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Crucial Fact

  • Her favourite word was women.

Last in Parliament October 2019, as NDP MP for Abitibi—Témiscamingue (Québec)

Won her last election, in 2015, with 42% of the vote.

Statements in the House

Cannabis Act June 1st, 2017

Mr. Speaker, I would like to talk about the process that led to this bill and that, I think, raises a number of questions.

In particular, in the drafting of this bill, we learned that a consultant was asked to do a study. The consultant, a friend of the Liberal Party, was paid $74,000 to find out how much marijuana costs on the street. Over time, we also learned that a number of Liberal Party friends are shareholders in marijuana companies, and that they stand to make money off this legalization.

Would the member care to comment on that, or on the fact that some people stand to make money on the legalization of marijuana?

Cannabis Act June 1st, 2017

Mr. Speaker, I will rephrase my question.

Of course, as parents, we all teach our children to obey the law. However, many young people have a criminal record because of an offence that will soon no longer be an offence.

I think it would have been better if the bill had solved this issue immediately. What is to be done with the criminal records of people arrested for simple possession of marijuana? The bill could have included provisions to wipe out these criminal records immediately. Unfortunately, that is not the case.

Does my colleague think that this issue should have been resolved instead of leaving it hanging? Ultimately, thousands of people will have to apply for a pardon, since this offence will soon no longer be an offence.

Cannabis Act June 1st, 2017

Mr. Speaker, the member mentioned being a parent.

As a parent, then, if one of her children had a criminal record because of marijuana use, because of simple possession of marijuana, does she think she would have appreciated the government including pardons for offences that will cease to be?

Children and the Future May 18th, 2017

Mr. Speaker, I know that I will likely soon have to answer the question, “Mom, why do you do the job you do?” I could answer that I do this job so that my daughter and her friends will have a future that I am proud of and that gives them hope.

I want my daughter and all of the other little girls in the world to have the same opportunities in life as boys. I want all indigenous children to have access to the same quality of education as my child does. I want my children to be able to go fishing on our beautiful lakes without being too afraid to eat the fish they catch.

When it comes time for my daughter to choose a profession, I want her to still have access to good quality jobs instead of living in insecurity. When it comes time for her to leave home, I want her to be able to find affordable housing. When it comes time for her to have her own children, I want her to be able to properly support them.

There are many other reasons why Mom does this job, and all of them come down to making the world a better place. It is not always easy, dear daughter, but we must never give up.

Business of Supply May 18th, 2017

Mr. Speaker, I would like my colleague to provide some information.

Will the approach proposed by this partnership, which is made up of people living daily with autism, help us save money in health care costs? This $19-million investment would actually be cost-effective, because it would help us save money through a better exchange of information about practices that might help families and patients.

Business of Supply May 18th, 2017

Madam Speaker, I think it is especially important that those affected be involved in the strategy development process. Strategies usually work when we create partnerships because we get input from people who actually have the affliction. Having the parents and resource people on hand provides an opportunity for real discussion.

Sometimes the communication and discussions in a partnership are more productive than legislation. That is why if it works, we should support it. The little things can become so complicated. I know a parent who wanted a service dog for his son, but there was no program or anything else available. He took matters into his own hands and launched a crowdfunding campaign online.

If he had been able to get support from people around him, that would have been helpful and taken a load off his shoulders.

Business of Supply May 18th, 2017

Madam Speaker, indeed, it is not always easy, and things can get out of hand quickly. For instance, a colleague and I had a young autistic patient. He assaulted my colleague, throwing her to the ground. We never understood why she was assaulted as opposed to anyone else, and we probably never will.

It is also a reality that parents have to live with. In some instances, they can no longer ensure their own personal safety. It is definitely not easy. As parents, we really want to be there for our children, so it must be really hard to decide between placing one's child in care, taking some time off or resorting to social services. Sometimes, however, that is the best solution. That is why partnerships where people can establish relationships with one another would enable stakeholders to better support people having to live with these kinds of situations.

Business of Supply May 18th, 2017

Madam Speaker, I consider myself lucky to be able to speak to the motion moved by my colleague from Edmonton—Wetaskiwin. He and I have often been able to chat because our offices were on the same floor during the 41st Parliament. I also met his son on several occasions. We have also shared some good laughs, like the time when his son wanted to give me hugs because he thought I looked like Barney. These are funny situations that can come up when we are with autistic people, who live in a world that we do not always understand. It can be unsettling, but we have to learn to react calmly. That is why I am particularly pleased to be talking about this issue.

I have friends and family with autistic children. It is the fastest growing neurological disorder in Canada, and affects one in 68 children. This increase may be artificially high because the disorder was under-diagnosed in the past. Nonetheless, the incidence of this neurological disorder has grown rather significantly, and this issue raises a lot of questions.

We still do not know why autism affects one child and not another. However, I would like to take a few seconds to cleary state that vaccines do not cause autism. I wanted to remind members of that because, unfortunately, the idea that vaccines cause autism is shared over the Internet fairly regularly. We need to counter such misinformation.

