Alain Therrien

[Public Safety, February 26th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, what has happened since the police dismantled the blockade in Belleville? Other blockades have gone up, in Kanesatake, in Lennoxville, in Gaspé and on the North Shore. In Kahnawake, in my region, the blockade is still up. The number of protesters has increased, and the blockade is bigger than ever.

We need to address the source of this problem. Unfortunately, only the Prime Minister of Canada can do so. I always thought that he had his head in the clouds, but now I see that it is firmly buried in the sand.

On behalf of Quebeckers and the people of La Prairie, my question for the Prime Minister is this: Will he finally stand up, respond, take action and fix this problem?

[Public Safety, February 26th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, CP obtained an injunction against those responsible for the rail blockade in Kahnawake. The peacekeepers are responsible for enforcing it, but they said no. As usual, the Prime Minister did nothing and made it Quebec's problem. However, the Sûreté du Québec cannot go to Kahnawake. That is obvious.

What happens now?

The people of Kahnawake have set up a blockade to protest against a problem in British Columbia. The solution is therefore in British Columbia, and the Government of Quebec cannot do anything in British Columbia.

Will the Prime Minister finally address the problem in British Columbia?

[Emergency Debate, February 25th, 2020]

He was talking about your energy corridor.

[Cancellation of Teck Frontier Mine Project, February 25th, 2020]

Madam Speaker, I commend the member on her speech.

However, I have to wonder about the fact that Canada imports oil from Saudi Arabia. Canada produces so much oil that, in addition to meeting Canadian demand for oil, it is our biggest export. We are the fourth-largest producer in the world.

The message sent by Teck Resources, a private company, is that the market has dried up and it is time to begin diversifying our economy. Alberta needs to diversify its economy.

Why not do it now? This is the perfect opportunity.

[Business of Supply, February 25th, 2020]

Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague from New Westminster—Burnaby.

Historically, the fathers of Canadian Confederation decided that health should be the responsibility of the provinces and Quebec. The government has since revealed a very obvious thirst for centralization. Last year, the federal government intruded further and further into areas of provincial authority by exploiting its spending authority. What is being proposed here is a blatant intrusion into Quebec's jurisdiction. The Quebec government has always been against this idea, so much so that it called for the right to opt out with compensation. That element is missing from my colleague's motion.

My question is very simple. Given that this falls under Quebec's jurisdiction, that you are spending money that should be made available to Quebeckers through the federal health transfers, and that you are spending that money according to your own inclinations, how do you think Quebeckers are going to take this?

[Traffic Accident on Highway 15, February 20th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday was a difficult day for the community of La Prairie. Sadly, two people were killed and at least 60 others injured in a pile-up involving nearly 200 vehicles. It is a real tragedy. My thoughts and those of my colleagues are with the families affected by this tragic accident.

At this difficult time, I want to acknowledge the tremendous work done by the various response services, the fire department, police forces, paramedics, authorities in Quebec and the city of La Prairie and its mayor, Donat Serres.

Sometimes the importance of these people who show bravery and composure in situations like the one yesterday goes unacknowledged as sadness and disbelief take hold. We are lucky to be able to rely on people like them at such difficult times.

In closing, the hon. member for Saint-Jean and I extend our condolences to the families and loved ones of the two victims.

[Exporail, February 19th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister gave the Minister of Canadian Heritage the mandate to review our national museums policy to ensure that people can access history.

My riding is home to Exporail, the only museum that specializes in railways. The Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage recommended granting this museum national museum status in 2007, but nothing has happened since then.

A review of the legislation would be the perfect opportunity to pay tribute to everyone who worked on building our railways in Quebec and Canada.

The first meeting of that committee is taking place today, very soon in fact, and I wish the members a constructive first meeting. Above all, I hope they will remember that their country was built on its railroads.

As we have seen these past few days, rail transportation is still very important.

[Relations with Indigenous Peoples, February 18th, 2020]

Madam Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for his question.

From what I heard, it seems that Mr. Norton is setting down “his conditions” to resolve the situation in British Columbia. One of those conditions, which is also one of the proposed solutions, is to have the RCMP withdraw. Obviously there is a connection between the two, and the member was right to mention it.

This is a situation where we need to sit down and negotiate. We need to work together to find solutions, but I repeat that someone needs to take charge. In negotiations, the parties need to pull in a single direction to move forward the right way and that means someone needs to take charge.

Unfortunately, this government and the Prime Minister are not taking the initiative. At some point, they will have to take charge because my constituents are waiting for someone to resolve the situation.

[Relations with Indigenous Peoples, February 18th, 2020]

Madam Speaker, I thank the member for her question.

Yes, last week, I contacted the office of Joseph Norton, the grand chief of the Kahnawake band council, but we were unable to meet because of scheduling difficulties. I am still waiting for his call.

Since they know a little bit about how this works, these people often prefer to talk to the minister or the Prime Minister. I am sure the member will agree with me. I tried anyway, and I hope he will call me back.

[Relations with Indigenous Peoples, February 18th, 2020]

Madam Speaker, I want to inform you that I will be sharing my time with the hon. member for Pierre-Boucher—Les Patriotes—Verchères.

