François Choquette

[Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply, January 26th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise in the House today to deliver my first remarks in response to the Speech from the Throne, a very important speech. We are beginning a new year, 2016. I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone on my team who helped me during the election campaign. We worked very hard for nearly an entire year on the campaign. We worked on the ground. We met a lot of people, who told us which priorities they want this government to address. The Liberals form the government, and my constituents brought forward many priorities they wanted to see in the throne speech. For the people of the Drummond area, the city of Drummondville and all the rural regions in the Drummond area, I am very pleased to represent them and bring those priorities to the fore here today.

One of those priorities, which remains very important for the people of Drummond, is the whole issue of sustainable development. Over the past few years, we have been very successful. Considerable investments have been made in infrastructure in the Drummond area, including investments linked to sustainable development. We are building a new LEED library that will benefit from federal funding. We in Drummond should be very proud of our approach, which we need to maintain for the future.

Unfortunately, in both the throne speech and the Liberal Prime Minister's approach at COP21, the climate change conference that took place in Paris, targets to fight climate change remain very weak, just like when the Conservatives were in power. The people of Drummond are shocked by this. They are upset that the Liberals, who made big promises regarding climate change, have yet to propose any concrete actions or serious targets to fight climate change. We look forward to seeing specific actions from the Liberal government. We want to see many more concrete actions in the days ahead.

I would like to thank the leader of the NDP for appointing me as the official languages critic and for his excellent work on this file. There are some interesting signs with respect to this issue as well, but there is nothing concrete yet. We do not know if the freeze on official languages funding will be lifted. The budget has been frozen for almost 10 years. It should be indexed, and there needs to be more transparency with regard to how funds are allocated to official languages programs.

I introduced a bill on official languages concerning the bilingualism of Supreme Court judges. It requires judges who are appointed to the Supreme Court to have a good understanding of both official languages, precisely because it is the court of last resort for all Canadians. It is vital that all judges be able to understand both official languages, and this is extremely important for all official language groups in Canada. Consequently, I hope that the Liberals and the other members of the House will support this bill. We have been working on this issue for a number of years. My former colleague, Yvon Godin, the excellent member for Acadie—Bathurst, made this issue his personal battle and worked very hard for many years on it. He did a very good job, and I hope to complete what he started in the upcoming year.

We must not forget about fighting poverty. People in the greater Drummond area are extremely generous. Recently, there were all kinds of holiday charity drives in Drummond. People are generous and they give, but that hides the reality of poverty. There is still lots of poverty among young people, and that is totally unacceptable in a modern, wealthy society like Canada. It is unacceptable that there are still young people and children living in poverty who do not have the same tools and opportunities to create a future for themselves. We absolutely have to give them the opportunity to feed themselves, go to school, study, and eventually find a job and enrich our society.

That is why the Liberals must adopt our platform policy to end tax avoidance, which is a shameful and totally unacceptable practice in our society. Compensating the biggest CEOs of the biggest corporations with stock options is an appalling example of tax avoidance, and we have condemned the practice. We think that money should be taken and spent on fighting child poverty. We have been talking about that for a long time, and the time has come to act.

Speaking of inequality and the fight against poverty, the Liberals were very vocal about fighting poverty among seniors. That is a priority for the NDP too. We said that we would waste no time enhancing the guaranteed income supplement.

There is nothing about this in the throne speech. We said that we would drop the age of eligibility for old age security back to 65. People in my riding and the greater Drummond area told me that the age of eligibility for old age security must absolutely be returned to 65, and that it makes no sense for a senior to receive only the minimum pension and the guaranteed income supplement. It is extremely difficult to live on just that; it is completely unacceptable. To combat inequality, it is crucial that the Liberals, who are now in power, take action immediately to drop the age of eligibility for old age security back to 65 and improve the guaranteed income supplement. They made promises and we want immediate action.

Speaking of the fight against poverty and inequality, affordable housing is another issue that is very important to me and to the NDP. It was also very important to Jack Layton, our former leader, who led the charge in the fight for affordable housing. He did an outstanding job.

In my riding, local groups have worked very hard to get community housing called Envolée des mères. It is housing for single mothers who want to go back to school or find a job. It is a place where mothers can be given lodging, guidance, help, and support, and where their children can also get help to get on their feet and become people who contribute to our society. I am truly pleased to have supported this project. In fact, I sponsored a housing project that I called the Jack Layton housing project in honour of our former leader.

We want to see something tangible done about affordable housing. In Drummond, all the municipalities, not just Drummondville, but also the small municipalities that have affordable housing, want sustained funding. It is extremely important. I hope to see something tangible soon because the Speech from the Throne is unfortunately quite lacking in this regard. We expect a lot from the government. It is not just about fighting poverty, but also about helping people to enrich our community.

In closing, the plan to strengthen the economy must also focus on SMEs. The NDP had a great plan. The greater Drummond area is a dream location for SMEs. Things are going well, but we must continue to support our small and medium-sized businesses. We had a very important plan to do just that. I hope that the Liberals will also implement concrete measures to support SMEs so that the greater Drummond area can reap the benefits. Naturally, we want to continue providing economic stimulus for our region, which we are very proud of.

