Bernard Généreux

[Community Organizations in Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, January 29th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, Guy Drouin from CDC Ici Montmagny L'Islet, Lysanne Tanguay from the Centre d'entraide familiale de la MRC de Montmagny, Karine Jean from the Carrefour d'initiatives populaires de Rivière-du-Loup, Christiane Vincent from the Centre d'action bénévole des Seigneuries, Bernard Gaudreau from the Comité de la famille et des aînés de la Ville de Montmagny, Mireille Lizotte from Moisson Kamouraska, Gilles A. Pelletier from Saint-Vincent-de-Paul de Rivière-du-Loup, Paule Giasson from the Maison de secours La Frontière, Daniel Darveau from Soupe au bouton, Mélanie Dumont from the CDC du Kamouraska and all their employees and big-hearted volunteers work to provide food services to people in need, particularly during the Christmas season. I thank them for that. Without them, our communities would not be what they are today. With the help of my friend Francis Paradis, I myself was able to deliver Christmas hampers last year. When everyone is going through hard times, sharing is good for the soul.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your commitment to others, and thank you to the generous donors.

[Points of Order, January 28th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to bring to your attention that the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance's Internet connection was abysmal. I did not understand most of what she said.

I am putting myself in the shoes of the interpreters, who have to try to interpret the remarks of someone with such a bad Internet connection. I am not sure if members are aware of it, but this is significantly hindering the work of the interpreters. That is why I moved a motion at the Standing Committee on Official Languages to study the issue. All the interpreters are buckling under the strain because Zoom does not work well and this exposes them to certain health and safety risks and problems.

Once again, I would like to bring to your attention the fact that every parliamentarian must check the quality of their Internet connection.

[Small Business, January 25th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, the economic recovery is about to take a nosedive. The vaccination campaign, which is the only way out of the crisis, has just hit a wall.

According to CFIB, 180,000 businesses could close down and 2.4 million additional jobs could be lost, mostly in the arts, culture, tourism and food service industries.

What measures is the government proposing to help business owners hang on for another eight to 10 months, if the majority of the country is not vaccinated by September 2021?

[Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, December 11th, 2020]

Madam Speaker, last month, I asked the Minister of Immigration about the unacceptable delays in processing applications for workers who are already in the country, spousal sponsorship cases, and other foreign workers who are still waiting their turn. Canadian businesses are losing contracts because of these delays.

The minister talked about increasing capacity in order to process 6,000 applications a month. At that rate, it will take 10 years.

Can he explain his math and guarantee that businesses will have access to foreign workers in 2021?

[André Gagnon, December 4th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, André Gagnon, known to his friends as Dédé, was born in Saint-Pacôme, in my riding. He started playing piano when he was five. He attended the Collège de Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pocatière and pursued his musical studies at the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal.

André Gagnon maintained close relationships with his family, his friends, and the place he was from. Throughout his career, he accompanied many high-profile artists, including Claude Léveillée, Monique Leyrac, Renée Claude and many more. Mr. Gagnon was a prolific composer of music for TV series, movies, dance and theatre, including the theme songs for La Souris verte and Forges du Saint-Maurice. He was made an Officer of the Order of Canada.

Songs of his like Neiges, Comme au premier jour, Nelligan and Le Saint-Laurent are touchstones for our memories. Now and forever, our hearts will swell with pride whenever we hear his music reverberating from keyboards around the world. André Gagnon is a jewel in Kamouraska's crown, and he will live on in the concert hall that bears his name in La Pocatière.

My sincerest condolences to those mourning his loss.

Farewell, Mr. Gagnon.

[Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, November 27th, 2020]

Madam Speaker, Dany Tremblay, the CEO of Plastiques Gagnon in Saint-Jean-Port-Joli has been waiting since June 1, 2019, for the foreign workers he hoped to bring in from Madagascar because they are not only qualified, but also francophone.

The labour market impact assessment has been complete since last year, but because of this government's delays, Mr. Tremblay just lost a $4-million-a-year contract that went to a plant in Mexico instead.

The Government of Canada has 300,000 employees. What is the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship waiting for? When will he reassign as many of those employees as necessary to do something about these these completely unacceptable delays?

[Status of the French Language in Montreal, November 25th, 2020]

Madam Chair, in his speech, my colleague spoke about witnesses who submitted reports and who appeared before the Standing Committee on Official Languages to testify about the importance of modernizing the act.

Witnesses not only appeared as individuals and as researchers to tell us that, but organizations like the Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne du Canada or FCFA, even came up with an entire bill, from A to Z, that they submitted to the Senate and our committee for review to speed up the development of new legislation.

I would like to ask my colleague whether the Standing Committee on Official Languages, which the minister says is independent, can immediately come up with a government plan based on all of the reports that were submitted.

[Status of the French Language in Montreal, November 25th, 2020]

Madam Chair, my colleague spoke about the roadmaps that various governments presented in the past to advance the cause of French in Canada.

I have been a member of the Standing Committee on Official Languages since 2009. I was not there from 2011 to 2015, but I came back in 2015 and I have been there since then.

The Standing Committee on Official Languages made representations a number of times. Reports were submitted by both the House of Commons Standing Committee on Official Languages and the Standing Senate Committee on Official Languages. Many letters were sent to the minister, even in recent months. I found that out from various committee members, including the deputy chair and the chair.

These letters were sent directly to the Minister of Official Languages, who forgot something important in one of her answers to the House. She said that she had never received any correspondence in the five years since she became the Minister of Official Languages.

I would like to give my colleague the opportunity to correct the minister's mistake.

[Status of the French Language in Montreal, November 25th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, first I would like to thank my colleague for his excellent speech and his incredible presentation, as well as the quality of his comments, which are very much in tune with what is currently happening.

Our party, and of course his party, along with all our colleagues in Quebec, wants to defend the French language to the best of our ability. The problem we are currently having with this government is that it does not keep its promises. One of its key promises in recent years was that it would modernize the Official Languages Act, but that has not yet been done. We are still waiting, and it plans to put out a white paper to once again delay the tabling of a modernized official languages act.

I would like my colleague to speak about this.

[The Holiday Season in Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, November 25th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, today I would like to commend all chambers of commerce, particularly those in Montmagny, Kamouraska-L'Islet and Rivière-du-Loup for their buy-local initiatives during the holiday season.

Many of my riding's business owners and artisans are not feeling very festive because they will have to make some tough business decisions soon. I would also like to commend the bold steps taken by associations, community groups and foundations to raise funds for those in need.

They are organizing ingenious charitable activities, cooking benefit meals to go, fashioning their own face masks, hosting virtual performances, and more.

Now, more than ever, is the time to show community spirit by rolling up our sleeves and encouraging local business owners, who are the lifeblood of our municipalities. I would like to pledge my support to all volunteers who are preparing meals and food baskets for families that never would have thought they would need to ask for food to meet their needs in these difficult times.

My team and I are here for them. We wish them all a happy holiday season, despite the situation.