Jacques Gourde

[The Budget, April 17th, 2023]

Madam Speaker, I am pleased to hear my colleague talk about “the Conservative government”. Perhaps she can see into the future and knows that Canada will be in a better position.

We will have a lot of cleaning up to do in a few months. I hope my colleague will help us do that, to give Canadians some hope.

[The Budget, April 17th, 2023]

Madam Speaker, the answer is relatively simple. Canadians are all struggling to find a home to rent or buy. There is absolutely nothing in the budget to ensure a future for Canadians who need housing. It is going to be very expensive. Over the past eight years of Liberal rule, the cost of housing has doubled and almost tripled. The cost of home ownership has truly outstripped the incomes of most Canadians. It is truly shameful that this government is letting Canadians sleep in the streets.

[The Budget, April 17th, 2023]

Madam Speaker, once again, it is a privilege for me to rise in the House to speak for the people of Lévis—Lotbinière, whom I proudly represent. From the outset, I would like to say that back home, we do not have the same definition of the word “budget” as the Prime Minister, nor the same approach to budgeting.

On March 28, the Minister of Finance and this spendthrift Prime Minister proved to us for the eighth time in a row that the Liberals are incompetent and that their only talent is keeping us in the financial hole we have fallen into, in spite of ourselves, with debt interest payments we will never see the end of in our lifetime.

The Prime Minister is proud to wear the same rose-coloured glasses as the Minister of Finance, but even worse is that he is out of touch with reality in Canada. He sees us as a country to be envied within the G7.

I am going to show the House that we are getting poorer all the time, that we are living in poverty.

To talk about this budget, I will begin by saying that I am very annoyed by all the words that ring false coming from the Prime Minister, starting with the words “budget” and “economy”.

This brings me to an important question: Does the Prime Minister know what a piggy bank is? When the Prime Minister appeared on Tout le monde en parle on April 2, he talked about a large pot of money that certainly should not be saved for tough times or for a contingency. It is a big pot of money that could be used to balance the budget within five years, if only the Prime Minister knew how to count. I believe that he views it as a huge pile of cash or an unlimited jackpot for him to spend.

The only problem is that there is no more money. All these investments he is announcing are being made on credit. I cannot even fathom the amount of interest that will have to be repaid. I am picturing a big warehouse filled with pallets laden with bundles of money. It is really outrageous.

The exceptionally spendthrift Prime Minister is the perfect example of someone who never had to save up their hard-earned pennies in a piggy bank as a child.

For ordinary people, a dollar is still a dollar, because loonies are not made of gold. I say that as a reminder to the Prime Minister, who is about to shell out $43 billion on a new spending spree with the unconditional support of our NDP friends. Theirs is a beautiful love story, but it is costing us very dearly.

Currently leading Canada is a Prime Minister who has never had to make tough choices, as thousands of families are doing right now. We are not talking about choosing between buying a huge TV on credit and subscribing to cable TV channels. We are talking about choosing between buying groceries and paying the electricity bill or making car payments to be able to get to work.

With the Liberal-NDP coalition, we are not dealing with two teams that decided to pool resources in order to be able to offer Canadians more money. Instead, we have two political parties that have joined forces to find ways to spend even more of Canadians' money, because their own pockets are now empty or, even worse, because they are actually spending the future savings of generations yet to be born. Simply put, the big pot is broken and is now empty.

The Liberal-NDP coalition is undermining democracy in Canada and in our institutions. Canadians did not vote for this hypocrisy in the last election. However, this is not the first time in Canadian history that a party that will never have a chance to be in power has resorted to scheming with the Liberals to achieve its ends with no legitimacy.

I would like to talk about another word that I heard on April 2 that the Prime Minister does not seem to know the meaning of, and that is the word “austerity”. When did being reasonable and fiscally responsible or using good judgment and common sense become synonymous with austerity in Canada?

Even more serious than austerity, in my opinion, is the fact that people can no longer make ends meet, even by tightening their belt or earning a higher salary. Inflation keeps driving up the price of housing, mortgages, groceries and all the basic necessities. Before this Liberal government came to power, it took only 39% of the average wage to make the monthly payment on an average home. Today, that number has increased to 62%.

Just last week, my heart broke once again when I had to help a family with three children in my riding who could no longer afford food and shelter. The pandemic, coupled with the cost of living, is putting the squeeze on millions of Canadians who have no savings and no available credit. They have nothing left. Many are skipping a meal every day, and people are increasingly using food banks on a weekly basis. Where and when will this end?

I am not knocking the green energy sources of the future, quite the contrary. They are what we are all hoping for. We, the Conservatives, were the first to offer energy efficiency tax credits. I predict that more and more people will turn to solar energy, but not for the right reasons or the same reasons. They will do it because they no longer have the ability or the opportunity to keep a roof over their heads and food on the table. Basically, they will be out on the street. That is so sad.

Canada has the lowest number of housing units per 1,000 residents of any G7 country. Because of strong population growth, the number of housing units per 1,000 Canadians has been dropping since 2016, a date that makes me think of the 2015 election. An additional 100,000 homes would have been required to keep the ratio of housing units to population stable since 2016, which still leaves us well below the G7 average and well under what the Liberal government promised. According to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, Canada now needs 3.5 million more housing units than planned to restore affordability.