I would add that there is one sector in which the Liberals have not done much and where they are having little impact at present, and that is disappointing. I am referring to the agriculture sector, which is important to my riding, as is supply management. We are waiting for concrete measures in support of farms that depend on supply management. I visited a dairy farm last Friday. We must support our farms that depend on supply management. The principle of supply management is vital to all the farms in the greater Drummond area.

I hope that the Liberal government will be able to move forward on this issue.

[Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply, January 26th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my honourable colleague for her remarks.

As mentioned earlier, the NDP believes that it is important to combat inequality and poverty among children. This is a hot-button issue, one that comes up quite frequently in my riding of Drummond. Our young people must not be allowed to live in poverty. It is by helping them and by combatting poverty and hunger that our youth will have an opportunity to go to school and have a future.

We have a very interesting proposal to combat child poverty: to tax the compensation in the form of stock options received mainly by CEOs of major corporations, which constitutes absolutely shameful tax avoidance. This money could be invested directly into combatting child poverty.

What does my honourable colleague think of this approach of recouping the money currently being lost through completely egregious tax avoidance and investing it in the fight against child poverty?

[Business of Supply, December 10th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for her speech. We cannot take the terrorist threat lightly; it is much too serious.

I was wondering if the Liberal government would commit to joining the UN arms trade treaty, which it promised to do. The Liberals did not mention that in their speeches, so I am left wondering.

Will the Liberals ratify the UN arms trade treaty? Unfortunately, we know that many of the weapons that end up in the hands of terrorists could be taken out of circulation if nations complied with the treaty.

[Business of Supply, December 10th, 2015]

Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my hon. colleague, who has done such good work on public safety in recent years. I really like working with him and he really knows his files.

We can certainly do things to help with the fight against terrorism, such as signing the UN Arms Trade Treaty. This would help prevent the circulation of small arms that are often in the hands of terrorist groups.

Does my colleague believe that the Liberals will sign the UN Arms Trade Treaty?

[Supreme Court Act, December 9th, 2015]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-203, An Act to amend the Supreme Court Act (understanding the official languages).

Mr. Speaker, I rise in the House today to introduce a bill to amend the Supreme Court Act with regard to understanding the official languages. I am doing so in honour of my colleague Yvon Godin, the former member for Acadie—Bathurst, who worked so hard on this important file in order to fight for the right of all Canadians to argue their cases before the Supreme Court in the official language of their choice.

It is time to make it mandatory to appoint bilingual judges to the Supreme Court. Understanding both official languages should be an essential requirement. This is about equality between francophones and anglophones when it comes to access to justice. Since the Supreme Court is the highest court in the country, it is crucial that its judges be able to understand both official languages without the help of an interpreter.

I hope this bill will finally become law in the 42nd Parliament.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)

[Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply, December 8th, 2015]

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

He said a lot about the environment, which is of great interest to me, as everyone knows. He talked about climate change. I liked his tone. I was happy to hear what he said about harmonizing the environment and the economy, which is a good thing. Nevertheless, the Liberals went to Paris with the same targets as the Conservatives, even though everyone said that the Copenhagen targets were weak and pointless. That is a little disappointing. We would like to know what the Liberals' targets are going to be.

He also talked about environmental assessments. I was a member of the Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development when environmental assessments were changed. The environmental assessments we had under the Conservatives just do not make sense. It is really awful, but projects such as the energy east pipeline are still being looked at.

Will my colleague commit to starting the energy east pipeline environmental assessment process over again?

[Facilitating the Transfer of Family Farm or Fishing Corporations Act, June 18th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to rise in the House to speak.

I listened to the speech by my colleague from Argenteuil—Papineau—Mirabel, who has done an excellent job in her constituency and here in the House of Commons. She has been a strong voice for the status of women, among other things. I am very pleased. She talked about how important this bill is.

I would also like to congratulate my colleague from Joliette for introducing Bill C-661, An Act to amend the Income Tax Act (transfer of family farm or fishing corporation). She has done excellent work with the agricultural community. She has worked very hard, visiting farms and doing a number of tours around her constituency, to get to know the municipalities and the rural communities. She has worked with people in agriculture, and that is where this bill originates: from a broad consultation in her community that has enabled her to introduce a bill in answer to what the agricultural community has asked for.

This is what is at issue in this bill. Bill C-661 makes a small change to the Income Tax Act, but the change is one that is completely necessary and logical. Farmers all across Canada know they can count on the NDP to make more intergenerational transfers possible in family farm or fishing corporations.

For many years, in fact nearly a half-century now, the NDP has been part of the agricultural community. That community is truly important to us. One thing that is essential is to ensure that our family farms and our agricultural community do not just survive, they prosper, and that they thrive and are effective and dynamic. That is why introducing this bill is important.

We support an economy in which farmers are entrepreneurs, not wage workers. In a majority of cases, the ideal situation is to have entrepreneurial farmers. To combat land grabbing and the galloping decline in the number of farm owners in Canada, we have to be prepared to lend our farm families a hand, and that is precisely what we want to do, by facilitating transfers between members of the same family. That is what this bill proposes.

