Karine Trudel

[Parks Canada Agency Act, June 20th, 2019]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-469, An Act to amend the Parks Canada Agency Act (Canada’s tentative list for world heritage protection).

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to rise today to introduce a bill to amend the Parks Canada Agency Act.

In 2017, the government opened Canada's tentative list for UNESCO world heritage sites to applications. Arvida, a company town, enthusiastically applied but, unfortunately, was not selected.

As an ambassador for Arvida and as a member of the House, I am proposing today that the Parks Canada Agency Act be amended so as to meet three main objectives, which are that the tentative list be reviewed every four years, that the list always include 15 sites following a review, and that the Minister of Canadian Heritage be included in the process so that the sites reflect a balance between cultural and natural sites.

I hope that these amendments will make the process more predictable and frequent, thereby enabling the volunteers and stakeholders championing their causes, such as Arvida's, to participate more easily and effectively. I would like to give a shout-out to the Committee for the Recognition of Arvida’s Heritage Value, or CORPA, and its members for their great perseverance. We will not give up.

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

[Corrections and Conditional Release Act, June 19th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Beloeil—Chambly for his excellent work.

I have had the opportunity to work with him over the past four years. I find he has a way with words and that his speeches help us better understand what is really going on.

In his speech, my colleague said that he had a lot more to say but that he was running out of time. I would therefore like him to take this opportunity to elaborate further.

[Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement Implementation Act, June 19th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, I listened to my colleague's speech and was shocked when I heard the end part.

Back home in my riding of Jonquière we have a lot of dairy farmers. In the last budget the government announced a compensation plan, but there is no date and no money going directly to our dairy farmers. Now the government is boasting that the agreement is a win-win-win.

I have some news for the government. These farmers are the hands that feed us. They work every day to provide us with fresh food. The government promised them all kinds of things they are entitled to, but they have been shortchanged again. This is a third breach of supply management. The House will soon be adjourning and we still have nothing.

How does this government plan to compensate dairy farmers and comply with the agreement it signed with them?

[Petitions, June 18th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to table in the House a petition from the Elizabeth Fry Society on children in irregular situations, such as children who have parents in prison or the children of single mothers.

On behalf of all Canadians, I am pleased to table this petition calling on the government to show greater flexibility toward children in vulnerable situations.

[Health, June 17th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, the health care system is no longer responsive to Canadians' needs.

It is not okay that some people are covered for dental and vision care and others are not. The Liberals' targeted approach simply does not provide the desired results. The NDP is proposing extending health care coverage to protect people from head to toe, while offering Quebec and the other provinces the chance to opt out with full compensation.

Can the government follow the NDP's example and commit to extending medical coverage to include dental and vision care?

[International Trade, June 11th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, today, June 11, marks the 181th anniversary of my region, Saguenay—Lac-Saint-Jean.

We have been hit hard by all the trade disputes recently, and we are not out of the woods yet, considering the new NAFTA. As we have said over and over again, it is a bad agreement for dairy farmers and for workers, who will have no protections. This is quite the opposite of what the Liberals had promised when negotiations began. People expected a better deal, but instead they will be worse off.

How does the government plan to compensate those who will be affected by this bad deal, especially dairy farmers?

[Customs Tariff, June 10th, 2019]

Madam Speaker, the Liberals seem to be having fun this evening and not taking this seriously, but I want to come back to Bill C-101.

We are talking about workers who are being affected and who are facing an uncertain future because of the Liberals' inaction. If the Liberals had taken action when they should have, we would not be here talking about this right now.

I would like to know what my colleague thinks. In his opinion, how did we get to this point? Why did the government throw thousands of people into uncertainty by failing to take action?

[Telecommunications, June 10th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, in 2019, having cellular service and high-speed Internet is essential, and yet, too many people cannot access these services because they are not available or too expensive. Meanwhile, big telecoms are raking in billions of dollars in profit. They are even collecting millions of dollars in subsidies from the Liberal government. It is time to take a stand against these big companies.

Will the government commit to implementing measures to make the telecommunications market more competitive?

[Business of Supply, June 10th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question about prices.

We need to give small businesses a chance to set up shop in our communities. Earlier, I mentioned the mayor of Labrecque, Éric Simard. Some people in his municipality are still isolated, because the big telecom companies do not think there are not enough people to warrant investment. This means residents cannot choose to work from home, for example, and teens who live in these municipalities and want to pursue higher education have to move to big cities to access all services at a lower cost.

In Saint-Fulgence, in my riding, I often have to pull over in my car to talk on the phone, and my calls get dropped. It is 2019, and it is unacceptable that our calls get dropped when we pull over to use the phone, and that isolated communities do not have access to Internet and other telecommunications services.

[Business of Supply, June 10th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, if my colleague had listened to my whole speech, he would have heard me list the five measures that the NDP is proposing in its motion. I am happy to reread them:

(a) a price cap to ensure every Canadian saves money on their bill;

(b) abolishing data caps for broadband Internet and mandating that companies create unlimited data plans at affordable rates for wireless services;

(c) putting an end to egregious and outrageous sales and services practices through a Telecom Consumers' Bill of Rights;

(d) revisiting the structure of the spectrum auction to make sure everyday Canadians benefit most from the revenue, rather than repeating the failures of previous Liberal and Conservative governments, which squandered almost $20 billion from previous auctions; and

(e) directing the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to reverse their rural and remote broadband implementation policy, which condemns these areas, including many Indigenous communities, to years of substandard broadband and wireless services.

Those are the five measures that the NDP is proposing in its motion. I hope that was clear. I can spend this entire opposition day repeating it if need be. Yes, we read the budget and, in answer to the next question, I will give some examples showing that the Liberal government's investments are inadequate.