I see the Prime Minister cockily saying that we will bring in foreign workers to deal with the labour shortage, even though we already have trouble providing decent housing for homeless people, Canadian families and seniors. Will the government tell us where these missing affordable housing units are going to come from, when we know that mortgages and rent have almost doubled since the Liberals took office?

Stress and anxiety have now become an inherent part of life for millions of Canadians. Parents, children and grandparents are worried because they know that opportunities are dwindling in Canada. Not so long ago, many people never would have thought they would end up in this precarious situation. They are living a nightmare, with no chance of waking up. In eight years, the Liberals have brought us to a nightmarish reality.

Legalizing marijuana did not help at all. Written briefs to the House and the work of committees can attest to that. Countries that legalized marijuana saw an increase in crime. Surprise, surprise, that is what we are seeing now too: a 32% increase in crime. They also reported an increase in mental health problems. We too are seeing an increase in the number of people who are facing mental health challenges. We are also seeing increased substance abuse and a rise in deaths related to drugs, the hard drugs that the Liberal Party wanted to legalize at all costs. That is the Liberal legacy, or should I say, the Liberal investment in our society. For shame.

Not so long ago, we could say that any problem could be solved through policy, but that was before the Liberal era. The best way to put an end to the Liberal government that is destroying our future has always been to show them the door. Since 2015, if the Prime Minister had been paying attention to his big pot of money, as he likes to call it when he talks about the economy, we would not be in this situation.

Everyone has heard the phrase “the sky is blue and hell is red”. As a result of this NDP-Liberal coalition, everyone will be smiling as they think about what they like, but the real truth that is now on the lips of all Canadian workers is that they are paying far too much in taxes right now because the Liberal government is wasting far too much money.

The 2023 budget continues the Liberal practice of depending on tax increases and inflationary deficits. That is why I will be voting against the budget, to honour those who work hard for their money and know how to count.

[Employment Insurance Act, March 29th, 2023]

Madam Speaker, now the die is cast. After a year and a half of work, we are the end of the process with my Bill C‑215.

I want to thank everyone who contributed from near or far at every stage of the bill and who participated in the deliberations on this important issue of ensuring the financial security of people living with a serious illness requiring a period of convalescence that goes beyond the 26 weeks being offered.

I would have liked to see in yesterday's budget an openness by the Liberal government to help seriously ill workers who are asking for EI benefits for a period that goes beyond the 26 weeks that were hard-won in December.

That being said, we have made progress in the debate on this social security issue that is important to all Canadians. I greatly resent the requirement to obtain royal recommendation from the government, one that has blocked the wishes and a majority vote of the House in favour of Bill C‑215. My thoughts are with all those who have a serious illness who will not get this financial help that would have given them a little more room to breathe.

Every year we lose special people to cancer. I would be remiss if I did not mention my friend and neighbour Roger Flamand, who has cancer. Roger is fighting for his life right now, surrounded by his wife Lorraine, his daughters Annie and Marie-Josée and his entire family.

With courage and resilience, Roger is going through a difficult time, and his qualities as a fair, helpful and generous man are serving him well during this trial. Family, friends and neighbours, above all neighbours, are supporting him day after day. Our thoughts and prayers are with him as he continues his personal journey with respect and compassion.

I would like to personally address the man who was the very best neighbour for 50 years. I remember the warm summer nights when Roger and my father Armand had long conversations. What a beautiful and close friendship they had. It was really heartwarming to see them.

When my father passed away, Roger often told me that he considered Armand, my father, to be like a second father. This evening, I can tell him that my father considered him to be one of his sons. Roger's presence will always be a source of comfort and solace. On behalf of Chantal, my children and myself, I thank him for being a part of our lives. We love him dearly.

With that, I will conclude the debate.

[Canadian Heritage, February 16th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, the National Assembly of Quebec is calling for changes to Bill C-11 and Bill C-5.

This involves the ministers of Canadian heritage and justice. These two bills have the support of the Bloc-Liberal alliance and go against the direction the Government of Quebec wants to take.

Will our two ministers, who are Quebeckers, shamefully supported by the Bloc Québécois, refuse to provide Quebec the help it is looking for and thereby deny the existence of the Quebec nation?

[Criminal Code, February 15th, 2023]

Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his very interesting question.

Yes, if there is an opportunity to speed up the approval of certain medications here in Canada to help people with mental health issues, let us do it as quickly as possible.

[Criminal Code, February 15th, 2023]

Madam Speaker, I find my colleague's questions very interesting.

In Quebec, once a patient enters the system and has access to psychiatrists and health care, the results are relatively good. However, the unfortunate part is that there are not nearly enough staff, people and psychiatrists for the number of cases that exist.

Wait times to access this type of service can be six months, even a year or a year and a half, depending on the severity of the case. This unfortunately means that there are some people who, while waiting for treatment, may commit an irreparable act and leave this earth.

