House of Commons photoLost her last election, in 2011, with 32% of the vote.
Unborn Victims of Crime Act April 28th, 2008
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Canadian Heritage, Status of Women and Official Languages emphasizes that she voted against Bill C-484.
She should tell us today the real reasons why she voted against this bill. She should tell us what fears led her to oppose the bill.
Unborn Victims of Crime Act April 28th, 2008
Mr. Speaker, the National Assembly of Quebec, women's groups and the Fédération des médecins spécialistes du Québec are speaking out against Bill C-484. More than 25,000 people have signed the petition on the specialists' web site calling for the rejection of this bill that could reopen the debate on the recriminalization of abortion.
Will the Minister of Canadian Heritage, Status of Women and Official Languages prevail upon her colleagues and convince them not to vote for such a bill?
Justice April 16th, 2008
Mr. Speaker, Conservative Bill C-484 is creating some serious concerns in Quebec. The Fédération des médecins spécialistes du Québec, the Fédération des femmes du Québec and the Confédération des syndicats nationaux are speaking out against this bill that would throw open the door for the recriminalization of abortion.
Instead of hiding behind false pretenses and saying that it is a free vote, will the Minister of Canadian Heritage, Status of Women and Official Languages finally assume her responsibilities and defend women so that this regressive bill will never pass?
Broadcasting Industry April 14th, 2008
Mr. Speaker, in response to the British Prime Minister's proposal to include the food crisis on the agenda for the next G-8, will the government take the initiative to put this subject on the agenda of the Sommet de la Francophonie, since a number of Francophonie countries are seriously affected by this crisis?
Broadcasting Industry April 14th, 2008
Mr. Speaker, there is still disagreement between Paris and its francophone partners regarding the appropriate place for the multilateral channel TV5 Monde. Belgium is threatening to withdraw, as did the Swiss government last week, if France continues with its plans to integrate the francophone television channel into the proposed France Monde.
What pressure is the Canadian government putting on France to ensure that TV5 remains a multilateral resource for francophone countries?
Seniors' Residence April 10th, 2008
Mr. Speaker, yesterday, a seniors' residence in my riding burned to the ground. Some 30 residents had to be evacuated. Unfortunately, one resident died in the fire.
Several people responded to the fire at Pavillon Campeau, including the brave owner, Alain Campeau, who rescued a number of residents from the flames, and who is currently recovering from his injuries at the Centre hospitalier de Mont-Laurier.
I would like to acknowledge the courage and determination of the firefighting teams of Mont-Laurier and Lac-des-Écorces. They gave it everything they had.
On behalf of the Bloc Québécois, I would like to offer my sincerest condolences to the Plante family as they mourn their loss.
Senegalese Women April 9th, 2008
Mr. Speaker, as the foreign affairs critic for Africa and Latin America and the deputy critic for the status of women, I rise today in this House to speak about the day of action against impunity for perpetrators of violence against women.
This year, women's groups are paying particular attention to Senegal, a western African country where women continue to be victims of a system that trivializes physical, sexual, psychological and economic abuse.
In a society where more than one-third of little girls are excised even today, the work for gender equality is far from over.
On behalf of the Bloc Québécois, I would like to applaud the work of women's groups which, despite constant attacks by the Conservative government, continue in their vital work towards gender equality.
Committees of the House April 7th, 2008
Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my Conservative colleague for his remark and comments. I will speak to him about the Peace of the Braves. I do not know if he has ever heard about this agreement. In Quebec I do not think that we have to go back 400 years to show what happened after it was signed. I quote the premier of Quebec at the time:
The signing of this agreement between our two peoples [the Quebec nation and the Cree community] paves the way for cooperation based on mutual respect, dialogue and trust. In many respects, our two nations are innovating and leading the way. Other countries are already watching us. This is an unique opportunity to show them our desire and determination to turn this partnership into an outstanding success.
I invite my colleague to do the same by signing this agreement that has been long awaited by our aboriginal communities.
Committees of the House April 7th, 2008
Mr. Speaker, I would like to defer to your good judgment and ask that you please give me a signal, because I often digress and lose track of time.
I thank my hon. colleague from Abitibi—Témiscamingue for his frank and honest speech. I am pleased to take part in today's debate on the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
The Bloc Québécois is always right in there when it comes to denouncing injustices, especially when they affect the most marginalized members of our society. In this case, we are talking about aboriginal peoples, who are among the least fortunate and most mistreated of all. Their rights are constantly being violated by national governments, even when those rights are enshrined in the law.
This is particularly true in the case of aboriginal communities in Canada, and this is because of the incompetence of various federal governments and because of the Conservative government's ideological blindness. This is why it is so urgent to recognize and protect aboriginal peoples' rights.
This incompetence was confirmed in June 2006 when over 30 member countries of the UN Human Rights Council voted in favour of this declaration, while Canada and Russia were the only two countries to oppose it.
