Pascale St-Onge

[Public Services and Procurement, February 2nd, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, we have an outstanding public service, and we trust the public sector employees we work with every day.

We are investing in Canadians to ensure that our economy continues to grow and that programs are properly designed to help Canadians who need them most. All of these programs are administered by our wonderful public sector workers.

[Finance, February 2nd, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, we believe that we need to invest in Canadians to help them get through tough times, as we did during the pandemic and as we are doing right now with the increase in inflation.

That is why we are helping students by eliminating interest on student loans. That is why we introduced the new Canada workers benefit and created the Canada dental benefit for children under 12. We think that, when we invest in Canadians, it benefits everyone.

That is how Canada can be stronger.

[Housing, February 2nd, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, it is true that Canadians have placed their trust in us for eight years now.

Election after election after election, we have been here to represent them in government. Canadians know we are here for them. We were there for them during the pandemic. We are here to lift children out of poverty with the Canada child benefit and other measures. We are also here to help families take their kids to the dentist.

In short, Canadians place their trust in us because they know we are here for them.

[Public Services and Procurement, January 31st, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, we are still waiting for the Conservatives to come up with solutions to help Canadians deal with the difficult times we are currently facing with rising interest rates.

We know what the Conservatives' solutions are, because we have seen them in the past. It is “every person for themselves”, with cuts to all the programs that are there to help those who really need it.

What we are saying to Canadians is that we will be there for them, especially with the Canada child benefit, which has helped lift 435,000 children out of poverty. Together we will get through this.

[Public Services and Procurement, January 31st, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, as we know, the situation is currently unstable. Times are tough for Canadians. We dealt with the pandemic. We were there for people and we are proud of that. It was the right thing to do.

Now that we are going through another difficult period with higher interest rates, we will continue to be there for people most in need. We will continue to act responsibly so that our economy continues to grow and provides good jobs for Canadians. We will continue to do our job.

[Firearms, December 8th, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, after what we just heard from our Conservative colleagues and the insults they have hurled at my colleagues, we will take no lessons from them on this.

When it comes to firearms, we have been clear from the beginning. We would never prevent hunters from hunting or prevent indigenous communities from practising their traditions. That is why we will continue to work with those who are willing to do so, in order to protect Canadians and get rid of the assault weapons and handguns that have been used to commit horrific killings, whether at École Polytechnique or the Quebec City mosque.

We call on everyone to act responsibly to protect Canadians.

[Firearms, December 7th, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, I am the proud member for the rural riding of Brome—Missisquoi, where there are many passionate hunters. I can say for sure that our government has no intention of preventing hunters or indigenous peoples from practising their sport and maintaining their traditions. We are willing to work with all members of the House to make sure our bill achieves its objective of eliminating assault weapons and handguns, the type of weapons used in acts of terror like those at the Polytechnique and the Quebec City mosque.

[Firearms, December 6th, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, our government is committed to working with all parliamentarians, with our colleagues in the Bloc and the NDP, to ensure that this bill is well balanced and that it achieves the objectives we have set, specifically, to get rid of the assault weapons used in massacres like the ones at the Quebec City mosque and École Polytechnique, while at the same time protecting the rights of hunters and indigenous communities.

[Firearms, December 6th, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, we thank the Bloc and the NDP for their co-operation and their reasonable and responsible approach to working together to strengthen the bill at committee. It is truly important that everyone work together on this matter.

Today we talked about the École Polytechnique massacre. The objective of the bill really is to get assault weapons off our streets and to protect the rights of hunters and indigenous communities. That is what we are working on. The Prime Minister has made a commitment, and I encourage everyone to work together.

[Gender-Based Violence, December 6th, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the Leader of the Opposition for his question.

Obviously, today, everyone's thoughts are with the families of the victims, the 14 women who were murdered in the École Polytechnique massacre. Obviously, our government wants to do more to better protect women. That is why we have a very important bill to get more assault weapons off the streets.

We invite all parliamentarians to work with us to strengthen this bill and better protect women across the country.