Michel Boudrias

[Constitutional Debate, June 16th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, the Meech Lake accord died on June 22, 1990. Canada told Quebec to suck it up because it is the same as all the other provinces.

Brian Mulroney's vision of Quebec's glorious return to the Canadian fold went up in smoke.

The Prime Minister's statements make it clear that the government is not prepared to give Quebec the respect it deserves in terms of the Constitution.

That is what the 150th anniversary represents: Ottawa's rejection of Quebec. Ottawa wants us to not bother anyone, do like everyone else, and quietly fade away and be forgotten. Ottawa says Quebec is no different from any other province.

I would like to remind everyone what then-premier Robert Bourassa said, “English Canada must clearly understand that no matter what anyone says or does, Quebec is and always will be a distinct and free society capable of taking charge of its own destiny and its own development.”

That was true 27 years ago, and it is still true today. Je me souviens. I remember.

[Petitions, June 13th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, the petition I am presenting today has to do with a fundamental right, namely, the right of peoples to self-determination.

Nearly 10,000 people have signed the petition, whether on paper or electronically. They are calling on the government to withdraw from the legal challenge of Bill 99 and reaffirm, as the Quebec National Assembly has done, the fundamental principles set out in that bill, particularly the undeniable right of the people of Quebec to self-determination, including the right to determine and control the terms and conditions of the exercise and the democratic majority rule of 50% plus one.

[Official Languages, June 8th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, it is great that we are talking about training, but I am talking about working and operational units. From my experience in my career, Ottawa is tone deaf when it comes to French in the forces.

“If you don't understand, ask a friend.”

That is something we have heard often. French deserves to have a place and must be respected. The government puts out a defence policy every 10 years and it gets updated, but there has still not been any progress. There is not a single word about French in it.

When will the government take responsibility and give the air, land, and sea branches of the armed forces the number of French units they need?

[Official Languages, June 8th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, the minister has made some interesting announcements on his defence policy, such as the one on increasing the number of women and promoting diversity. However, the minister failed to say anything about French as a language of work in the forces.

For a francophone in the navy the language of work is English. In the special forces it is English. In the national training courses it is always English.

When will the Minister of Defence and his department start respecting francophones and give them the necessary units so that they can serve their country in French?

[Léo Major, June 7th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, Quebec has its own war heroes who deserve special recognition on the occasion of that other 150th anniversary.

One of them, Léo Major, is our only soldier to have been awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal, the DCM, in two separate wars. He landed at Normandy and single-handedly captured almost 100 Nazi soldiers at the Battle of the Scheldt.

He refused to return home despite having lost an eye and broken his back. He had a war to finish.

In one night, he single-handedly liberated the Dutch city of Zwolle, which was occupied by 1,000 enemy troops.

During the Korean War, he and 18 soldiers recaptured a hill that an American division of 10,000 had lost. Léo Major and his men held their position for three days, repelling seven attacks by two Chinese divisions 14,000 soldiers strong.

Quebec has war heroes who fought and are still fighting for freedom, and Léo Major was one of them. Some soldiers by their actions become legend.

Léo Major, je me souviens. I remember. We will all remember.

[Questions on the Order Paper, March 20th, 2017]

With regard to the approval to build a new airport on City of Terrebonne and City of Mascouche land announced by the Department of Transport on November 4, 2016: (a) what are the details of the analysis grid used to approve the project, including (i) the complete list of all items to be considered, (ii) the relative weight of each item to be considered, (iii) the indicators to measure the items in (i); (b) what data was compiled by the Department to evaluate the following factors related to building an airport concerning (i) safety issues and hazards associated with its operations, (ii) social and political acceptability, (iii) the environmental impacts on fauna, flora, and humans, including data shared with the Department of the Environment, (iv) economic spin-offs and consequences; (c) what data was taken into account by the Ministry to evaluate the following factors related to building a new airport on City of Terrebonne and City of Mascouche land concerning (i) safety issues and hazards associated with its operations, including those resulting from a nearby landfill, (ii) social and political acceptability, (iii) the environmental impacts on fauna, flora, and humans, including data shared with the Department of the Environment, (iv) economic spin-offs and consequences; (d) does the Department anticipate economic spin-offs from the future airport’s operations; (e) if the answer to (d) is affirmative, to what types, what contexts, and what amounts, broken down by year, do its economic spin-off evaluations correspond; (f) if the answer to (d) is affirmative, does the Department evaluate the possibility of public funds being requested or committed to (i) develop and build the airport, (ii) any type of associated future project, (iii) its ongoing operations and, where applicable, what are the amounts, broken down by source, including programs, ministries, special funds, discretionary funds, etc., of each of its evaluations; (g) did the Department incur costs related to (i) analyzing the file, (ii) taking measures, (iii) collecting existing or non-existing data and, where applicable, what is the value of these costs and the type of each expenditure; (h) when an airport development project receives approval from the Department and there are environmental impacts, does the Department anticipate compensation to offset the project’s ecological losses; (i) what improvements does the Minister of Transport anticipate making to the evaluation process and what is the anticipated timeline for these changes; (j) what is the anticipated timeline for changes to require public consultations announced for early 2017 to be held; and (k) does the Minister of Transport intend to propose changes to the evaluation process so that the consultations to be held are not overseen by the project’s proponent?

[The Environment, February 21st, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, the failure of the Minister of Transport and his officials to listen to Quebeckers just cost us 19 hectares of protected land.

A forest was clear-cut. Neither the people of Mascouche and Terrebonne nor Quebec and municipal elected officials were given a say in the matter.

We already know that the Minister of Transport could not care less about Quebec's environmental regulations. Perhaps the Minister of Environment can explain why she allowed this destruction.

As I understand it, caring about the environment does not mean acting like a wallflower.

[Public Safety, February 13th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, fancy words and lofty principles change nothing. What we want to know is what real measures have been implemented to ensure that no Quebecker, regardless of their religion, is unfairly targeted at the Canada-U.S. border.

What we want to know is who did the minister speak to, what did he ask of the U.S. authorities, and can he guarantee that none of our citizens will be victims of discrimination at border crossings?

[Petitions, January 30th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, today, I am pleased to table a petition signed by 284 petitioners from the Les Moulins RCM.

This petition, which is also being circulated in 13 other ridings represented by other members of the House, seeks to draw the government's attention to the consequences of the new CRTC policy on independent community television in Quebec and Canada.

The petitioners are asking that the government strengthen independent community television to ensure its survival, ensure that local media is available in remote communities and other regions, and ensure that it has sufficient resources.

I therefore urge the government to take note of the new reality brought to light in this petition.

[Shooting in Quebec City, January 30th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, obscurantism no longer recognizes any borders, and last night, it struck us here at home.

On behalf of the Bloc Québécois, I unreservedly condemn the terrorist acts that have plunged Quebec City and the rest of Quebec into grief. We are all devastated by the realization that human beings are capable of such cowardice and brutality.

On behalf of the Bloc, I offer our deepest condolences and unwavering support to the families of the victims and the entire Muslim community in Quebec.

We also want to recognize the exceptional work of law enforcement officials, the SPVQ, the SPVM, the Sûreté du Québec, and the RCMP, as well as the hospital staff who cared for the injured and continue to treat them today.

We stand in solidarity with all Quebeckers of Muslim faith. We stand in solidarity with all Quebeckers.

Let us stand up together here today and send a very clear message that intolerance has no place here, and it never will.