A few weeks later, Canada joined with the United States, Australia and New Zealand to pressure African countries and other governments that had initially declared their support for the declaration.
These actions are unworthy of a country like Canada, which has always been very concerned about defending human rights.
As a Quebecker and representative of the Quebec nation, I am ashamed of this Conservative government's attitude on the world stage. It is doing a disservice to the reputation of Quebec and Canada through its disdainful actions regarding the respect of human rights, equality, non-discrimination, good governance and good faith.
By contrast, the Government of Quebec has taken concrete action in favour of the rights of first nations peoples living within its borders, particularly through the Peace of the Braves and James Bay agreements.
It is high time Canada did the same and stopped considering aboriginal peoples as second class citizens who must live in conditions that are often comparable to those of third world countries.
Since this Conservative government was elected, the leadership and flexibility Canada had shown since the start of negotiations became things of the past.
In the last year, Canada has become one of the fiercest and most aggressive opponents of the declaration, and has pressured a number of countries to reopen negotiations and water down the current declaration.
The Conservative government uses more financial and human resources than any other country, and mainly targets countries that have a less than stellar human rights record.
The Standing Committee on Status of Women decided to look at this declaration because of the horrible situation facing aboriginal women in Canada, and the lack of consideration the Conservative government has shown for them since it was elected in January 2006.
Let us talk about aboriginal women, since in our roles as Bloc Québécois status of women critics, the member for Laval and I have heard all kinds of things at various meetings of the Standing Committee on Status of Women.
The testimonies, figures and statistics are appalling when it comes to describing the situation facing women on and off aboriginal reserves.
According to the organization Quebec Native Women:
Violence against women remains a very widespread problem within Indigenous communities in Quebec, as well as in the rest of Canada. Female victims of domestic violence and sexual assault are subject to a number of physical, psychological, economic and social prejudices. Guilt, shame and fear also come into play and have major repercussions on them. The consequences of this violence on the victims’ moral and financial autonomy, on their social participation and on their physical and psychological health as well as their families’ health and welfare, are very serious.
In addition, aboriginal women are more likely than any other group of women in Canada to be victims of domestic violence. A number of studies confirm that this population has a higher rate of domestic violence. Although very few statistics are available on the rate of violence against aboriginal women in communities in Quebec in particular, a 2006 Statistics Canada report entitled “Measuring Violence Against Women” shows that rates of spousal violence and homicide are higher among aboriginal women than among non-aboriginal women or aboriginal men. The severity and impacts of spousal violence are also greater for aboriginal women. According to this report, not only do aboriginal women report higher rates of spousal violence, but they are also significantly more likely than non-aboriginal women to report the most severe and potentially life-threatening forms of violence, including being beaten or choked, having had a gun or knife used against them, or being sexually assaulted (54% of aboriginal women compared with 37% of non-aboriginal women). Consequently, aboriginal women were more likely than their non-aboriginal counterparts to have suffered physical injury, received medical attention, taken time off daily activities as a consequence of the assaults and experienced 10 or more separate episodes of violence from the same perpetrator, and were more likely to fear their lives were in danger.
The same agency, in the document entitled “Indigenous Women and Violence”, added the following:
Thus Indigenous identity has been broken down for purposes of colonial and later federal policy into the categories of Métis, Inuit and Indian, with the latter further broken down into status and non-status Indians. ... These categories have little to do with culture, upbringing or identity and everything to do with administration, bureaucracy and an apparently continuing federal policy of assimilation that persists to this day. These inequalities breed violence, such as postcolonial structural inequalities, family violence, bloodism, racialized and sexualized violence, and gender violence. They also lead to poverty, lack of access to adequate housing, including the lack of access to matrimonial property rights, lack of access to justice, low education and employment rates, low health status and little or no political participation.
On June 22, 2007, the then Minister of Canadian Heritage and Status of Women announced new funding to help increase funding currently allocated to aboriginal women's shelters. However, that announcement was not publicized at all, which prevented a number of communities from filing applications to meet their critical needs in that area. Once again, the Conservative government managed to turn a good intention into an administrative catastrophe.
On behalf of the Bloc Québécois, I want to reiterate to all aboriginal peoples our support for the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. I also hope Canada's aboriginal women and Canada's aboriginal communities will one day receive the same respect from their government that Quebec's aboriginal communities receive.
Rivière-Rouge—Mont-Tremblant International Airport March 13th, 2008
Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives have abandoned the regions of Quebec, particularly the Upper Laurentians. For several months now, representatives of the economic community in my riding have been lobbying the Minister of Public Safety and the Minister of Transport regarding the exorbitant customs charges that the Rivière-Rouge—Mont-Tremblant International Airport has to pay. Their efforts have been in vain.
Does the Minister of Transport, and Quebec lieutenant, realize that his government's failure to act is causing irreparable harm to the development of the tourism industry in the Laurentians?