Alain Therrien

[Shelter for Homeless Youth, January 27th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, the whips and leaders agreed that male MPs participating virtually must wear a tie. You are aware of this and have also insisted on it.

I saw that the member for Sault Ste. Marie was wearing a red sweater, something that you would wear to a festival. We are not at a festival; we are in the House of Commons. I would like the Leader of the Government and his whip to be reminded of that.

[Official Languages, December 3rd, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, still no answers and no meaningful action.

Everyone wants this: the mayors of Quebec City, Gatineau, Lévis, Laval, Montreal and Longueuil, union leaders, the Union des artistes, farmers, elected representatives and former ministers, everyone. They stand united, a front uni as the Journal de Montréal put it. At this point, a no is a no to all Quebeckers.

Will the government finally stop hurting French and apply Bill 101 to federally regulated businesses?

It is simple. That is what people want.

[Official Languages, December 3rd, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, the Quebec National Assembly is unanimous. The Government of Quebec is calling for the Charter of the French Language to apply to federally regulated businesses in Quebec, and I think most members of the House agree with that. Today, civil society added its voice to the consensus.

What does the government not understand? Everyone agrees. Everyone understands that. What will it take for the government to wake up?

[Business of Supply, December 1st, 2020]

Madam Speaker, after the Canadian Armed Forces finished their work in Quebec, they produced a report.

By the way, I salute the Canadian Armed Forces, and we thank them for the work they did. However, let us not forget that Quebeckers pay their share for the military.

That report revealed that the problem was not with standards but with a lack of resources. The military was able to see that on the ground in no time. The problem is not with the standards. It is simply a lack of resources. I do see why we would still debate that.

I worked with Réjean Hébert from 2012 to 2014. Oddly enough, he did not say the same thing at all when he was Minister of Health. He was fiercely against the federal government. His face would turn bright red, Liberal red, I might call it. He was so furious when he talked about that—

[Business of Supply, December 1st, 2020]

Madam Speaker, I cannot tell you that I thank my colleague for his question.

It makes no sense. They know nothing about health care, and that is fine. They are not bad people; it just is not their responsibility. Quebec and the provinces are the ones that understand. Under the Constitution Act, 1867, the provinces are responsible for health care.

The Constitution states that the federal government, which has fewer responsibilities, must give Quebec and the provinces money so they can discharge their responsibilities.

We do not need any lectures from armchair quarterbacks. The Liberals need to take taxpayers' money and give it to those who are providing these health care services. Quebeckers and Canadians contribute this money and they are in need of care.

[Business of Supply, December 1st, 2020]

Madam Speaker, the Liberals spent $500 million on health care out of $300 billion of total spending. That is 15¢ out of $100.

My colleague says that 80% of the money came from the federal government. Of course it dit; the federal government has the most money. It holds the purse strings. There is a lot of Quebeckers' and Canadians' money in that purse, but the services that the federal government has to offer are more limited compared to the provinces and Quebec.

The provinces and Quebec have also been squeezed by the public debt crisis caused by the federal government in the 1990s which left them with very little financial wiggle room. That is what we call the fiscal imbalance. Yves Séguin, a loyal Liberal federalist, explained that Ottawa had all the money but Quebec had all the responsibilities. Everybody understands that.

Everybody thinks the fiscal imbalance started in 2003, but it dates back to 1867. When the Fathers of Confederation gave birth to the Canadian Constitution, they created the fiscal imbalance. Anyway, a bunch of fathers giving birth to something was hardly going to work.

[Business of Supply, December 1st, 2020]

Madam Speaker, before I begin, I would like to highlight the extraordinary work of our health care workers.

I have no doubt that everybody here has had the experience of seeing a loved one in the hospital, or of being hospitalized themselves. They must have noticed how hard these people work. I think it is one of the only situations in life where waiting is acceptable.

I have had to wait for a nurse because she was overworked. She was balancing so many things at the same time. It was clear that she was not at fault; she simply had too much on her plate. What is also clear is that these people work hard and they are passionate about what they do; they are not in it for the money, but to heal people. It is not a job for them, it is a calling, and this calling manifests in everyday life as well, as they always seem to want to help and support the people around them.

Unfortunately, this ended up working against them. As the federal government slowly but surely withdrew from health care funding, the pressure on them only grew. If the health network still exists today, even in the middle of a pandemic, it is thanks to these people, who always go above and beyond.

What do they get in return? They get burnout, they suffer workplace accidents and they are forced to work extra shifts. These people are paying an increasingly higher price for the consequences of the underfunding of health care. That is what people need to realize. They deserve a lot of credit.

I say this because I know a thing or two about it. My mother was in a long-term care facility and she often went to the hospital. I looked at those people with admiration. I commend them today, those who are still there, those who are surviving this extra work from the pandemic and are holding their own. Some end up getting sick. Some have even passed away, unfortunately, in the service of their patients.

Let's think about it. It is incredible. We owe them so much. I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge the fantastic job they are doing. We are lucky to have them. This pandemic has been going on for eight months and they are still there. They are still on the front lines to help our people. We could never forget them, and it is for them that we, the Bloc Québécois members, are doing this work here today. I hope that the other parties will understand what we need to do to increase the amount of money they are getting for resources. Every time I went to the hospital to talk to these people, I never heard anyone say that the problem is the health standards, or that these workers want the federal government to impose standards or still that they want standards from someone who knows nothing about health. I never heard those things. What workers are telling us is that they need resources, they need help, they are short-staffed. For that, they need money.

The other side is to blame for the mess our health care funding is now in. They are responsible. Since 1867, the Constitution that they defend tooth and nail has clearly stated that health is a provincial and Quebec jurisdiction. It is right there in black and white. The Constitution also states that the federal government could help Quebec fund this sector, since Quebec does not have enough sources of funding. The federal government needs to provide transfers without conditions. That has been in the Constitution they love so much since 1867.