Bill C-661will facilitate intergenerational transfer in the case of a farm co-owned by a brother and a sister, for example, where the farm could be passed down only by one of the co-owners. The owner not leaving an inheritance could then withdraw without an insurmountable impact on operations, and the co-owner passing the farm on to the next generation could proceed with an orderly handover.

This is in fact a minor change. However, it will provide considerable help to family farms. It is important to remember that family farms have gone through some tough times in recent years. Here are a few statistics to support my case. For instance, in Quebec, the value of land has jumped 600% over the past 23 years. Obviously, the stakeholders in these transactions are motivated by reasons other than farm development. These transactions are often speculative in nature. This hampers our ability to save family farms. As well, we have seen family farms really running out of steam in recent years. Between 2007 and 2012, 22,235 farms ceased operations. Over 22,000 family farms have disappeared. That is a drop of close to 13.6%.

The disappearance of small and medium-sized family farms throughout Canada and in the greater Drummond area is of great concern.

I mentioned the excellent work done by my colleague from Joliette, in whose footsteps I followed. In fact, since I was elected in 2011, I have made a number of tours. Every year, I do what I call the municipality tour, the main goal of which is to tour the rural areas. I have had an opportunity to visit a number of businesses, including many family farms. I will name some of them to demonstrate the agricultural wealth and vitality in Drummond.

The Entreprises G.M. Benoit farm is an excellent dairy farm that belongs to the Benoît family in Sainte-Brigitte-des-Saults. Stéphanie, Andréane and Yanick do an excellent job and have won prizes for their high-quality products.

There is also a farm in Saint-Cyrille-de-Wendover that belongs to the Jutras family, called “Les cultures de chez nous”. This is the kind of farm found throughout Quebec, and it is a source of great pride. The family produces leeks, and the leeks from our farms are renowned throughout the region. They also produce berries and asparagus.

I would also like to mention the Claumond chicken farm in Saint-Edmond-de-Grantham.

We also have the Ferme Bel Alpaga et Bon Autruche in Saint-Bonaventure, which is owned by Claude Petit and Mélanie Boucher. As the name of the farm says, they are specialists in raising alpacas and ostriches. They also produce excellent meat that is sold in our region.

Another one is the Valnico farm in Sainte-Brigitte-des-Saults. This farm belongs to Mr. Jutras and Ms. Ross, who own dairy cows and do wonderful work. It is another family farm that has come down through the generations.

I must also mention the Canneberges Drummond farm, as there are a lot of cranberries in the region, especially in the municipality of Saint-Lucien. The Gardner family is doing a wonderful job of allowing family farms to survive.

All these descriptions are meant to show the wealth that family farms and agriculture represent in Drummond. I could name dozens more. I wanted to give these examples to show the importance of having a thorough knowledge of our rural community. In addition, it was because she understands our rural community that the member for Joliette introduced this bill.

Now let us come back to the bill. Joint ownership by the children of one family will be increasingly common over the next 10 years. We must therefore give them greater flexibility so that they can buy and sell their operation within the same family, including between brothers and sisters.

The NDP has been committed for a long time now to promoting family farms. We have a food strategy that aims at tackling farm accessibility issues, facilitating farm succession, because it is very important to have access to the capital and the land necessary for food production, providing support for planning the succession arrangements for family farms and revising the tax code to facilitate the takeover of farm businesses.

In short, this bill is extremely important, because it is a first step in encouraging our family farms. It encourages not only their survival, but also their vitality, so that family farms in the greater Drummond area, in central Quebec, in Joliette, in the province of Quebec and throughout Canada will be able to prosper. This is what is important, and this is why we are doing this work.

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, June 17th, 2015]

With regard to government spending in the constituency of Drummond, in the past four fiscal years, what was government spending, broken down by (i) year, (ii) program?

[Local Drummond Stakeholders, June 12th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, as you know, local stakeholders in Drummond make a major contribution to the social, economic and cultural vitality of our beautiful region.

Commerce Drummond, the Chambre de commerce et d'industrie de Drummond and the Société de développement économique de Drummondville have made significant contributions to our economic strength. In terms of culture, there is the Regroupement interculturel de Drummondville and the Mondial des cultures, an event not to be missed.

I had the opportunity to meet with these organizations. They told me that, unfortunately, the Conservative government's changes to visa rules for foreign interns jeopardize the socio-economic development of our region. In fact, our organizations and employers in Drummond are suffering the consequences of this bad decision.

There is no doubt that on October 19 an NDP government will be listening to the needs of Drummond's stakeholders.

[Shipping, June 11th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, when it comes to transporting oil, the Conservatives are still playing it by ear. The Canadian Coast Guard revealed that the new spill response plan for the St. Lawrence includes only the area from Quebec City to Anticosti Island, even though studies show that the environmental risk index for oil spills is very high all along the river, particularly between Valleyfield and Quebec City.

How can the government justify excluding the Montreal-Quebec City corridor from what it calls world-class safety?