, not only has betrayed the principles of his own party, but worse, he has betrayed science, the future, and the trust of the people. He gave in.
Still, he and his ministers have claimed for years, with numbers to back them up, that carbon pricing was not a burden, but a fair redistribution policy that benefited the middle class and protected the most vulnerable. We have all heard these arguments from the other side of the House, with facts and evidence. He told us that the Parliamentary Budget Officer had said so and attested that eight out of 10 Canadians received more than they paid. We have all heard that.
Then suddenly, just today during question period, we heard the Prime Minister say that he was proud to have abolished the carbon tax. Wow. Under that system, Quebec was excluded, as usual. Quebec was excluded even though we paid, excluded even though we were exemplary, excluded because we are different. The reason, we are told, is that Quebec has its own system, a system that works. Because it works so well, because of that virtue, Quebec is being punished, to the tune of $814 million, which was taken out of the pockets of families, seniors and workers.
We might say that this exclusion is probably just one facet of an even greater betrayal. What is the point of all this? It is to satisfy the oil barons, a fossil monarchy that dictates the laws to Canadian Parliament and to whom the Liberals have become obedient servants. They confuse the private interests of the oil sands with the national interest of Canada. We are currently going through an unprecedented centralization phase. That is the table Ottawa is setting behind the smokescreen, inside the Trojan horse that is “one economy, not 13”. That is what they are inviting us to once again, despite the unanimous opposition of the National Assembly.
Quebec does not want a bitumen future. Quebec wants a future with clean air, justice, progress. If Canada refuses that path, we will carve it out alone. We have no problem with that.
The Bloc Québécois motion is just a first step, a modest requirement. It is about giving us back what was taken from us. Behind this motion, there is a bigger idea: we will no longer put up with being disrespected like this, ignored, pillaged. Quebec is not to be a forgotten province. We are an awakened nation.
Today, we are calling for justice, on this issue and many others.