Pierre Nantel

[Business of Supply, May 11th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, I hold my colleague opposite in high esteem but, honestly, Canadians expect the Liberals to keep their promises. That is what Canadians expect. They are not expecting a pan-Canadian infrastructure system with tolls.

I would like to ask my dear colleague how the Liberals had the nerve to break another promise and bury something so important in an omnibus bill if this is so important for them and for all Canadians. That is truly shameful.

The only thing the minister can do is rise and answer the question honestly and frankly.

[Longueuil, May 4th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, on April 27 I had the privilege of witnessing firsthand the leadership of Pôle de l'économie sociale de l'agglomération de Longueuil, which is an umbrella organization that assists with the development of the social economy or, to quote Jean-Martin Aussant, “collective entrepreneurship”.

I was especially proud of Rendez-vous de l'économie sociale, which was held in Longueuil, because it gave me a chance to see yet again how enthusiastic our community is about collective entrepreneurship. Look at our local media including the Point Sud newspaper or the radio station FM 103.3, or our employment reintegration services organizations such as the Batifolerie or Certex shops. Let us not forget our cultural community such as the Théâtre de la Ville, the Longueuil symphony orchestra, and our young performers at Théâtre du 450. What can I say about our early childhood centres, which have been the pride of Quebeckers and the people of greater Longueuil for 20 years.

Quebec is a world leader in the social economy because of the contribution of people like the citizens of Longueuil.

I thank everyone who works in the social economy because every one of their actions help not only the economy of Longueuil and Saint-Hubert to be healthier, but also our community to be more dynamic.

[Budget Implementation Act, 2017, No. 1, May 4th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, I congratulate my colleague across the way on his speech. I get that he is pleased with his government's choices, but I have a simple question for him.

I am aware of the public transit situation in his riding and I would like to know how the people of Surrey, British Columbia reacted when they found out that the tax credit for public transit and bus passes was going to be cut.

Many people in my riding are complaining about this because it takes $255 away from them every year.

[Budget Implementation Act, 2017, No. 1, May 4th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, I think that the member is quite right in saying that everyone makes mistakes. They made a big one this time.

I would like to come back to the omnibus bill that my colleague from Salaberry—Suroît mentioned. Under this omnibus bill, there is a parliamentary budget officer, but he or she will report to the Speaker and will, obviously, be under the influence of the Liberal government. That is pretty shameful. It is worrisome that the person in that position will find that this is very different from what the government promised. I have here a copy of the Liberal Party platform. On page 15, in the paragraph on the Canada infrastructure bank, it reads:

We will establish the Canadian Infrastructure Bank to provide low-cost financing for new infrastructure projects.

The federal government can use its strong credit rating and lending authority to make it easier and more affordable for municipalities to build the projects their communities need.

That is really quite unbelievable, when we now know full well that the government will have to guarantee all mutual funds and other investors a major return.

My colleague alluded to a mistake, so here is my question. Does he not believe that it was quite a big mistake to have done away with the public transit tax credit? Back home in Longueuil, the elimination of that tax credit means a loss of $250 for most people who use public transit. For ordinary Canadians, $250 a year is a lot of money. Considering how good the Liberals are at communicating, did they simply make a mistake by letting this measure go through or did they purposely commit this shameful act that will hurt public transit users?

[Privilege, May 2nd, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question. Sincerely, coming from him, I find this absolutely fascinating, because if there is a member who aptly represents a fresh wind and new influences entering a party, it is surely him.

My colleague opposite was talking about wasted time. We can say that the former Conservative government knew what it wanted. It went off in a very specific direction, driving along like a tank, with determination. It was not afraid of the authoritarian image it presented. Of course I always stood against what it presented us, but at least we knew the type of government we were dealing with. Now the issue of wasted time is coming from the other side. We are being told that they are listening. We are being told that all is fine. There is a measure of time wasting inherent in all that. This is obviously a deplorable situation, and, as I see it, a cause of great disappointment, particularly among young people interested in politics, who just see it as more of the same.

