Daniel Petit

[National Defence, June 3rd, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, while our government practises open federalism, the Bloc Québécois is experiencing an unprecedented existential crisis, and can do nothing but create imaginary scandals to try to smear this government in order to justify its own presence in Ottawa.

But our government is taking action and doing tangible things for Quebeckers. For example, last week, the Minister of National Defence was in the riding of Saint-Jean for the official reopening of the Royal Military College Saint-Jean, which was shut down by the Liberals.

Could the minister tell the House how important this reopening is to the Canadian Forces?

[Historic Sites, May 27th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, on Friday, May 23, I had the honour of inaugurating the first visit to the Saint-Louis Forts and Châteaux National Historic Site of Canada in the heart of Quebec City. This site is of national historical importance because it was the seat of executive power for over 200 years.

The site is an important part of our country's history, and it is now open to the public for the first time since 1838. Visitors from all over will be able to walk around in what remains of the Saint-Louis forts and châteaux below the Dufferin terrace.

This year is the 400th anniversary of the founding of Quebec City, a historic date for all of Canada and for North America. I invite everyone to come to Quebec to celebrate with us and walk where Champlain established the heart of political, cultural and social life. That was when we really began to become who we are today, regardless of what the separatist Bloc leader says or thinks.

[Price of Petroleum Products, May 26th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, we both represent ridings that are having problems in the manufacturing sector. There are about three or four soft-sector businesses—footwear makers—in my riding. Even slight increases in the price of fuel cut into their profits.

I would also point out to my colleague that there are solutions that could have the following results. The Competition Bureau or the Commissioner of Competition could regulate or find out if prices are artificially high. But there are so many factors to consider that in the time it takes to investigate and rule on this, many companies could go bankrupt because prices will have climbed so high they can no longer afford to pay.

[Price of Petroleum Products, May 26th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, to answer my colleague's question, I also find that the time allocated to deliver a speech to the House is very short, especially on such an important matter. However, I will point out that each member of this House is discussing a particular aspect of the problem.

One of the major problems is as follows. In Quebec—I am from Quebec as is my colleague—what did we do? We nationalized electricity, we nationalized insurance, we nationalized education, we nationalized health, we nationalized the sale of alcohol, we nationalized gaming, we nationalized everything. The only answer I can give her is that, if she wants to consider another viewpoint, the only options remaining are to allow strong market forces to take their course or, quite simply, to nationalize refining companies such as Ultramar in Quebec City. That is the only thing left for them to do.

[Price of Petroleum Products, May 26th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to speak today during this emergency debate on the price of gas. I will be sharing my time with the member for Tobique—Mactaquac.

Obviously the high price of gas is of concern to all Canadians and all members of this House. We all know that rising gas prices are having an effect on the economy and on Canadians, both individuals and businesses. Motorists, truck drivers, taxi drivers—everyone is affected by gas prices. No one wants to pay more for gas, or anything else, for that matter. But as parliamentarians, we need to be clear about what we can and cannot do about this.

First, I would like to note that the federal government does not directly regulate retail gas prices, except in the case of a national emergency. The provinces have the power to regulate gas prices. As I am sure everyone knows, four provinces, Newfoundland and Labrador, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, have decided to limit retail gas prices. At the same time, Quebec has chosen to set a minimum gas price.

In addition to not wanting to interfere in a provincial jurisdiction, our government believes in competition and the market forces that have allowed our economy to prosper. Competition leads to innovation and economic growth. Canada has achieved sustained economic success thanks to privatization, free trade and deregulation. By relying on competition and market forces, our economy has grown.

Our government is determined to create the type of competitive environment that will make Canadians more prosperous. Nonetheless, we know full well that governments are not the source of prosperity. In our opinion, it is our government's job to create the conditions that will allow for innovation and entrepreneurship. Within such a framework, it is the private sector that will innovate, take risks and create wealth for the good of all Canadians.

