François Choquette

[Criminal Code, May 2nd, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I want to congratulate my hon. colleague on her excellent speech. It was very well delivered and very well explained. Truly, I could not have done better.

I also want to thank my hon. colleagues from Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot and Victoria for their excellent work on this special committee to arrive at the findings we have here.

What struck me most in my colleague's speech was the issue of palliative care. The NDP worked very hard to put in place a palliative care strategy. In my riding, we have Maison René-Verrier, which does excellent work for people who, sadly, are at the end of their life. It is very important to support those people, to be very close to them, and to help them get through this stage we must all go through.

I would like my hon. colleague to say a bit more about the importance of providing palliative care. Unfortunately, the Liberal government still has not delivered on its promises on palliative care.

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, May 2nd, 2016]

With regard to the Translation Bureau (TB), which falls under the responsibility of Public Works and Government Services Canada: (a) since 2013-2014, broken down by year, (i) how many translator, interpreter, terminologist and reviser positions has the TB had, (ii) how many client institutions has the TB had; (b) what is the total amount billed to the TB’s client institutions for (i) translation or revision services, (ii) interpretation services; (c) what are the estimated costs of implementing a machine translation tool as of April 1, 2016; (d) what studies were undertaken on (i) the justification for implementing a machine translation tool, (ii) the impact of a machine translation tool on bilingualism in the public service, (iii) the quality of the texts translated by a machine translation tool, (iv) the costs associated with implementing a machine translation tool; (e) since 2005-2006, broken down by year and by department, what has been the total value of the contracts sent to external suppliers rather than the TB, broken down by contracts for (i) translation, (ii) interpretation, (iii) revision; (f) what financial and human resources, in terms of staff working in full-time equivalent (FTE) positions, has the TB devoted to developing its machine translation tool; (g) since 2011-2012, broken down by year and by department, what financial and human resources, in terms of FTEs, have been devoted to external suppliers and allocated to (i) contracting with suppliers for translation and revision, (ii) management of the contracts referred to in (i), (iii) quality assurance for these contracts; (h) since 2005-2006, broken down by year and by department, how many words have been translated by external suppliers rather than the TB; (i) since 2005-2006, broken down by year, how much has the TB paid suppliers of translation services with which it has contracted; (j) since 2005-2006, broken down by year, what financial and human resources, in terms of FTEs, has the TB devoted to (i) contracting with suppliers for translation, (ii) management of these contracts, (iii) quality assurance for these contracts; (k) since 2013-2014, broken down by month, how many words have been sent to the TB by client institutions and (i) translated by translators who are indeterminate employees of the TB, (ii) translated by TB suppliers; (l) has the government taken steps to hire new employees between now and 2019-2020, and if so, how many translators will be hired internally, broken down by year, (i) in indeterminate positions, (ii) in temporary positions; and (m) what is the TB’s current pricing structure?

[Business of Supply, April 21st, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I have been listening to my hon. colleague for a few minutes now, and he seems to have gotten pretty far off track from today's debate topic. We are talking about diafiltered milk and the seriousness of allowing it to cross our borders. We are calling on the Liberal government to take immediate action. It is all well and good to talk about measures to improve the environment and agriculture, but these measures would be relevant in another debate, another day. Today's topic is diafiltered milk. Members are supposed to stick to the subject at hand. I know that we can be a bit flexible, but members must still stick to the topic. I have not, or just barely, heard him mention diafiltered milk.

[Business of Supply, April 19th, 2016]

Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my hon. colleague from Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie for his excellent speech. He really covered all the important points.

We are dealing with a major ethical issue that, quite frankly, is of serious concern. It is as just as worrisome as the Nigel Wright affair, when Mr. Wright gave Mike Duffy a cheque for $90,000. That scandal was extremely worrisome and it is not over for the Conservatives.

Just six months after taking office, the Liberal government is already involved in scandals and its ministers have already shown a complete lack of judgment. That is very disappointing.

While the government is dealing with that lack of judgment, it is not dealing with files that all Canadians, including the people in my riding of Drummond, really care about.

For example, the government is not doing anything to advance the development of official languages. In its budget, the Liberal government could have indexed the amounts allocated to the roadmap. It could have indexed the amounts allocated to the Commissioner of Official Languages. The same is true with regard to the environment. The government is not doing anything in this area, which is really disappointing.

The people of the greater Drummond area want the government to invest in green energy and energy efficient retrofits. That could help drive our regions' economies and ease the transition to a low-carbon economy.

I really have more of a comment than a question for my hon. colleague. I would like to congratulate him on his speech and tell him that it is really important to keep working for our constituents, as we are doing, and not as the Liberals and Conservatives are doing. It is really shameful that these sorts of scandals are happening again.

[The Budget, April 14th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for his speech and comments. I really enjoy working with him on the Standing Committee on Official Languages.

Speaking of which, I am wondering why the budget does not contain additional efforts to promote linguistic duality. For example, the budget of the Commissioner of Official Languages is still frozen and so is the budget for the ACFA under the roadmap. Those budgets have not been indexed for nearly 10 years. That is very worrisome.

Another thing that really worries me about this budget is that it does not really include many measures to combat climate change, even though such measures are necessary.

Unfortunately, as members know, the Liberals went to Paris with the same targets as the Conservatives, when everyone, even the Liberals, were saying that the Conservative targets were minuscule and that the Conservatives were certainly not doing what was needed to combat climate change.

We are still waiting for the Liberals to present a serious plan. Unfortunately, greenhouse gas emissions will increase in the coming years. As a result, we need to make a clear and drastic shift toward green energy.

[The Budget, April 14th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my hon. colleague for his excellent speech.

