Pablo Rodriguez

[Housing, October 5th, 2023]

Yikes, Mr. Speaker.

We do not actually need the Bloc Québécois's threats and theatrics. I am going to use a word he does not like very much: whining. Bloc members are here to whine and pick fights. Here are the facts. Negotiations are progressing. Quebec will get $900 million. Quebec will match that figure. Negotiations are going well. Why? Because people on this side are standing up for Quebec.

[Official Languages, October 5th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, we must be cautious about the figures the member is referring to. If we consider the number of people who speak French, there are more of us than ever: 94% of the people in Quebec can speak French.

If we consider the language spoken at home, when I was young, I spoke only Spanish. That does not mean that I am not a francophone. I am also a francophone. I spoke Spanish at home, but at school, at work, when playing hockey and everywhere on the street, I spoke French. This proves that Bill 101 is working. The Bloc Québécois can shout and get angry all it wants, but the fact is that more people are speaking French.

The government will always ensure that their number keeps growing day by day.

[Official Languages, October 3rd, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, I want to take this opportunity to ask the Conservatives to stop attacking the Bloc Québécois, which is having enough trouble as it is.

I want to tell my colleague that the government will always stand up in defence of official languages. There is not just one. There are two: French and English. They are both equal.

[Carbon Pricing, September 29th, 2023]

Madam Speaker, I find the attacks against the Bloc Québécois to be very mean, but I would like to say that if the Conservatives are the least bit interested in the economy in Quebec, they would acknowledge yesterday's historic announcement that will lead to the creation of 3,000 jobs. We are making a green shift, a shift to the future. We are going to produce the greenest batteries in the world. This represents 3,000 direct jobs, thousands of indirect jobs and Quebec and Canadian batteries in cars around the world.

They do not even acknowledge it. The Conservatives do not care at all about Quebec.

[Carbon Pricing, September 29th, 2023]

Madam Speaker, my colleague wants to talk costs. How much do our burning forests cost? How much does flooding from our lakes and rivers cost? How much does the destruction of our infrastructure cost? How much does the health of our children cost when they are breathing polluted air? How much does that cost?

The answer is obvious: We cannot afford the Conservatives.

[Air Transportation, September 25th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, our government was the first to protect the rights of travellers, and we will make our passenger rights regime even stronger by making compensation mandatory for disruptions, putting the onus on airlines, not passengers, and ensuring an improved standard level of service during any disruption. We have also invested in the Canadian Transportation Agency so it can resolve cases faster. It will be much faster.

[Infrastructure, September 21st, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, just because the Bloc Québécois is discouraged does not mean that the people of Quebec City are discouraged. The people of Quebec City are much more resilient than the Bloc Québécois. They also trust the government, which is in talks with CN and the Quebec government.

I myself attended a meeting last week. It was a private meeting with Mayor Bruno Marchand, who is pleased with the project's progress. He knows full well that we will deliver results, and that is exactly what we plan to do.

[Infrastructure, September 21st, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, the Quebec bridge is an absolutely essential link for the city. It plays an extremely important role.

We said that we would move forward with the project. We are in talks with CN and it is going very well. At the same time, we are talking to the Government of Quebec.

We made a promise and we will keep it.

[Carbon Pricing, September 20th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, my colleague wants to talk about costs. How costly is it to deal with our burning forests? How costly is it to clean up overflowing lakes and rivers? How costly is it rebuild after tornadoes and hurricanes hit our regions? How much does it all add up to in health care costs for our children?

One thing is clear: Canada cannot afford the Conservatives.

[Carbon Pricing, September 19th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, that statement was chock-a-block full of nonsense. They want to talk about common sense but, in 2023, not having a climate change plan makes no sense. In 2023, putting assault weapons back on our streets makes no sense. In 2023, rolling back women's rights makes no sense. While they would take us backwards, we move forward.