Our government is fully committed to ensuring economic leadership for a prosperous future. To achieve that, we have developed our long-term economic plan, Advantage Canada, and other initiatives such as our science and technology strategy.

As we indicated in our recent economic statement, we will build on this by introducing important new measures that will help Canadian companies remain competitive, attract new investment to Canada, increase productivity and create more and better paying jobs for Canadians.

I also wish to point out that in July 2007 our government announced the creation of the Competition Policy Review Panel. This group's mandate is to examine two Canadian laws, the Competition Act and the Investment Canada Act. The panel must submit its report by the end of June 2008. We look forward to receiving their recommendations, which I am sure will help us ensure the effectiveness of Canada's policies on competition and investment and allow us to promote even more foreign investment and create more and better paying jobs for Canadians.

I just mentioned the Competition Act. Every time we talk about the price of gas in Canada, the Competition Act and the role of the Competition Bureau inevitably are mentioned. Since their roles continue to be misunderstood, I think it would help to take a moment to explain what the Competition Bureau is.

The Competition Bureau is an independent agency that contributes to the prosperity of Canadians by protecting and promoting market competition, and allowing consumers to make informed choices. Led by the Commissioner of Competition, the bureau investigates anti-competitive practices and ensures compliance with the laws under its jurisdiction. The commissioner is responsible for the administration and enforcement of the Competition Act. The act contains criminal and civil provisions that deal with mergers and abusive behaviour by those in a dominant position, for example.

With regard to gas, the Competition Bureau examines wholesale and retail gasoline prices to determine whether those prices are the result of market forces, especially during times of major fluctuations in prices. With respect to the petroleum industry, or any other industry for that matter, the bureau tries to determine whether the Competition Act has been violated. If there is sufficient evidence to show that the act has been violated, the bureau investigates and takes the appropriate action.

Over the years, the Competition Bureau has undertaken six major studies on the gasoline industry. The Bureau's investigations resulted in 13 criminal trials linked to gasoline and heating oil prices. Eight of these trials led to convictions.

In other words, the Competition Bureau intervenes when a factor other than market forces influences the price of a product such as gasoline. In general, by allowing supply and demand to determine prices, we obtain optimal resource distribution, which sends the right messages to producers and consumers. Higher prices indicate supply restrictions, encouraging producers to produce more and consumers to consume less.

Regulating prices or setting other restrictions would cloud these indicators and thus lead to poor resource allocation, which ends up hurting all consumers.

I would like to speak briefly about a Bloc Québécois private member's bill that is currently being studied by the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology. Bill C-454 proposes a number of amendments to the Competition Act.

The Bloc has made a clear link between Bill C-454 and the issue of high gasoline prices. In addition, the Bloc has stated that adopting Bill C-454 would solve the issue of high gasoline prices. That is not the case. None of the current amendments contained in Bill C-454 would impact gasoline prices as the Bloc has said.

Allow me to quickly give an example. At this time, with prices rising, the Competition Bureau often receives complaints from consumers who feel exploited by prices they feel are too high. Businesses are usually free to set their prices based on what the market will bear. Just because prices are rising does not mean that there has been an offence under the Competition Act or that someone must intervene to regulate prices.

High prices concern the bureau when they result from anti-competitive conduct contrary to the Competition Act, such as a conspiracy to increase prices. As I indicated earlier, when the Competition Bureau finds evidence of violations of the Competition Act, it takes the appropriate action. The Bloc included a provision in Bill C-454 to deal with price gouging. The Bloc indicated that this was needed to deal with gasoline prices that are considered too high, regardless of the reason for their increase. As we all know, there are various domestic and international factors that affect the price of gasoline.

Despite everything, the Bloc decided that there should be regulation of the gasoline sector with respect to prices and profit margins. The provision put forward in Bill C-454 would effectively mean that the federal government would be responsible for the regulation of gasoline prices.

As I said at the outset, the federal government has no jurisdiction over the direct regulation of retail gasoline prices except in the event of a national emergency. The provision in Bill C-454 would mean that the Competition Bureau would have to determine every day whether the price of gasoline was fair or too high.

