Denis Trudel

[Business of Supply, March 31st, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, when we are talking about inflation, it is difficult to ignore the housing crisis.

A recent study by Scotiabank, which is not exactly an organization fighting for more social housing in Quebec, found that Canada would need 1.8 million housing units just to reach the G7 average.

A recent report by the National Housing Council, which oversees the big national housing strategy that was launched by the federal government five years ago, said that only 35,000 housing units had been built. We need 1.8 million housing units, but only 35,000 have been built.

In Quebec, 50,000 people are on a waiting list for low-income housing.

My colleague from Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques is fighting for housing in his riding. The vacancy rate is 0.2%. There is no housing to be had even in Rimouski. My colleague from Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot is also very involved in the housing issue. The housing market in Saint-Hyacinthe is extremely tight. In the budget that is coming on April 7, will the government actually be making major investments in housing?

The crisis is serious. It is affecting all of Quebec, but it is particularly hard on the most disadvantaged, women fleeing domestic violence, seniors, and people with mental health issues. This is one of the major crises of our time. On April 7, will the government take the crisis into account and make the necessary investments?

[Retirement Income, March 29th, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, my comments are in line with those of my colleague. We cannot be against virtue and against a motion to study seniors' standard of living at this time.

However, why should we undertake a study? Why should we care about a study? The seniors who call my office do not want a study, they want a cheque.

As we know, the pandemic was very hard on seniors. Furthermore, the government created two classes of seniors by sending cheques to those aged 75 and over. The cost of housing, groceries and medications is increasing.

The last thing in the world that seniors need is a study. They need a cheque.

[Online Streaming Act, March 29th, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, I have been listening to my Conservative friends and it seems that there is something they do not understand. The way things currently work is that everything goes to the people at the top. Everything goes to the biggest stars on the web, whether they are video or music stars.

I will give an example. Pierre Lapointe, who is hugely popular, has said that for one million streams of his song Je déteste ma vie on Spotify, he only received $500. At this time, artists on Spotify are paid on a pro rata basis. The company tallies up all the streams in a given month, and the artist receives a payment based on their average. In addition, 80% of the streams on digital platforms involve 20% of the titles on offer.

Unless we pass legislation, even Quebec's biggest stars will not be paid much for major hits that are listened to by a lot of people. We must pass legislation. We cannot rely on market forces because that just does not work.

[Online Streaming Act, March 29th, 2022]

Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his speech. I believe we feel the same way about this bill, which is very important for the discoverability of French-language content and is essential for Quebec artists. Members may not know this, but I used to be an actor. I have friends who really struggled during the pandemic, and this is a fundamental bill.

I would like to address something else with my colleague. He stated that platforms such as Facebook and Google are siphoning off advertising revenues. A recent UNESCO report found that Google and Facebook now soak up no less than half of all global digital advertising spending.

This bill does not address that threat. The fact that these major global platforms account for half of all advertising spending is a threat to democracy and independent media. Does my colleague believe that it is time to pass legislation to address this issue as quickly as possible?

[Online Streaming Act, March 29th, 2022]

Madam Speaker, I would like to know whether my colleague feels the same way she did when we were studying the previous version of this bill, which she said was designed to help artists that are stuck in the early 1990s because they have not managed to be competitive on new platforms.

I have already mentioned this here, but two days ago, Patrice Vermette, a Quebecker from my riding, won an Oscar for production design for his work on Dune. Denis Villeneuve directed the film, which won six Oscars. There is also Xavier Dolan, a Quebecker who is at Cannes almost every year. The Cirque du Soleil is from Quebec.

There are thousands of artists who represent Canada and Quebec and captivate audiences all over the world. These are the people that Bill C‑11 is designed to protect.

[Patrice Vermette, March 28th, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, the city of Longueuil and Quebec in general are hotbeds of exceptional talent.

We witnessed that yet again in spades at yesterday's Oscars. Patrice Vermette, a resident of my riding, won the Oscar for best production design for his absolutely stunning work on Dune by Quebec's Denis Villeneuve, another awesomely talented member of Quebec's film community.

This was Patrice Vermette's third Oscar nomination. From his Longueuil living room, in the midst of the pandemic, he brought his considerable talent and signature style to bear on translating Frank Herbert's epic masterwork into magnificent images.

Filmmaker Denis Villeneuve has worked with Mr. Vermette for 10 years, and he describes Vermette as a rare, singular talent. I congratulate Patrice Vermette on this extraordinary accomplishment, and I thank him for putting Quebec on the map in such a dazzling way.

[Economic and Fiscal Update Implementation Act, 2021, March 28th, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, I must admit that I had a bit of a hard time following my colleague's speech. He is worried that the government is not taking care of the debt for future generations. I think that is important too. He talked about the housing crisis and said that the tax on unused properties in Canada is inadequate. I completely agree with him.

I often hear the Conservatives criticizing what the government is doing on the housing file, but I do not hear them proposing a whole lot of solutions. In a study a month or two ago, Scotiabank, which is supposedly one of their friends, said that there is a shortage of 1.8 million housing units in Canada to address the crisis.

My colleague pointed out that housing prices have doubled since the Liberals took office, but accessibility also includes the availability of more housing. What solutions does the Conservative Party propose to address this shortfall of 1.8 million housing units in Canada?

[Business of Supply, March 24th, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, I congratulate you on your excellent work.

I think that the pandemic has shown how fragile the health care system is in Quebec and across Canada. We know that seniors in long-term care homes were hard hit. It was hard to find people to work in those facilities. There was not enough money.

Now that my colleague is in power or on the government's side, I would like to know whether he will acquiesce as soon as possible to the call of Quebec and every province in Canada to increase health transfers from 22% to 35% so that the same tragedies we experienced in Quebec and across Canada will not happen again during a future pandemic.

[Business of Supply, March 24th, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, we basically agree. Everyone is tired of the pandemic, tired of the measures and just plain tired. The vaccine passport was eliminated, and everyone was happy. We are still wearing masks. We are fed up.

On Friday evening, I went to the Théâtre du Nouveau Monde, and there were 800 people crammed in, wearing masks. We cannot take it anymore. It was even a little ridiculous, because at one point in the show, the actors come into the audience, so they had to put on a mask. It totally broke the spell. We are eager to be done with all this, but we are not there yet. We cannot put the cart before the horse.

My colleague spoke extensively about scientists, but what does he have to say to Dr. Boileau, Quebec's interim public health director, who said yesterday that Quebec would inevitably see another spike in COVID-19 cases? In Quebec, the science on health says we must be careful.

What does my colleague say to that?

[Business of Supply, March 22nd, 2022]

Madam Speaker, this motion is about inflation, and I believe the prices of all goods are going up these days.

As my colleague said, there is no ignoring the housing crisis. A few weeks ago, Scotiabank, which is not exactly an organization that advocates for more social housing in Canada, published a study indicating that Canada is 1.8 million units short of the G7 average.

Five years ago, the federal government launched its big national housing strategy, which included plans to invest $72 billion. Recently, the National Housing Council, which oversees the implementation of the strategy, revealed that only 35,000 units have been built to date, even though we are halfway through the strategy's timeline. We now know that Canada needs another 1.8 million housing units.

Does my colleague not think that it might be time to launch a major social housing project in Canada?