In 1984, 40% of health care was funded by the federal government. In the 1990s, Jean Chrétien and Paul Martin decided to tackle the deficit. What did they do?

People must think that these men were so smart to be able to eliminate the deficit. All they did was offload that deficit onto the provinces. They slashed funding to the provinces. They decided to cut spending and let the provinces figure out how to provide services. That is what happened, and by 2004, the 40% funding we were getting in 1984 had dropped to 18%, a measly 18 cents on the dollar. The government is not even embarrassed about that fact. They even find it amusing. At some point, Paul Martin felt guilty. The poor man wondered if they had maybe gone too far and should increase the transfers to Quebec and the provinces. They instituted a 6% increase in an attempt to raise the 18%.

This lasted until the third Harper government. Stephen Harper and the Conservatives said that 6% was too much. From that time on, it was 3%. The Conservatives were the first to put on the brakes. The mathematics are simple and the numbers say it all. We were at 25% and the increase was starting to be interesting. Then the Conservatives said they would not give 6% but only 3%. What did the Liberals do? They thought it was a good idea, but only because they do not know how to add. They believed it was a good idea because it was going to cost them less. They did not care what impact it might have on the health care system.

Let me give them have a basic mathematics lesson, because I already hear them talking. In 2014, the Thomson report said that to maintain health care services at the same level, a 5.2% increase was necessary because of inflation, technological improvements as well as the aging and growth of the population. The percentage is 5.2%. Even my golden retriever understands that when they give us 3% and the cost increase is 5.2%, they do not pay their share and someone else has to pay. Do members see my point?

That is what is happening right now. We were getting 25%. Then it went down to 22% and it continues to drop. The Liberals think that 3% is a good idea, and it is. It is a great idea. The problem is that the government keeps making cuts to these transfers. The underfunding of health care is getting worse and it is becoming a chronic problem.

We try to explain that to the Liberals, but they do not understand. We are about to get out the puppets and crayons to explain to them how this works. I swear we are about to resort to that.

Suddenly, the pandemic strikes and the Liberals start throwing money around. The Prime Minister says that the government is going to help people. The Liberals move quickly and spend some $300 billion. Because this is a health crisis, we thought that, at some point, the government would provide funding for health care given that people are ending up in the hospital and dying.

Madam Speaker, for every 100 dollars spent during the pandemic, do you know how much was spent on health care? That would be 15 cents. I did not say 15 dollars, which would not have been enough either. I said 15 cents. It does not make sense. We are in a health crisis and the Liberals are spending 15 cents on health care for every 100 dollars. Plus, they think that is good. We have to rise in the House to table a motion and tell them to wake up, because they do not realize what they are doing to the health care system.

They say the Bloc Québécois is looking for a fight. That is not true. The governments of Quebec and the other provinces are saying that the funding is inadequate and that there is an urgent need to increase transfers to the provinces. The Bloc Québécois is not the only one saying this; so are all the Canadian provinces and Quebec. They have even put a figure on their request. They did not ask for 50%, because the Liberals would call Scrooge a spendthrift. They asked for 35%, thinking they could make do with that. Accordingly, they requested $28 billion from this government for health care, which is logical and justifiable.

Quebec spends 50% of its budget caring for people. I did say 50%. Moreover, that figure keeps going up, because the members opposite are not putting in their fair share year after year. That is where we are. We are up against a wall. This government will have to come to grips with it eventually, because we have people to care for, sick to heal and deaths to avoid. That is the Bloc Québécois's work today.

By saluting the medical workers who help us get through this pandemic, we are asking the government to help them to help us. It is the compassionate thing to do. That is all we are asking for. The evidence is clear. It is time for the Liberals to do their part.

[Fall Economic Statement, November 30th, 2020]

One tree has been planted. I planted an apple tree.

[Fall Economic Statement, November 30th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, the COVID-19 crisis is a health crisis. Health care is the jurisdiction of Quebec and the provinces.

The provinces and Quebec have been hammered by this crisis. Quebec alone is $3 billion short to meet the excessive demand caused by COVID-19. The federal government has slashed health transfers year after year. These transfers now represent just 22% of overall spending in Quebec and the provinces. This 22% helps the provinces. Quebec and the other provinces called on the government to provide an additional $20 billion to bring that percentage up to 35%. That was before COVID-19.

This government has presented an economic update and proposed a stimulus plan, but it has proposed nothing for health transfers, even though an increase in those transfers is the main demand of the provinces and Quebec. The government has no regard whatsoever for what the provinces and Quebec are going through right now.

The Liberals want a stimulus plan. That all depends on a vaccination plan.

They say they have bought lots of vaccine doses. They were panicking, of course. They knew they were behind the times, so they got busy buying more than they needed. That was not a smart move.

The smart move would have been to get ready for when the vaccine arrives. When will we get the doses? What is the timeline? How many doses will we get, and who will be vaccinated first? Which provinces will be prioritized because of their rates of infection? We have no information about any of that. What will the rules be around vaccinating people and sending doses to the provinces and Quebec? We have not heard a word about that. It is ridiculous.

We are in the middle of a health crisis. Why has the government not spared a thought for Quebec's and the provinces' health needs? Why is the government not taking meaningful steps toward creating a vaccination plan for all Quebeckers and Canadians?

[Health, November 30th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, we still do not have an answer.

Quebeckers have been in lockdown and have been making sacrifices for eight months. There is no end in sight to the pandemic, given that there were 1,333 cases today. People are losing their jobs, their businesses, their health and their lives.

What would it cost this government to realize that people deserve to know, that they deserve to be able to see the light at the end of the tunnel? What is the government waiting for? When will it unveil its vaccination plan?