He spoke a lot about the importance of fighting climate change. I completely agree with him that we need to address this issue. Unfortunately, in the budget, the Liberals presented the same targets and objectives as the Conservatives did. That is extremely disappointing.

I would like to talk today about another issue that is very important to people in the greater Drummond area and my rural region in particular, and that is supply management and the importation of diafiltered milk, which is currently throwing the market completely off balance, is totally unfair, and violates federal regulations.

Why have the Liberals not done anything about this? What are they waiting for? When will they take action?

This is very important to farmers, dairy producers, and my region, the greater Drummond area.

What are the Liberals waiting for? When will they take action? Why does the budget not address the diafiltered milk issue?

[The Budget, April 12th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for her speech. We work together on the Standing Committee on Official Languages, and it is truly disappointing that the Liberal government did not take this opportunity to reinvest in official languages. As you know, unfortunately, the budget for the roadmap has not been indexed for more than 12 years. Funding is frozen, and it was badly needed. The organizations need it; they are hurting at the moment. It is regrettable.

I would like to speak about something else that is very important in my constituency, and that is social housing. The employees of the municipal housing authority in Drummondville came to see me and told me that there were serious needs, particularly for new social housing units for single seniors. We were expecting more than a token gesture from the government; we were expecting concrete measures. Unfortunately, there is very little information about the $520 million over four years that was announced for the construction of new affordable rental units.

I would like to know whether the same is true in my colleague’s constituency. Would she agree that social housing needs are enormous and that it is necessary to invest to improve the living conditions of the people most in need?

[The Budget, April 12th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his speech.

I would like to ask some questions about the budget. People in my riding have a lot of questions about social housing. Municipal housing office representatives in Drummondville have asked me what is holding the government back from investing in social housing.

The federal government promised to invest $520 million over four years to build new affordable rental housing. However, the budget seems to suggest that promise will not be kept.

What does my hon. colleague think of that? There are probably social housing needs in his riding too. It is extremely important to invest so that our neediest citizens can thrive and become productive members of their communities once again.

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, April 11th, 2016]

With regard to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) and francophone immigration to Canada: (a) how many full time equivalents (FTEs) are allocated to IRCC to (i) process applications, (ii) develop programs for francophones outside Quebec; (b) how does IRCC take into account the specific needs and realities of francophone communities and of francophone immigrants outside Quebec in order to meet the objective of recruiting and integrating francophone immigrants into minority communities; (c) what are the IRCC’s budgetary resources allocated by year, in the past five years, to (i) promotion and recruitment efforts in francophone countries abroad, (ii) settlement and resettlement services in Canada for francophones in francophone communities outside Quebec; (d) how does IRCC ensure that the resources allocated in (c) contribute to an approach by and for francophone minority communities; (e) what are the results of the francophone promotion and recruitment efforts in francophone countries abroad since 2013; (f) how many francophone immigrants has each of Canada’s provinces and territories taken in per year in the past five years; (g) what is the proportion of francophone immigrants taken in for each of the last five years compared to all immigrants taken in during the same period; (h) in which IRCC immigration categories or programs have francophone immigrants been placed in each of the last five years, broken down by program; (i) what is IRCC’s definition of a francophone immigrant; (j) how many francophone immigrants has Express Entry attracted per year since its creation, broken down by province and territory; (k) have any changes been made to Express Entry since its creation to attract more francophone immigrants and, if so, what are they; (l) are there any formal mechanisms for consulting francophone minority communities and, if so, what are they; and (m) to date, how many members of the Immigration and Refugee Board, broken down by city, (i) have French as their preferred language, (ii) are proficient in both official languages (level B2 or higher)?

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, April 11th, 2016]

With regard to the Translation Bureau (TB), which falls under the responsibility of Public Works and Government Services Canada: (a) since 2013-2014, broken down by year, (i) how many translator, interpreter, terminologist and reviser positions has the TB had, (ii) how many client institutions has the TB had; (b) what is the total amount billed to the TB’s client institutions for (i) translation or revision services, (ii) interpretation services; (c) what are the estimated costs of implementing a machine translation tool as of April 1, 2016; (d) what studies were undertaken on (i) the justification for implementing a machine translation tool, (ii) the impact of a machine translation tool on bilingualism in the public service, (iii) the quality of the texts translated by a machine translation tool, (iv) the costs associated with implementing a machine translation tool; (e) since 2005-2006, broken down by year and by department, what has been the total value of the contracts sent to external suppliers rather than the TB, broken down by contracts for (i) translation, (ii) interpretation, (iii) revision; (f) what financial and human resources, in terms of staff working in full-time equivalent (FTE) positions, has the TB devoted to developing its machine translation tool; (g) since 2011-2012, broken down by year and by department, what financial and human resources, in terms of FTEs, have been devoted to external suppliers and allocated to (i) contracting with suppliers for translation and revision, (ii) management of the contracts referred to in (i), (iii) quality assurance for these contracts; (h) since 2005-2006, broken down by year and by department, how many words have been translated by external suppliers rather than the TB; (i) since 2005-2006, broken down by year, how much has the TB paid suppliers of translation services with which it has contracted; (j) since 2005-2006, broken down by year, what financial and human resources, in terms of FTEs, has the TB devoted to (i) contracting with suppliers for translation, (ii) management of these contracts, (iii) quality assurance for these contracts; (k) since 2013-2014, broken down by month, how many words have been sent to the TB by client institutions and (i) translated by translators who are indeterminate employees of the TB, (ii) translated by TB suppliers; (l) has the government taken steps to hire new employees between now and 2019-2020, and if so, how many translators will be hired internally, broken down by year, (i) in indeterminate positions, (ii) in temporary positions; and (m) what is the TB’s current pricing structure?