The partnership that was proposed and that began under the Conservative government does not seek to provide health care. It is very complex, but to summarize, the purpose of the partnership is to bring people together so that they can talk to each other, help each other, and feel less isolated. Parents who have a child with autism do not have it easy, because there is no one solution that will definitely help their child. As a result, they are often alone in trying to find solutions that work for their child.

A colleague that I worked with at the hospital once told me that he had to use pictograms with his autistic daughter who was unable to communicate. The young girl had a binder full of pictograms and communicated by pointing to the ones that best expressed her emotions and what she wanted to do and say. In order to come up with this strategy, my former colleague did his own research and found information online. He found a pictogram game, but the information he needed was not always available in French. The whole process was rather complex and it shows how parents are often on their own in trying to find ways to deal with their child's autism.

That is particularly true for parents who live in remote areas like mine and who do not necessarily have as many resources as people living in bigger cities. In my riding, there are no special schools. ASD affects one in 68 children, so it would be impractical to have a special school in a small community of 500 or 1,000 people because only one or two children out of 100 would go to that school.

Of course we do not have that. That takes resources. A partnership like the one that was proposed would have opened up a dialogue among, parents, people with autism, and the various stakeholders.

We must not forget that children with autism grow up to be adults with autism. It is a chronic disorder. Parents age, eventually they are unable to care for their children, and ultimately, they are gone. For thousands of parents, it is a race against time. They know they will pass away one day, and they are afraid because they do not know exactly what will happen to their children once they are no longer around to take care of them. It is extremely stressful.

They do their best to provide the most normal life possible for their children, but they know that their children are not normal, at least not according to society's standards. It is certainly not easy. The majority of people with autism will never get jobs. What it takes is extremely tolerant employers and extremely tolerant communities. What it takes is a community willing to get to know these people.

Take the example of a grocery store in the town closest to me, La Sarre. A young autistic man works there. There was an article about him in the town's newspaper, which not only explained what he does, but also told other employers what a dedicated worker he is. Making changes was not easy, but the owners did not regret their decision. The community also had to adapt. In the beginning, it was not always easy to understand what was happening and why the young man acted like he did.

Eventually the community came to understand him, and the young man is still working there. I see him regularly when I do my grocery shopping. That is a good example of acceptance.

However, many people with autism will never get a job or enter the job market. They will remain dependants, especially in small communities that do not necessarily have the resources to help these people thrive.

I can understand how stressful it is for parents to think that one day they will no longer be there and they do not know what will happen to their child. Parents want to do what is best for their children, but they sometimes get to the point where they are not sure what to do.

It is important to understand what parents go through and to know that one solution may work at a certain time, but not later.

When a child who is two, three, four, or five years old has a tantrum, it may be possible to calm him down. However, when a child becomes a big, strong adult, it is not always easy to deal with a tantrum because it is no longer possible to avoid the physical aggression, for example.

I am thinking of the son of my colleague from Edmonton—Wetaskiwin, Jaden, who has become quite strong and is now a young man. When he has a tantrum now, the situation is quite different from what it was when he was four or five years old.

This has a huge impact, and that is why parents need more support. We need to ensure that information can be shared. We are talking about a relatively low-cost program of about $19 million over five years. That is a small investment for a government to make. It would enable everyone to work together and share information. It will not solve all our problems, but it might help us tackle them more effectively.

It is incredibly petty on the part of the government to refuse to pay for a program like this, if you think about all the financial repercussions of autism on government operations and services in general.

I look forward to questions.

Questions Passed as Orders for Returns May 1st, 2017

With regard to the government policy on workplace day care centres: (a) what is the full list of departments or other public service entities in part 1, schedule 1 to the Public Service Labour Relations Act; (b) who is the designated officer within the department or entity that submits questions to the human resources branch of the Treasury Board Secretariat of Canada; (c) how many day care centres, broken down by department and city, should be planned so that the actual or proposed number of day care centres does not exceed one centre per 4,000 employees in the municipality or census subdivision as set out in the Geographic Location Master File; (d) what are the results of the surveys of federal public servants, broken down by department; and (e) what cumulative data is required, broken down by department and year, to assess the policy for each department since this policy was implemented?

Macamic and La Reine February 9th, 2017

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to come from a young and dynamic region that was built by the fortitude and optimism of the men and women who chose to settle in Abitibi West just 100 years ago.

That is why I would like to share with the House that Macamic and La Reine will also be celebrating their centennial this year. Macamic, my husband's hometown, is Algonquin for “lame beaver” and means “lake of wonders” in Cree. The people of Macamic will pay tribute to their founders at the celebrations taking place from July 14 to 22.

My own beloved birthplace, La Reine, calls itself the capital of the end of the world. The residents of La Reine invite everyone to take part in the celebrations being held at the end of the world from July 27 to 30.

I am privileged to have inherited this strength from our pioneers and it is with great pride that I will be celebrating this heritage with the people of Abitibi West this summer.