I am not proud of this, but in some ways, the people of La Prairie were the pioneers of the sad situation were are currently experiencing. As of last Monday, over 3,000 people in my part of the country were denied access to public transportation because of a blockade set up by about a dozen individuals in Kahnawake. We are not sure of the exact number. We were therefore the first to suffer the consequences of the crisis and my riding was truly a microcosm of what is currently happening across Quebec.

Since I am somewhat responsible for the well-being of my constituents, I tried to improve the situation and even solve the problem. One can always hope. I asked the question this morning and the discussion was going in that direction this afternoon: I looked for the government member responsible for taking care of the situation. I looked for the person responsible for resolving the crisis, but that was no easy feat.

I told myself that there must be a conflict since the band chief indicated that it was not the band council that told the protesters to set up the blockade but that he would not get the peacekeepers to intervene to prevent them from doing so.

That is when I understood that this was a communication problem, unless it was simply a problem between various indigenous people on the reserve. Then I thought it was a problem related to the management of relations with indigenous peoples, and since we have two ministers looking after the issue, I would have a good chance of getting one of them to help me.

I first tried to call the office of the Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations. I never heard back. It felt a little like calling a hospital, where no one answers. I left messages, but I never heard back.

Then, I thought I should try the second minister, and so I called the Minister of Indigenous Services. I was sure he would answer, but I was wrong. Later that day, after writing to him, we received an email informing us that it was the Minister of Transport who was looking after this file. That is when I started to worry.

We reached out to the Minister of Transport who told us that CN had obtained an injunction against the protesters blocking its rail lines. Then, all communication stopped.

First of all, CP serves my riding; not CN. That information was not helpful. Second of all, not long after, I heard the minister on TV saying that it was not the federal government's problem, that it was a provincial problem and that it was up to them to maintain order.

I was very worried. When I see my Conservative colleagues shaking their fists and acting like G.I. Joe, I get worried. Why? I get worried because someone acted like G.I. Joe in my riding back in 1990 and it did not go well. Thirty years later we are still seeing the consequences. Scars have remained.

As a result, when I saw this situation taking place last week, I thought that we would have to negotiate; find someone who will negotiate. I see you looking at me, Madam Speaker, wondering who was the lucky elected official or leader who helped me.

That is a good question, because neither of the two ministers helped me. I thought one of them might even be an urban legend. Surely she did not exist, since I never saw her anywhere and she never responded to me.

I am a nice guy who likes good relations. The ministers responsible for indigenous affairs can see that the first problem to arise in Quebec was in Kahnawake. As a member of Parliament, I was expecting one of the ministers to ask in which riding this was taking place. It was all taking place in La Prairie. Perhaps I should give them a call, tell them not to panic, that we are there, and so on.

That is what I hoped for, but it is not at all what happened. The opposite happened. I turned to the Minister of Transport. I was disappointed. This crisis management is a string of disappointments.

I find it problematic to see the Prime Minister in Africa trying to get seats on the Security Council when security in his own country is not going well. It is also problematic when the Deputy Prime Minister is nowhere to be found.

Six days later, my constituents were forced to take a bus. I called the company Exo, which is really helping my constituents by providing them with bus transportation. The people at Exo told me that they were emergency measures. In other words, the service was limited, it would not last and we would no longer have the nice buses. Drivers from Abitibi and Trois-Rivières who came to help out would stop coming. The situation was dire.

Today, I realize that we have lost eight or nine days. The people in my riding are feeling the effects of eight days of this government's inaction. Nothing has happened. It has not even taken a step in the right direction.

These people are suffering the consequences of the Prime Minister's inaction, empty words and lip service. In 2015, he was talking about reconciliation with the first nations people. Today, I heard him announce that there would be a ministerial statement. I thought we were going to learn something. No such luck. He read the text he read during the 2015 election. What kind of progress was achieved between 2015 and 2019? The answer to that is obvious to Dalida fans: “words, words, words”. He did not make any progress. Nothing happened. This crisis was wholly concocted. Later, in 10, 15, 20 or 30 years, when crisis management is being taught, the Liberal government's masterpiece from last week will likely be held up as an example. It will be said that this was the most epic failure of crisis management. People will wonder if this is possible. Indeed, it is.

The crisis reared its head in 2010. In 2010, some people had erected cabins in retaliation for approval of Coastal GasLink. In 2019, the first arrests were made. In December, the RCMP decided to send in Chuck Norris-style snipers. They sent in snipers. That may seem funny, but it is not funny to my constituents who are waiting for the bus. They came up with this idea. This government thought it would be a good idea to send in snipers. It is unbelievable. We cannot remain silent on that.

This crisis unfolded following the repeated and constant inaction of this government. In today's ministerial statement, it was more of the same lip service. Was there a hint of potential management? No. All we have is a statement that was made on Friday by the Minister of Transport, who told us the situation was serious and there were many consequences to the crisis. Okay, but what are they doing? Who is going to manage this crisis? Who is going to take care of it? We are still waiting.

The Bloc Québécois has been saying all week that we need a crisis committee and a mediator and that we should have been back in the House yesterday to fast-track progress toward the outcome everyone wants, which is a resolution. That is what everyone here wants.

This government needs to wake up and deal with the situation. People in my riding are waiting, and they are starting to get fed up.