House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2011, with 34% of the vote.
Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act October 18th, 2011
Mr. Speaker, I could not give my consent to the member's motion and I want to explain why. It is not that the motion is unsound; it is that he has a bad habit of not consulting the other parties—at least not ours—when moving this kind of motion. Therefore, we must refuse unanimous consent.
“MP for a Day” Competition October 7th, 2011
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to announce that Benjamin Laliberté, from the Victoriaville CEGEP, is the winner of the fifth “MP for a Day” competition.
This non-partisan competition aims to help young people learn about the realities of public life and to teach them about the work of politicians—and politics in general—while encouraging them to maintain a critical eye. This competition is a concrete way for me to show them how our democracy works.
Benjamin, a player for the Victoriaville Tigres in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, was declared the winner by a panel. The contestants were asked to evaluate free trade agreements that Canada has signed or is in the progress of signing, and to explain whether they benefit Quebec.
I would like to thank Jean-François Léonard, the political science and geography teacher at the Victoriaville CEGEP, with whom I organized the competition. I would also like to thank the Société Saint-Jean-Baptiste, the Sévégny-Baril duo from La Capitale as well as the UPA Centre-du-Quebec for their contributions to the scholarships awarded to the top three contestants.
Border Crossings October 6th, 2011
Mr. Speaker, on one hand, the government is negotiating a secret security perimeter agreement worth $1 billion to make the Americans happy. On the other, the government is reducing the hours of border crossings and customs offices or even closing them, which has negatively affected security, the economy and tourism in dozens of communities close to Jamieson's Line, Franklin Centre, Côte-de-Liesse, Morses Line, Drummondville, East Pinnacle, Granby, Glen Sutton and Port-Cartier.
How can the minister justify these cuts, which are hitting the people who use these services hard, when it can find $1 billion for the Americans?
Keeping Canada's Economy and Jobs Growing Act October 6th, 2011
Madam Speaker, democracy is being denied as a direct result of this gag order.
This should not come as a surprise to anyone here. When the Conservatives had a minority, beginning in 2006, a former adviser to the Prime Minister, Tom Flanagan, told the Conservatives to be patient, because once they had a majority, they could bulldoze over everything and do whatever they like. And that is exactly what they are doing.
With this bill, Quebeckers would have liked to talk about a Canada-wide securities commission. They would have liked to talk about a government that is once again pillaging the employment insurance fund without offering anything for unemployed workers. They would have also liked to talk about the government's decision to cut public funding of political parties.
So I would like to ask the government what it is so afraid of that would make it abuse democracy in this manner and prevent parliamentarians from doing their jobs and asking questions on behalf of Quebeckers.
Monarchist Symbols September 30th, 2011
Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives are clearly impressed by princess stories and seem willing to spare no expense to impose monarchist symbols: displaying the Queen's portrait at the Department of Foreign Affairs and in embassies, installing a stained glass window in the Senate, redesigning passports to include the crown, adding “royal” to the designation of the air force and navy, spending millions of dollars on royal visits, and I could go on.
Instead of applauding, is the already discredited President of the Treasury Board not ashamed to be spending so much money on archaic symbols rejected by the Quebec nation, when he is imposing such drastic cuts on services to the public?
Copyright September 29th, 2011
Mr. Speaker, multinationals and the software industry will be pleased with the copyright bill the government is introducing today, but it will cost artists close to $75 million a year. By attacking the livelihood of creators in this way, the Conservatives are showing that, for them, culture comes down to profit for big business.
Is the government aware that the copyright legislation that it is proposing will harm artists and weaken Quebec culture?
Safe Streets and Communities Act September 28th, 2011
Mr. Speaker, is the parliamentary secretary aware that Bill C-10 is absolutely unacceptable to Quebec? I have in my hands a unanimous motion from the National Assembly of Quebec that was submitted when the Conservative government introduced these omnibus justice bills, as it is doing now. The motion states that these bills do not protect Quebec's philosophy of rehabilitation and social reintegration in matters of youth criminal justice.
Youth centres in Quebec have all also spoken out against this type of bill, as has the Barreau du Québec, of course. If the parliamentary secretary is not already aware of this, I am letting her know now and I will forward her the documents. However, if she is already aware of this, can she tell me why the government does not agree to split the bill since it does have some good measures but it also has many measures that, as I said, are not acceptable to Quebec?
Justice September 28th, 2011
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Justice is claiming that Canadians approve of his omnibus justice bill. That is certainly not the case in Quebec, as we can see by the reactions of the National Assembly, the Quebec bar association and the youth centres. By imposing a gag order, the government is showing that it will stop at nothing to impose measures that have been formally rejected by Quebec.
What will it take before the Minister of Justice understands that Quebec is saying no to counterproductive measures that do not leave room for rehabilitation and increase imprisonment of young people?
Safe Streets and Communities Act September 27th, 2011
Madam Speaker, it is business as usual for the Minister of Justice, the master of demagoguery. The Conservative government and the Minister of Justice seem to feel that if we are not on their side, endorsing their measures—which are deeply controversial, especially in Quebec—we are siding with criminals. It is always the same story. We always hear the same thing from the minister, who knows full well that he does not have consensus within the justice system, again, particularly in Quebec.
This omnibus bill is deeply controversial. We are not saying that this bill does not contain some good measures. We know, as does the minister, that certain measures, particularly those concerning sexual offences against children and parole reform, are useful.
I think that everyone in the House agrees, and the minister knows that he could have tabled these measures separately from his omnibus bill and it would not have been an issue. They likely would have passed unanimously in the House of Commons.
As usual—and we see this with their budgets as well—the Conservatives are tabling bad measures alongside the good ones in this bill, which means that we have to come to a decision without debate. And they know that that does not work.
Did the minister consider splitting the bill so that certain measures would be passed more easily?
Government Spending September 23rd, 2011
Mr. Speaker, millions of dollars have been spent on personal travel by the former Governor General and the Chief of the Defence Staff for their vacations, by the defence minister for a fishing trip and by the Prime Minister for a hockey game, and now the CBC has revealed even more foolish spending on Challenger flights. Altogether, taxpayers paid $563,000 on unjustified air travel for the month of June alone.
Given so much wasteful spending, is the Minister of Finance not embarrassed by his little lecture to Europeans yesterday about their management of public money? Is that not the pot calling the kettle black?