House of Commons photoLost her last election, in 2011, with 32% of the vote.
Science and Technology April 7th, 2008
Mr. Speaker, when there is a threat of a major company being sold to foreign interests, the workers at that company start to worry. In the case of the sale of MDA, the Conservatives seem to have no concern whatsoever about the workers and their families.
Can the minister assure the workers at MDA that they will not lose their jobs if the company is bought by American interests?
Citizenship and Immigration April 3rd, 2008
Mr. Speaker, when the minister exercises her arbitrary power to limit the number of applications that will be considered, that will limit Quebec’s choices.
How could she guarantee that these orders will be compatible with the objectives of Quebec and those of the rest of the country? How can she say that reducing the number of applications she will accept will not reduce the latitude Quebec has in respect of immigration?
Citizenship and Immigration April 3rd, 2008
Mr. Speaker, the president of the Quebec Immigration Lawyers Association, Joseph Allen, says that there are other ways of dealing with a backlog besides giving discretion powers to the monarch, and that this amounts to giving the minister extremely broad discretion without in any way defining how far that discretion extends.
What does the minister think about the concerns raised by Mr. Allen? Why are there no limits on the discretion she is trying to give herself?
Ethics April 1st, 2008
Mr. Speaker, the parliamentary secretary is right. He has answered it with several different stories. First, there was no offer, then no offer of a loan, then no offer to rejoin caucus, then no offer for a nomination, then no offer for financial assistance, then no offer became a three part offer.
The problem is that tape wherein the Prime Minister talks about replacing financial considerations. Conservatives admit it was his voice, that those are his words. Why will he not simply explain what he had in mind when he talked about financial considerations?
Ethics April 1st, 2008
Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives have yet to answer a simple question about the Cadman affair. What was the Prime Minister referring to when he spoke about an offer made to Mr. Cadman pertaining to financial considerations in the event of an election?
Business of Supply April 1st, 2008
Mr. Speaker, I did not take one fact and extrapolate harmful statements. I talked about several issues, one of which is the underrepresentation of anglophones within the Quebec public service, for instance. However, I did note that the Commissioner for Official Languages, in his 2006-07 report, said that it is beginning to edge up. That is one.
Second, the member has not addressed a very real point that I made, which is that this Bloc motion would give authority of provincial legislation over federal in a federal jurisdiction. Should we open the door to that, we would then open the door to provincial governments, if they have language laws, to attempt to declare that the language of work, for instance, in that province would be English and would include the federal public service in that province. That would include private corporations that come under federal jurisdiction in that province.
This is what the motion wants to do in Quebec. Should we allow it and should the NDP vote in favour of it, it would open the door to that taking place in other provinces. That is not fearmongering. That is a fact.
It would mean then that provincial law in the area of linguistic protection would have authority over federal law. Should a province attempt to deny a linguistic minority, the francophone minority, outside of Quebec, the exercise of their rights under federal law, they would be told, no, provincial law has authority.
I would urge the members of the NDP to think twice, think three times, think four times. Do not support the Bloc motion.
Business of Supply April 1st, 2008
Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the question because it gives me the chance to provide some information. The Official Languages Act applies to other provinces to the federal public service, to all federal institutions, to all enterprises under federal jurisdiction. For example, a francophone working for a telecommunications company coming under federal jurisdiction is entitled to protection and to claiming his rights under the Official Languages Act.
As for the right of francophones in Quebec working at the federal level, I have worked in the past for a federal agency and I can state that the language of work was French. At that time, and we are talking more than 20 years ago, the documentation from management came only in French, despite the fact that this was a company under federal jurisdiction and one that had to comply with the Official Languages Act.
Business of Supply April 1st, 2008
Mr. Speaker, our country was founded by two nations. That is incarnated in our Constitution, which recognizes that and recognizes that we have two official languages.
Successive parties that have formed government over time right up until 2006 have brought into effect different measures and programs and policies in order to attempt to realize and implement the Official Languages Act, and to ensure the protection, defence and enhancement of linguistic minority rights.
I would ask the hon. member on the other side: Why is it that under the current Conservative budget we do not see significant moneys being designated to the action plan on official languages?
This action plan was first created in 2003, funded at $642 million over five years. It came to an end on March 31, yesterday, and the official languages minorities have been asking this government for months.
I would urge this member to urge her own government to put its money where its mouth is.
Business of Supply April 1st, 2008
I can see that the members from the Bloc are quite upset. They are upset to hear the facts. The only definition of nation in which I am included that speaks to Quebec is the sociological one where a people of different nations, different ethnic groups, come together and choose to live together as a people.
Business of Supply April 1st, 2008
Mr. Speaker, I am hearing cattle calls from the other side saying that this is demagogy. This is not demagogy. This is fact.
I voted in favour of the motion recognizing Quebec as a nation. It is not a nation state. It is not an ethnic nation. It is what one would call the sociological term. That is the only way that I can be included in it.