Alain Therrien

[Member for Simcoe North, June 3rd, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the Bloc Québécois, I would like to salute your 10 years of hard work in the chair.

I have not been here that long, but I have always appreciated the work you do, your characteristic courtesy and your proficiency in the beautiful French language, delivered with a slight accent that only makes it even more charming. Above all, we wish you could stay much longer. We are always very happy to see you when we arrive in the House. I do not want to offend anyone, as this is also true of the Speaker and the Assistant Deputy Speakers. You make a great team.

We are always happy to be here, and it is an honour to serve alongside you.

[Official Languages, June 3rd, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, I am hearing that my colleague wants to protect French in Quebec, and I am offering to help her. What the federal government can do is ensure that federally regulated businesses provide a French-language workplace, which only Bill 101 can do.

That is why the Bloc Québécois introduced Bill C-254, which would apply Bill 101 to federally regulated businesses. My colleague says that she wants to protect French and I would like to help. Will she vote for our bill?

[Official Languages, June 3rd, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, the Quebec National Assembly has passed unanimous resolutions requiring that Bill 101 apply to federally regulated businesses. That is why the Quebec government introduced Bill 96, which seeks to ensure that Bill 101 applies.

However, in its language reform document, the federal government does not propose that Bill 101 be applied in order to protect French. Instead, it proposes that the Official Languages Act be applied in order to protect bilingualism. Why not stand with Quebec and support its will to apply Bill 101?

[Indigenous Affairs, June 2nd, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, with all due respect, he said that all of the parties were represented on the committee. I just wanted to say that that was not true. I would like him to correct the record.

[Indigenous Affairs, June 2nd, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the Prime Minister to correct the record. He said a number of times that all parties were represented on the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians. That is incorrect. The Bloc Québécois is not represented on that committee, and we have been calling on the government to give us a seat for months. There is a seat available, but we—

[Official Languages, May 31st, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, in its language reform document, the federal government does not say it intends to make French the language of work in Quebec. Rather, it says that it will extend the application of the Official Languages Act to all federally regulated businesses.

However, this act is not designed to protect French; it protects bilingualism. Bilingualism has never been better in Quebec. It is French that needs to be protected, not bilingualism.

Will the federal government allow Quebec to subject federally regulated businesses to Bill 101? If it really wants to help the French language, that is what it needs to do.

[Official Languages, May 31st, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, like its National Assembly, Quebec wants to apply Bill 101 to federally regulated businesses. In Ottawa, the Minister of Official Languages says she will protect the right to work in French. However, that is not what Bill 101 does. Bill 101 does not protect the right to work in French; it makes French the language of work in Quebec.

Quebeckers are not asking for the right to work in French. They already have that right. What they want is for French to become the official language of work. Will the minister agree to apply Bill 101 to federally regulated businesses?

[Montreal Canadiens, May 31st, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, tonight, millions of us will be glued to our TV sets, jumping to our feet like our parents before us, proud of our team like our grandparents before us, confident that the greatest dynasty in hockey history is still capable of working its magic.

We will see Maurice Richard in Gallagher's determination, Patrick Roy in the genius of Price, Béliveau in our captain Weber, Charbonneau in Danault's stick handling, Lafleur in Caufield's shots, Doug Harvey in Petry's game, and Claude Lemieux in the risks taken by “KK” and Suzuki. All the ghosts of the Montreal Canadiens will be in our team's locker room. Believe me when I say that millions of us Quebeckers will be on the ice with the Habs.

It is game seven, the Canadiens are being overlooked, and that is when they are the most dangerous. Here are three words that might sound very English, but, believe me, there are no three words more quintessentially Quebecker than these, when every Quebecker screams them at the top of their lungs tonight: Go, Habs, go!

[Canadian Heritage, May 27th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, it is easy to blame that on the Conservatives, but the Conservatives are not the ones who put the bill on the back burner for months before bringing it forward. The Conservatives are not the ones who dragged their feet when it came time to call ministers to testify in committee.

The Minister of Canadian Heritage himself said that the cultural industry is losing millions of dollars a month because Bill C-10 has not been passed. This is urgent. What is the government actually doing to ensure that Bill C-10 is passed quickly?

[Canadian Heritage, May 27th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, the National Assembly of Quebec is calling on Parliament to pass Bill C-10. Quebec's cultural sector is calling on Parliament to pass Bill C-10. The Bloc Québécois is telling the government that it will do everything it can to get Bill C-10 passed.

We do this is in the spirit of collaboration, but the government does not seem to be in any hurry. It does not seem to be taking this very seriously, and I must admit that we are concerned. What is the government doing to ensure that the modernization of the Broadcasting Act gets passed?