[Criminal Code, February 15th, 2023]

Madam Speaker, that is a very important question. Canada is facing huge challenges right now with respect to mental health. We should double down on this and make mental illness a priority, because it is affecting hundreds of thousands of Canadians.

There are plenty of ways to add more resources to our health care system. The government could speed up the approval process for certain drugs. We can all be more open to new ways of thinking, working and living in society that would alleviate this problem. Let us hope the government will see it and show a little leadership on things like that.

[Criminal Code, February 15th, 2023]

Madam Speaker, I am pleased to speak to Bill C-39 this evening. As a legislator and member of Parliament for Lévis—Lotbinière since 2006, I have been told about, and sometimes even witnessed, some very difficult situations involving people or families in distress.

On May 3, 2016, in the House, I allowed myself the privilege of expressing the thoughts sent to me at the time by several of my constituents during the sensitive debate on MAID. It is a topic that leaves no one indifferent.

I want to emphasize that, regardless of their political allegiance or their position on this issue, all parliamentarians are once again demonstrating courage by taking part in this debate, which is difficult for all of us.

The Supreme Court gave members of Parliament the daunting task and responsibility of setting the foundations of a law. This forced us to do some soul-searching about the purpose of our lives and the lives of the citizens we represent. We were aware that the law as a whole would not be perfect, that it would merely be acceptable, given all the changes it made to our way of seeing life and living in the future.

It is always a great privilege for me and a sign of undeniable trust when people share heartfelt confidences with me, especially when they deal with matters of life and death. The expansion of MAID to people with mental health disorders definitely falls into that category. I see parents, grandparents, brothers, sisters and friends worried about the expansion of the MAID legislation. When we stop and think about it, obviously we all want to keep our loved ones with us as long as possible.

Surprisingly, however, many of the discussions I have had with my constituents have revealed another very important issue that can cause mental health problems. I am talking about how the Liberals have trivialized the consequences of cannabis use, even though they knew the extent of the consequences when legalization was studied in committee. Several studies confirmed that use in adolescence would cause mental health challenges for those who already had a genetic predisposition.

We were promised that a lot of money would be invested in programs for people grappling with that addiction, as well as mental health services. Unfortunately, given the challenges that already exist across Canada in terms of access to regular health care, we suspected that specialized mental health care would be inaccessible and insufficient for Canadians. Therein lies the rub. One can easily imagine what will happen when hard drugs are legalized in Canada, again by the Liberal legacy that is destroying the Canada we once knew.

I would like to share that I will soon be a grandfather for a sixth time. I am obviously very happy, but I am also very concerned about our Canada, which has been deteriorating by the day since 2015. Canada is deeply broken, and millions of Canadians are suffering because of the erosion of their sense of security and quality of life.

I would like to use the time that I have to speak to Bill C-39 as an opportunity for honest reflection. As members no doubt know, humans need to give meaning to their lives to fully appreciate all the good things life has to offer. It is human nature to seize the best opportunities we get to enjoy life. However, what do we do when the government takes away those opportunities by implementing policies that go against our well-being and we lose faith and hope in the future?

Is it right for us, in the near future or the next few years, to allow people with mental health challenges to put an end to their lives, when they might have a better quality of life if we were to give them ways to fix what is going wrong and more resources so that they could find balance in their everyday lives?

I think the public is aware that nothing is working anymore and that we are living the opposite of what we are used to in so many aspects of our lives.

In spite of that, we must not see the future as inevitable. There are always solutions, and, as fragile as life may be, we have the privilege of sharing love and friendship. We can strengthen our bonds and help one another.

Our society is constantly changing. It shapes our fundamental, cultural, religious and spiritual values when it comes to life and the end of life. What was personally unacceptable yesterday may change tomorrow. We need to respect one another here, because we all have a say in this Parliament. That being said, the end-of-life choice that is acceptable to the individual is based on their convictions, their beliefs, their physical health and perhaps, ultimately, their mental health.

We have to be careful about that fourth point, mental health, because when it comes to care and scientific advances, we are still making progress. Who knows if we will find drugs that open up new possibilities for people who currently do not see any solutions?

We are faced with the same question we had to answer when the initial law was drafted in 2016: How can we ensure that this will not get out of control? It will be difficult to include safeguards in the law that will cover all of the very different cases of people with mental health issues.

I think it is wise to make the right choices for Canadians' safety and for future generations. Once again, time will tell whether this change in direction was a good one. All parliamentarians in the House and the Senate will make a significant contribution to this debate. We must all bring a rational and moral tenor to this bill as we align it with Canadian values and thinking in a way that respects all of our Canadian communities. We will live with the future changes that will come from this law. We have to ensure that it will be interpreted in accordance with our guidelines, because the consequences will be irreversible.

I am pleased that we are giving ourselves some time to address this delicate subject in order to protect vulnerable people and not to do something irreparable to people who are precious and who have the potential to live a better life with dignity.

[Housing, February 13th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, after eight years of Liberal incompetence, Canadians are desperate to buy an affordable home. Housing prices are at an all-time high, forcing young Canadians to keep living with their parents.

When will the Liberal government make life affordable for the younger generation of Canadians, who have lost hope in our future because our country, Canada, is completely broken?