House of Commons photoLost her last election, in 2015, with 23% of the vote.
Festivals and Special Events June 1st, 2007
Mr. Speaker, organizers of major festivals and smaller ones are all panicking. Why target festivals? After all, they are a source of money, through taxes, for the state. This is taxpayers' money. When will the government give them their money?
Instead of creating another fiasco, as it did with the summer career placement program, why does the government not apply the existing Quebec criteria, and thus save the festivals while there is still time?
Festivals and Special Events June 1st, 2007
Mr. Speaker, my question is on the funding of festivals. First, it was the Minister of Canadian Heritage and Status of Women, and now it is the Minister of Industry, who said yesterday that his government does not throw money away.
The government justifies its refusal by saying that it wants to avoid another sponsorship scandal. This is ridiculous. It is not the festivals that were responsible for the scandal: it is the Liberals. Quebec is offering to the minister, as a temporary solution, to apply its own criteria. Are we to understand that, by turning down Quebec's solution, the minister is suggesting she does not trust Quebec's ability to save the festivals?
Quebec Collective Kitchens Association May 31st, 2007
Mr. Speaker, the Quebec Collective Kitchens Association is celebrating the 25th anniversary of its foundation. These kitchens pool together time, money and skills to prepare healthy, inexpensive and appetizing meals that are served to school age children among others.
Since 1995, the number of collective kitchen groups has gone from 500 to over 1,400, a 280% increase. Last year, these groups fed approximately 37,000 people. In Quebec, close to 7,000 participants get together to cook healthy meals. This means that, every month, thousands of people eat some 850,000 healthy, balanced and inexpensive meals.
The Bloc Québécois and myself congratulate the Quebec Collective Kitchens Association, and we urge it to continue its work in the community.
Foreign Affairs May 11th, 2007
Mr. Speaker, the Canadian embassy's kiosk and that of a private school in Montreal were closed during an education fair in Saudi Arabia. The Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice closed the kiosks because the representatives working there were women.
Will the Minister of Foreign Affairs personally lodge a formal complaint with Saudi authorities to inform them of our utter disapproval of how these three women were treated by the religious police?
International Cooperation May 11th, 2007
Mr. Speaker, a demonstration will be held today on Parliament Hill to urge the government to meet an international assistance objective of 0.7% of our GDP.
How is it that the government feels free to invest millions of dollars in military equipment, but when it comes to international assistance, the increases fall well short of the objective of 0.7% of the GDP?
Afghanistan May 4th, 2007
Mr. Speaker, in light of the government's obvious desire to maintain the culture of secrecy and given the Prime Minister's clear contempt for the Afghan prisoners, will the government make a commitment here today to report to this House on a regular basis regarding the implementation of this new agreement?
Afghanistan May 4th, 2007
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has repeated that the allegations of torture are nothing more than the claims of a handful of Taliban prisoners and he is accusing the opposition of destroying troop morale by exposing these cases of torture. Colonel Noonan is not a member of the Taliban. He is a former task force commander in Afghanistan and he confirmed that soldiers did their job by regaining custody of a prisoner who had been tortured.
In the Prime Minister's opinion, what destroys troop morale more, questions from the opposition or the concealment of an internal report that confirms the torture of prisoners?
Government Buildings May 3rd, 2007
Mr. Speaker, on the recommendation of companies belonging to the Bank of Montreal and Royal Bank groups, the government is getting ready to sell nine buildings in its inventory.
This would be unremarkable if the two companies proposing the sale were not also going to get a commission on the sale. The whole thing smacks of conflict of interest.
How can the government claim to be protecting taxpayers' interests when the two banks have a vested interest in suggesting that these buildings be sold so that they can get a commission for brokering the deal?
World Press Freedom Day May 3rd, 2007
Mr. Speaker, freedom of the press, which we are celebrating today, is one of the basic principles of democracy, which is based on freedom of opinion, freedom of thought and freedom of expression.
Unfortunately, in many countries around the world, this freedom often comes under attack.
The Bloc Québécois has always vigorously stood up for every person's right to his or her opinion. Those who would take that right away from others become slaves to the views they hold at that time because they abdicate the right to change their own opinions. As a result, they cannot remain true to themselves.
Thomas Paine said that “infidelity does not consist in believing or in disbelieving; it consists in professing to believe what one does not believe. It is impossible to calculate the moral mischief that mental lying has produced in society”.
The Bloc Québécois sincerely hopes that assaults on these basic freedoms, including freedom of the press, will end once and for all.
Tourism Awards April 27th, 2007
Mr. Speaker, on March 21, Tourisme Laurentides recognized its regional winners at the Grands Prix du tourisme Desjardins Laurentides 2007 gala.
In the category of tourism restoration-development, Sainte-Anne-des-Plaines' country-style restaurant La Conclusion won the gold.
Its owners, Chantal and Gilles Fournier, are very deserving of this honour, since they are members of Agricotours, and especially since their restaurant is certified country-style dining. With their hard work, their passion, their hospitality and the quality of their service, they have given our region a place to feature local products from my riding.
La Conclusion was also awarded the Coup de coeur du public award for agri-tourism, and on May 4 we will hear whether La Conclusion will win the Grand Prix du tourisme québécois. We wish them the very best of luck.