As well, under Bill C-454, the Competition Bureau would have to make the same determination for practically every other product on a daily basis. Mr. Speaker, does that sound like a really effective solution to you?

As for the Liberals' suggestion to bring in a carbon tax, all that would do is drive up the price at the pump.

Although I believe that some members of the House would like the price of gasoline to be lower, we must be very careful that the proposals put forward do not have unforeseen consequences by opening huge sectors of the economy to price regulation by the federal government.

In conclusion, in contrast to the Bloc, I would like to make a helpful suggestion to Canadians. The Competition Bureau website contains information to help consumers understand the gasoline market. For additional information, I recommend Natural Resources Canada's website, Fuel Focus. This site provides clear, timely information about fuel prices and markets and ways to manage energy costs. Current, factual information on changing prices will help Canadians understand how world oil markets affect their lives.

[Official Languages Act, May 13th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, several of our government members have already had a chance to voice their opposition to Bill C-482. The only possible conclusion is that this is a bill intended to solve a non-existent problem. The 2006 census shows that French is doing well as the language of work in Quebec.

The census has been collecting data on the language of work since 2001, and the 2006 census shows that 99.2% of Quebec francophones use French most often or regularly at work. This figure speaks for itself. It is very hard, therefore, to claim that English poses a serious threat in Quebec and the federal government is responsible. The facts show that this is simply not the case.

Some 94.3% of all Quebec workers use French, with varying frequency. In addition, between 2001 and 2006, the percentage of immigrants who said they use French most often at work, either alone or together with another language, increased from 63% to 65%. There was also an increase in the proportion of anglophones who use French at work most often or regularly. I also want to remind the House that 69% of Quebec anglophones are bilingual now, in comparison with 63% just ten years ago. Under the circumstances, we really do not see the point of Bill C-482.

If we look at the results of the 2006 census on mother tongue and the language spoken at home, it becomes apparent that certain people have a tendency to draw hasty conclusions about major trends in our society, which in themselves do not pose a threat to the French language. It is true that many immigrants speak their language of origin in the home in order to pass it on to their children. Nevertheless, most of these people work in French and frequently use it in public. In addition, their children attend French-language schools and will eventually find it easy to migrate to this language.

Some concerns were raised last December and January about data on how easy it is for unilingual English staff to get hired in Quebec businesses. Everyone who is familiar with the statistics knows that this was not a serious study and it was undertaken mostly just to stir up trouble without really improving our understanding of the linguistic situation.

We also need to know that the situation in Montreal is not evolving in a vacuum. Every day some 270,000 people from the northern and southern suburbs of Montreal, most of them francophones, cross the bridges to go and work on the island. Nine out of ten of them use French at work: 73% most often and another 16% regularly. Under the circumstances, there is no reason to fear the worst, especially as the data show that the use of French in Montreal has remained stable.

In Canada as a whole, because of immigration, we see the same linguistic diversification and reduction in the proportion of people with English as a mother tongue. Given the importance of English in the world, it is hardly surprising that this is a consequence of our very necessary immigration.

The second good reason to oppose this bill is just as important, since is has to do with a truly Canadian value: the equality of status of English and French, and the commitment of the federal government to enhance the vitality of English and French linguistic minority communities in Canada. Our government cannot emphasize enough the principle that both official languages are equal.

With this bill, the Bloc is implying that the federal government is a threat to the French fact in Canada, when nothing could be further from the truth. Yet again, the Bloc proposes a backward-looking vision, where the knowledge of one language is necessarily a threat to another.

Through its official language policies, the government encourages not only francophone minorities, but also all Canadians, to learn French. That is why we now have a record number of Canadians who are able to speak both official languages.

The government supports the French fact throughout Canada and particularly supports francophone minority communities. There are more than one million francophones in our own country. This opens the door to the international Francophonie.

