Maxime Bernier

[Montreal Alouettes, November 26th, 2009]

Madam Speaker, after the Alouettes' commanding victory over the BC Lions last week in Montreal, our heroes are returning to the field this Sunday in Calgary to play in the 97th Grey Cup.

For the Alouettes this is their second Grey Cup in two years. Last year they played on their home field.

I hope their victory in Calgary against the Saskatchewan Roughriders will be as resounding as their victory last weekend in Montreal in the East division final. As a former football player, and one who plays fair, I would like to tell the Roughriders to get ready to face one amazing team.

As an Alouettes fan, I want to wish them the best of luck. You have what it takes to succeed and win the Grey Cup. Go Alouettes! I hope to watch the Grey Cup parade in the streets of Montreal.

[Denis Lévesque, October 22nd, 2009]

Madam Speaker, today I would like to pay tribute to an outstanding member of the Beauce community. Denis Lévesque received the Dollard-Morin volunteer award for sports and recreation on October 16, 2009, at a ceremony in Quebec City.

Mr. Lévesque is the head of the Tour de Beauce, or Grand Prix cycliste de Beauce, the largest bicycle road racing event in Canada, and has been helping organize competitions since 1993.

His tireless and conscientious work has led to success after success over the years. He has helped make the Tour de Beauce one of the largest sporting events in the world.

Congratulations, Denis. You have my utmost respect for your great generosity and dedication to amateur sports in Beauce.

[Committees of the House, June 17th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the second report of the Standing Committee on National Defence entitled “Doing Well and Doing Better: Health Services provided to Canadian Forces with an Emphasis on Post-traumatic Stress Disorder”.

I would also like to thank the members of the committee for their excellent work.

[Tour de Beauce Bike Race, June 15th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, this weekend, Beauce was in high gear as it hosted the 24th Tour de Beauce bike race.

Fifteen teams with seven cyclists each competed in some very exciting races. Once again, the organizers did themselves proud.

I would like to congratulate those people who stepped up to the plate. Thanks to their dedication and perseverance, the spectators got their money's worth.

I would also like to acknowledge the 500 volunteers who made this event possible. Their involvement helped make the Tour de Beauce a huge success. They proved once again how indispensable they are.

I am very proud that my government contributed $50,000 to the Tour de Beauce.

This put Beauce on the international map, and brought in participants from various countries.

Once again, congratulations to the participants, organizers and volunteers.Until next year.

[Marie-Michèle Quirion, June 10th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to pay tribute in this House to an athlete from Beauce, who embodies determination and hard work.

Marie-Michèle Quirion is 18 and already has an illustrious record. She has been training for archery competitions in the compound division for nine years.

Last fall, in Turkey, she was a member of the junior women's team that won the first medal for Canada in the team compound division. She also has two gold medals won at the world competitions held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in addition to many other medals.

It is very difficult to balance a career, studies and competition. I encourage Marie-Michèle to follow her dream and I congratulate her on her accomplishments. Bravo Marie-Michèle.

[Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act, May 25th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask my Bloc Québécois colleagues a question.

I am surprised that they do not wish to support Bill C-23 because this bill would help Canadians and Colombians.

Free trade was a force in Canada's creation. In 1867, and even before that, Canadian entrepreneurs were not prevented by any country from exporting their goods throughout the world. Canada became rich through free trade. We now want to tear down barriers and allow our entrepreneurs to continue to sell their goods throughout the world, in Colombia in this instance. We also want Colombians to benefit from free trade because it has been proven over the years that countries that engage in free trade are generally more prosperous and peaceful. In fact, free trade enables people from different nations to travel to different countries, to come to know one another and to live in a better world.

Why do our Bloc Québécois friends want to prevent companies such as Bombardier or SNC-Lavalin from creating jobs in Quebec and Canada? Why do they wish to prevent Colombians from prospering in a better world?

[Standing Orders of the House of Commons, May 4th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to speak to Motion No. 277 concerning House private members' business.

According to the Standing Orders of the House of Commons, Senate private members' business that is referred to the House of Commons is automatically and immediately added to the order of precedence when it is sponsored or introduced by a member of this House.

