Pablo Rodriguez

[Official Languages, May 20th, 2022]

Madam Speaker, the Liberal members' position on French is crystal clear: It must be protected, promoted and valued. It is a beautiful language that all of us will defend.

What concerns me is the radicalization of the Bloc. It claims that Liberal members from Quebec are not Quebeckers, that they are just Canadians. The Bloc members are Quebeckers, but all the others are Canadians.

There are Liberal members from Quebec, who were elected in Quebec by Quebeckers. They too are Quebeckers, and they have just as much right to speak as the Bloc members.

[Official Languages, May 19th, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, members of the Bloc Québécois regularly speak. They have the right to do so because they are real Quebeckers. Liberal members who speak to the same issue do not have the right. The Bloc is deciding who is a real Quebecker and who is not; that is where they become radicalized.

They are also becoming radicalized when they say that, if someone asks a question about Bill 96, they are against Bill 101. We support Bill 101. We have always supported it, and that is our party's position.

They say that a person who takes part in a march wants to anglicize Quebec. No, we are there to defend French and respect the anglophone minority.

[Official Languages, May 16th, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, all Liberal members, including the 35 Liberal members from Quebec, recognize that French is under threat and that more needs to be done. That is what we are doing through the excellent work of the Minister of Official Languages.

We are seeking to protect French not only at home in Quebec, but also outside Quebec. The difference between us and the Bloc Québécois is that we care about linguistic minorities, both anglophones in Quebec and francophones outside Quebec. A Quebecker is a Quebecker, regardless of the language they speak.

[Official Languages, May 16th, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, is my colleague saying that Liberal members from Quebec are somehow less Québécois than members of the Bloc Québécois?

Is he saying that they have no say in the matter?

Is he saying that it is wrong to ask questions and to reflect the positions of some of their constituents?

Are they less Québécois than members of the Bloc Québécois or do they have the right to express their views like every other Quebecker?

[Official Languages, May 16th, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, I will point out that what these federal MPs are superstars at is defending both official languages.

We do not make a distinction, as the Bloc Québécois does. We are all proud to be Liberal MPs. The 35 MPs from Quebec are not less Québécois than the members of the Bloc Québécois just because they do not want Quebec to separate. We are just as Québécois as they are. We love French and Quebec just as much.

[Official Languages, May 16th, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, the government has introduced Bill C‑13 to strengthen French not only in Quebec, but throughout Canada. That is exactly what we will do, while respecting the rights of all minorities.

Unlike the Bloc Québécois, our MPs are not locked up, they are not handcuffed and they are not chained to posts. They have the right to demonstrate to defend their point of view, unlike the Bloc Québécois.

[Canadian Heritage, May 10th, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for her remarkable work. I want to tell her that our culture needs a level playing field for web giants, and that is exactly what Bill C-11, the online streaming act, does.

This is essential for all of our artists, creators and cultural workers, but the Conservatives keep abandoning them again and again. They would rather play politics when Canada and the cultural sector need this legislation. It is time to move forward.

[Canadian Heritage, May 10th, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, I do not have to tell my colleague that she is wrong. Everybody knows that she is wrong. They keep inventing facts all the time, but there is one thing that remains: They do not care about our culture. They do not care about our films, our movies and everything that is produced in Canada. That is not important for the Conservatives and that is a shame.

[Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, May 2nd, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, Quebec reaps significant benefits from the Canada—Quebec accord on immigration.

In fact, Quebec selects 74% of permanent immigrants. It sets the criteria, including knowledge of French. Quebec also determines the profiles for temporary foreign workers and foreign students, including their knowledge of the French language. In 2020-2021 alone, we sent nearly $700 million to Quebec to help integrate immigrants, which includes French-language learning.

We are working together despite the fact that the Bloc would like to stir up trouble where there is none. We are working well together.

[Official Languages, April 25th, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, the Bloc Québécois is trying to make this a partisan issue. I will use a word that I do not like to use: “troublemaking”.

What CN has done is completely unacceptable. No one in the House thinks that what CN has done is a good thing. The Bloc Québécois knows it, we are saying it publicly, and the Prime Minister has said it: CN must address this issue.

The Bloc Québécois is trying to play politics with this, and that is unacceptable. This government stands up for francophones across Canada.