This year, the 400th anniversary of the founding of Quebec City, some important international Francophonie events will be held. Quebec City will host the next Sommet de la Francophonie from October 17 to 19, 2008. It is no coincidence that francophone heads of state and government are turning to Canada to hold their discussions. Canada is a beacon of support for the dissemination and promotion of the French language.

Canada is proud to be a partner in the celebrations, which highlight an important chapter of our history. We want the 400th anniversary of Quebec City to be a celebration all Canadians will remember. It is a great opportunity to celebrate the event, the francophone presence in the Americas, and the vitality of the French fact.

The two official languages of Canada are also languages with high standing internationally, let us not forget. French, which is one of the ten most commonly spoken languages in the world, ranks second for the number of countries where it is spoken, and in influence. Like English, French can be found on every continent, and it has official language status in 29 nations.

The Prime Minister has often said it, and I quote him without hesitation: we share a long-term vision of a Canada where linguistic duality is an asset both for individuals and for institutions across Canada.

The future depends on learning the second language, and even other languages, in a global economy and a spirit of openness to the world. Languages are the key that enables us to understand and appreciate other cultures.

The Canadian language framework that has been developed in recent decades originates in and is based on the principles and provisions found in our Constitution. Canadians today still say that these values are widely shared, and we will make sure that future generations have an opportunity to enjoy the benefits of bilingualism, one of Canada’s fundamental characteristics.

Our language industries are helping to position Canada on the international stage and they will continue to thrive in the years to come thanks to the cutting-edge research that is being done and will continue to energize this entire sector of the economy and thereby Canada as a whole. I would like to take this opportunity to note that Canada continues to be a world leader when it comes to translation and other activities of that nature. We are also a model for many countries in the management of linguistic duality.

In conclusion, we are determined to continue working to help the official language communities flourish, in a spirit of open federalism and in a way that respects the jurisdictions of the provinces and territories. Our approach to developing a new strategy is therefore aided by our continuing dialogue with the provinces and territories, and in particular by the work done by the Ministerial Conference on the Canadian Francophonie.

The provincial and territorial governments are the ones that can take direct action on issues of crucial importance to the vitality of official languages communities throughout Canada, and our government looks forward to working with them to promote Canada’s linguistic duality.

In recent years, the Government of Canada has developed a number of policies on official languages, and our government is working actively on the next phase of the action plan, in order to take into account social and demographic changes in Canada. We want to offer Canadians the support that is best suited to their needs. We want to help them preserve their linguistic and cultural heritage and reap the full benefits of that heritage and pass it on to future generations.

Our government will continue to build on existing accomplishments so that Canadians can benefit from all the advantages our country has to offer because of the unique cultural wealth our two official languages represent in North America.

[Bloc Québécois, May 12th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, one year ago today we might have thought that the Bloc leader finally saw the light at the end of the tunnel when he promised to return to the fold in order to “kick the PQ's butt”. He was rejected by headquarters and before he could even get to Trois-Rivières he was already back in Ottawa. The Ottawa-Quebec City return trip has never been so quick.

The leader of the Bloc decided to keep collecting his federal pay, and what did the Quebec nation get? Nothing.

For 18 years, Bloc MPs have been doing nothing but talk. They do not present legislative measures that become law. They do not draft any budgets. They do not make any investments. The Bloc struts about Quebec empty handed, simply to create division, with the sole purpose of justifying its presence in Ottawa.

Today, the permanent leader of the Bloc will rise to ask questions on an imaginary scandal, to try to tarnish this government, because the Bloc has no leadership, no consistent policy and no reason to be in Ottawa.

[Bloc Québécois, May 8th, 2008]

The Bloc has been stuck on the opposition benches for 18 years now, which gives Quebeckers of all political stripes good reason to ask themselves why the Bloc even exists.

Fortunately, for more than two years now, the 11 staunch Conservative members from Quebec have done more than just talk. They have been acting in the best interest of Quebec and Canadians.

[Bloc Québécois, May 8th, 2008]

To help the Quebec nation?

[Bloc Québécois, May 8th, 2008]

To help women?