Julie Vignola

[House of Commons, April 17th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, I will begin this question period by reminding members of some of the things I said in my speech last week.

Sadly, we are dealing with an historic situation caused by various issues. One of those issues is the inconsistencies in some of the information we received from the witness, as well as the inconsistencies between that information and the information we received from other sources.

Then, there is the time it took to receive written responses and requested documents, which was unusual and, in some cases, took as long as 18 months. Having said that, I must point out that the responses were received, although they were delayed, and it took some time and urging.

As I was saying, the purpose of my questions today will be to understand the processes, and to identify flaws in the public service, how it operates and its procedures. I am not a court, and have no intention of being one.

I urge members not to become a people's court or be taken in, and focus on our role: find flaws in the system, organization and processes in order to correct those flaws.

It is important to specify that these flaws have been around for a while. Several processes were put in place years ago, including by Ms. Ambrose, the Conservative minister at the time.

Here is my first question: I would like to know what skills and training are needed to become a talent recruiter.

[Committees of the House, April 15th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, the motion to adopt the report that we are studying today is very important and undoubtedly reveals some delays and mistakes by the government, including for certain visas. I am sure that my colleagues received the same emails that I did about the visa for the son of a high-ranking person in Iran who wants to come for a little tour of Canada. Pressure tactics should be applied, but they are not.

I would like my colleague's thoughts on this. What measures should be applied? What measures should we ensure are being properly applied immediately?

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, April 10th, 2024]

With regard to all federal contracts awarded between 2019 and 2023 to suppliers of the federal government, reporting departments, organizations and agencies, federal offices and any other federal entity that received funds from the Public Accounts of Canada: (a) which contracts required essential knowledge of the English language, both with respect to the spoken or written language of suppliers in the workplace and the language of deliverables; and (b) what are the details of each contract in (a), including the (i) contract number, (ii) name of the supplier, (iii) name of the federal department or agency responsible for the contract, (iv) amount awarded, (v) date of the contract, (vi) languages required for the work, (vii) languages required for deliverables, (viii) justification for requiring only English as the language of work or deliverables?

[Organisation Québécoise des Personnes Atteintes du Cancer, April 10th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, for 40 years, the Organisation québécoise des personnes atteintes du cancer, or OQPAC, has been helping people in the Quebec City area and their loved ones cope with this terrible disease.

OQPAC is a welcoming place dedicated to supporting, listening to and providing emotional relief to people who are too often left to fend for themselves as they deal with cancer and the distress it causes. Very few organizations focus their activities and services on the specific needs of cancer patients and their loved ones. OQPAC does it magnificently.

In 2022 and 2023, OQPAC helped more than 3,000 people. Imagine how many people have received its help over the past 40 years through a range of activities and programs, as well as group and one-on-one therapy.

I would like to congratulate the dedicated members of the board of directors, the volunteers and executive director Francis Lemieux. Long live OQPAC.

[Business of Supply, April 9th, 2024]

Madam Speaker, I am going to ask my colleague the same question I asked earlier.

Canada's provincial premiers are not Parliament's puppets. They will never be Parliament's puppets, no matter who is in power.

Should it not be up to Canada's provincial premiers themselves to demand a meeting as soon as possible, and with our support, since it is important that they are heard? Is it not actually their prerogative to put their foot down, pound their fists on the table and say they want a meeting?

[Business of Supply, April 9th, 2024]

Madam Speaker, on the one hand, we are seeing a desire to reduce our carbon footprint, but on the other hand, we are seeing investments in the oil industry, in particular, as well as in carbon capture, which is not very effective.

Does my colleague not think that there is a double standard here? Should we not be more consistent in regard to the measures we are taking to fight pollution so that we can become a world leader and keep other countries from making the same mistakes we made?

[Business of Supply, April 9th, 2024]

Madam Speaker, my question will be simple.

Yes, it is important that every Canadian premier feels not only heard but also listened to. However, is it really up to the House of Commons to order anyone, including the provincial premiers, to sit down with the Prime Minister of Canada? Should it not be up to the premiers themselves to request this meeting instead of being considered as this Parliament's puppets? They are not puppets. The premiers deserve to be treated with respect, to be listened to and, most importantly, to have leadership when it comes to their own needs.

[Privilege, April 8th, 2024]

Madam Speaker, we have been working on ArriveCAN for several months. I am looking at this not from a partisan angle, but for the long term. For the long term, we seem to have a process that does not work. If we do not fix it, it will not work any better, no matter which party forms government.

Does my colleague believe that the purpose of everything we are doing right now is to improve the process and also to ensure that taxpayer dollars are used wisely and responsibly?

[Privilege, April 8th, 2024]

Madam Speaker, we are all on the same page when it comes to summoning this individual to the bar and the fact that we need to get the answers we are entitled to. Having said that, my question is very simple. We can say anything, but it all depends on the tone in which it is said. I just want to make sure that such a historic appearance at the bar does not become a spectacle, but rather that it allows us to get the answers to our questions.

[Privilege, April 8th, 2024]

Madam Speaker, allow me to respond with a quote: The misfortune of the historian is to know what happened and to watch history keep repeating itself.

I do not claim to be a historian, but I was a history teacher. We keep ending up in the same situation over and over again.

How can we make sure that it never happens again, regardless of who forms the government? That is not important. Regardless of who forms the government, this must not happen again. Our processes need to be comprehensively reviewed on an ongoing basis, not just when problems surface. That is one possible solution.

We must make sure that the procedural rules are clear and that they are not 375,000 pages long. No one has the time to read and apply all that.

We need to streamline our procedures and make sure they are reviewed.