However, a member can introduce an item of business only if his or her name is on the order of precedence.

At the beginning of each Parliament, the first 30 members on the list for the consideration of private members' business are added to the order of precedence for introducing a measure in the House.

Once the first 15 items of business on the order of precedence have been passed, rejected or referred to committee, the names of the next 15 members are added to the list.

In other words, the members of the House have to wait their turn, whereas Senate private members' business is automatically added to the order of precedence immediately. Clearly, this is extremely inequitable.

Motion No. 277 would change the rules and make them more equitable. Senate private members' business would receive the same treatment as House of Commons private members' business. We just want to be fair to the members of the House and the members of the Senate.

Motion No. 277 would give a member on the order of precedence freedom of choice. At the appropriate time, the member would be free to choose an item of business to introduce in the House. The member could choose any of his or her own items of business or an item from the Senate. The member would have the choice of sponsoring a Senate private member's bill or item of business or one of his or her own bills. That is freedom of choice.

Some members may say that we should not worry about Senate business, because only one item of Senate business has been passed during this Parliament. I disagree, and I will explain why we should be concerned about this.

During the first 30 days of the session, the senators introduced 33 private members' bills, an average of one a day while the Senate sat.

As I mentioned, the Senate has passed one private member's bill, but the House has not passed a single House private member's bill.

Moreover, four Senate private members' bills have been referred to committee in the Senate and could well be passed by the Senate by the end of May.

If that were to happen, the next replenishment planned for the last week of May would be postponed to June. As we can see, the time that should be devoted to private members' business from this House is currently being devoted to business that comes from the other place.

The many items sent from the Senate do actually make a difference, because time is very precious in this House. We, the members, lose precious time when our items are not addressed. Indeed, time—and I am choosing my words carefully—is of the utmost importance in this democratic institution we represent, and we cannot use this time any way we like.

At the rate at which Senate private members' business is passed, 10 other such items could be brought before the House of Commons by November, when the next replenishment of the order of precedence is scheduled.

Those 10 items could delay that replenishment by two sitting weeks.

In other words, this problem will only get worse over time, and items from the Senate will continue to be favoured at the expense of items brought forward by members of this House.

That is why we must act immediately to ensure that members of the House can present their items at the appropriate time.

I therefore call on all members of this House to support Motion No. 277.

[Claudette Taschereau, April 23rd, 2009]

Madam Speaker, a few years ago, Citizenship and Immigration Canada created the Citation for Citizenship Award to honour exemplary individuals who help newcomers integrate into the community.

In Beauce, one of these exemplary citizens, Ms. Claudette Taschereau, was awarded the Citation for Citizenship Award.

The work done by Ms. Taschereau has been remarkable. She understands the difficulties and problems faced by new immigrants. But she has also witnessed and appreciated the richness of their invaluable contributions to the community and decided to do everything possible to make things easier for them.

Ms. Taschereau embodies the values of tolerance, fair-mindedness and acceptance. Congratulations to Ms. Taschereau, she is a citizen of the world and we are proud of her.

[Forestry Industry, April 20th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, our government, in cooperation with the Government of Quebec is taking the necessary action to help the forestry sector. We must help and support the forestry sector, since it is important for all Canadian communities. An important announcement was made today in Montreal in that regard.

Can the Minister of Public Works and Government Services provide us with more details on the announcement made this morning in Montreal?

[Maxime Landry, April 20th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, on Monday, April 13, I attended a huge gathering in Saint-Gédéon-de-Beauce to support Star Académie contestant Maxime Landry.

Maxime won the 2009 season of Star Académie by a landslide. In addition to sharing his tremendous talent, he inspired a sense of kinship throughout Beauce. Maxime's life has been anything but ordinary. He has faced everything with courage and great determination. His incredible strength of character has enabled him to conquer all the obstacles he encountered along the way. He showed great maturity during his time at the academy.

Maxime deserved to win, and, thanks to him, all of Beauce has something to be proud of.

On behalf of all members of the House, congratulations, Maxime. May he go on to achieve all of his dreams. Bravo.