Marc Lemay

[Income Tax Act, February 3rd, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, since we are resuming the debate, are we not allowed to ask the hon. member a question?

[Income Tax Act, February 3rd, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to take part in this debate. I will come back to the parliamentary secretary's question. First, I have a question for the hon. member who introduced this extremely interesting bill.

Since I have been involved in sports for over 30 years, I find this bill extremely interesting. I have the following question for the member. Members have the impression that this bill was introduced for a category of athletes that fits the profile of hockey players. I wonder if this is not also intended for athletes at all levels.

The word “amateur” needs to be dropped, since the government stopped using it in 1991. I have a question. All athletes, be they at the elite or the developmental level, have a coach. Whether the sport is gymnastics, swimming, cycling or downhill skiing, athletes have a coach who is often underpaid.

As the parliamentary secretary mentioned, I want the member to confirm that this bill does address athletes and coaches at all levels, be it elite or developmental. I also want him to confirm that this amount will be added to the $8,000 exemption that everyone, athlete or not, is allowed.

[Junior National Figure Skating Championships, February 2nd, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, the Skate Canada Junior National Championships will be held February 2 to 5 at the PEPS complex at Laval University in Quebec City.

These championships are an opportunity to see our talented young skaters in the following categories: juvenile, pre-novice, novice, men, women and pairs. Today's skaters will be tomorrow's Olympic medalists. They deserve our wholehearted encouragement for their efforts.

This type of competition allows them to see how they rank against each other, but above all to acquire the experience they need to succeed.

The Bloc Québécois wishes the best of luck to all the skaters and hopes that this competition gives them a taste of success and achievement.

[Soirée des Masques, January 31st, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, the Soirée des Masques, which celebrates the work of Quebec artists, was held last night. Theatre is the embodiment of our culture, our imagination, our identity and everything that distinguishes us. Theatre is the reflection of a people.

Some twenty actors won awards in various categories, and the Théâtre de Quat'Sous, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, was awarded the prix Hommage, which is a special tribute award. This provided an opportunity to salute the boldness and the vision of its founder and its artistic directors.

However, the evening was overshadowed by the announcement of the passing of actress Gisèle Schmidt. This great lady with a unique voice was a first rate actor for 60 years.

I want to make special mention of the performance of Rouyn-Noranda's Théâtre du Tandem and, particularly, the fact that Muriel Dutil received the performer of the year award. The Bloc Québécois congratulates all the nominees and recipients at the Soirée des Masques.

[Sports-Québec Gala, December 10th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, in a few days, on Tuesday, December 21, the 32nd Sports-Québec gala will be held in Laval. This event is an excellent opportunity to promote excellence in sports by recognizing the exceptional performances of the athletes, officials, coaches, teams, managers, volunteers and organizations in Quebec's world of sports.

At this 32nd Sports-Québec gala, 48 finalists, selected from 224 names submitted by sports federations, have been nominated in 16 categories.

I want to congratulate all finalists. The fact that they were nominated is already a reflection of their achievements in their respective fields. I thank all the athletes and the people involved in sports in Quebec. Their excellence brings honour to our society as a whole.

[Supply, December 2nd, 2004]

Madam Speaker, I am extremely surprised because we have heard those words before from the minister. On October 5, at the beginning of the session, the House held a take note debate where the minister told us that there were solutions out there. He urged us to come up with some temporary solutions that he could use until the border is reopened.

We recommended that a floor price be set. I clearly remember the minister telling us that he was indeed considering the issue and would be coming back to the House in a few weeks with something very similar to a floor price. It has been almost two months now, and what has he done? That is my first question.

Second, does the minister read the French media? For more than 13 months, all the media have been reporting disasters on a daily basis. I am going to give him two examples today.

Quebec newspapers are talking about a national crisis today, which explains the Bloc's proposal.

Lastly, I want to draw the minister's attention to a huge problem. In Abitibi-Témiscamingue, we had found a temporary solution thanks to a slaughterhouse located in North Bay. However, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, which reports to the minister, just put a stop to any transactions between Quebec, northern Quebec, Abitibi-Témiscamingue to be precise and northern Ontario, insofar as the slaughtering of our animals is concerned.

I do not know if the minister has heard about this, but I would like him to tell the House that such agreements are always an option until a solution can be found.

So, here is my question: What happened to the proposals made in this House last October about a floor price?

[Supply, November 25th, 2004]

Madam Speaker, I have a question for the Minister of Transport, following his very eloquent speech that reminds me the time, several years ago, when he was working in a Montreal radio station. However, it was a little demagogic.

The motion before us today only talks about selling back 11,000 acres of land to farmers. The Minister of Transport says there is a lease with ADM and so on. We only want one thing. We have nothing against the expansion or the work that will be done at Mirabel. Indeed, the Bloc has always agreed and has always said that there was one too many airports. We cannot rewrite history, despite the Minister of Transport's intentions.

However, what we want is the selling back of 11,000 acres of land that are not being used and will not be used. There is enough space now for all the nice projects that the Minister of Transport could develop at Mirabel.

We believe that it is impossible for farmers, even though they have a lease—I think the minister will be able to recognize this—to mortgage, lease, give and transfer this land to their own children, since they are bound by a lease.

The question that I ask the minister is this. Has the government specific plans for these 11,000 acres of land that it could give back to farmers?

[Richard Desjardins, November 23rd, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, one of Quebec's artists from Abitibi—Témiscamingue, Richard Desjardins, recently received three Félix awards at the ADISQ gala.

Now the Académie Charles Cros, a French institution made up of experts in music, culture, media and sound recording, has just awarded him the Grand Prix de la Francophonie.

Richard Desjardins was selected for this award for his poetic texts and also for his tenderness, passion and heartfelt commitment.

Richard Desjardins is a talented musician, author, composer, singer songwriter and socially committed citizen active in defending the causes he believes in.

The Bloc Québécois congratulates this great poet from Abitibi—Témiscamingue on his successes.

[Supply, November 18th, 2004]

Madam Speaker, I have a question for the Minister of State for Public Health.

I will repeat to the minister that studies conducted in recent years by the department led by her colleague at sports, the hon. member for Vancouver Quadra, show a steady increase in the number of youths between the ages of 7 and 14 who are obese. I will not get into what happens past 14, because the situation becomes practically irreversible: the individual remains obese and cannot get rid of the fat put on between the ages of 7 and 14. This means that we have a population of young Canadians, young Quebeckers and young people from other provinces who are increasingly fat.

I admit that I have tried to read the labels on various food, but the print is so small. I will not say that it is like trying to read the small print they flash for 10 seconds about interest rates in television ads for cars. We just cannot decipher the information on food labels.

I would like the minister to tell me whether her department could not launch an information campaign to explain what trans fats are and what medium and long term effects besides obesity they have on the human body? It would be particularly important to stress that there may be healthier alternatives.

[Supply, November 18th, 2004]

Madam Speaker, I want to congratulate my colleague and all hon. members in this House who, I hope, will vote in favour of the motion being presented by the New Democratic Party.

Hon. members know that I am very committed to sports. Current studies show that 47% of students between 7 and 14 are overweight and that is just children. The motion being tabled sets out to meet an extremely important objective. We must reduce or eliminate the trans fatty acids that exist in far too many products.

My question is for the member for Winnipeg Centre. How can the government go about informing the public that these trans fatty acids are extremely dangerous and that in the medium term—not the short term; we are talking about months and years—they can cause a considerable increase in the level of cholesterol in the blood, which can lead to heart attack and other related problems? Until this motion is passed, what can the government do to inform the public that this product is very dangerous?