[Privilege, May 2nd, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, my colleague asked an excellent question. I must say that, to this point, from my experience in committee, we have always been able to have respected representatives, delegates of our populations and MPs, given the limitations of the number of members elected, of course. Obviously, if part of a minority, one has less weight than as part of a majority. Can we hope that, in committee, individuals on the government side will conduct themselves in a manner that is responsible, dignified and, honest? That is generally the case, and fortunately committees can decide not to follow the official party line. Naturally, I have to retain confidence in this process, since when we are in committee we can also look each other in the eye and talk.

[Privilege, May 2nd, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to note my colleague opposite’s very high regard for the work that must be done in committee. That is indeed the place where all members who take this role seriously can contribute to the debate. However, why do they not stop basically wasting this Parliament’s time with their grand proposals, their bullying, which as we know will inevitably provoke protest from the other side? Why are they doing this? Because they want to buy time to try and fulfill the grand, wild promises they made, when they had no chance of being elected at the time. Finally, they are running this government and wondering how they will go about keeping all those promises. Well, they can take their time.

[Privilege, May 2nd, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with my colleague from North Island—Powell River.

I have been listening to the debate and find this quite appalling. I am disappointed at how sterile our deliberations have become, simply because this government seems to need some intense psychotherapy. It has an acute superiority complex.

Clearly, this does not seem to stop my colleague opposite from talking over me and believing that what he has to say is relevant. That is what is funny. He talks non-stop, like a machine. It is like a car alarm that will not stop ringing. Still, no matter what we are talking about, he always has the same perspective. That is typical of this government, which got elected by saying just about anything.

The young members who are in government for the first time cannot believe how badly they have been taken for a ride. They are simply clinging on to that old ideal of the “natural governing party”. Come on. It is appalling that the Liberals pulled such a fast one on Canadian voters. This government came along with an approach based on communications and spin, promising the moon and the stars, and sugar-coating everything.

I would really like to hear the conversation between the communications people and public servants, who have to ask why they said such things during the election campaign, because now they are forced to follow through on them. There are a lot of broken promises.

As the critic for cultural industries, I can tell you that the government is doing nothing. It is fine for the minister to be ambitious and hold big consultations, but it is very clear that there is no movement on the other side. She can say whatever she wants, but right now we do not have the crucial measures needed to protect our entrepreneurs in the cultural industries and in other areas threatened by what is being offered online. Although we cannot be against progress, we nevertheless have to recognize that entrepreneurs have a challenge. However, absolutely nothing is happening. It is really pathetic.

This government comes into power with its blue blood complex and thinks it is the natural governing party and that it is royalty. It may seem that members of this government are blue bloods because they are friends with the Bay Street kings, who have their own agenda. No matter what the little candidate said during the election campaign, they are going to tell him that this is not how things go.

It is sad because regular people expect solid social measures in health or social housing. Regular people who watch television are steadily turning to Netflix. In other words, fewer and fewer people are purchasing ads on network television and in our newspapers. In other words, we have smaller budgets for our productions and our own culture, of which we are so proud. The money is drying up. Our media are suffering and we all know it.

Everyone has a weekly paper that is losing ground because it is no longer able to sell ad space, since everyone is sending our advertisement dollars over the Internet. That money is going to California, Mountain View for Google and Palo Alto for Apple.

These are urgent matters, but there is far too much concern over whether the Crown looks good. It is pathetic. It is crazy because it is runs completely counter to what was presented during the election campaign. They presented themselves as a government of and for the people and the middle class. I am here to tell you that their agenda does not reflect that.

It is quite clear that this government is more interested in listening to its cronies. We have a government that is fuelling cynicism, when it promised there would be none.

When I was here from 2011 to 2015, when the Conservative government was not interested in a word anyone had to say, we knew what we were dealing with. It said it was going to follow its agenda and if we did not like it, then too bad.

However, the Liberals set certain expectations. They say that things could be better, but they are getting worse because issues that are being pushed aside are far more important than what we are seeing here right now.

What a sad situation we are in this week. We are extremely far from the issues that matter to Canadians and Quebeckers.

Those who work short-term, temporary jobs just want to make ends meet. Ultimately, they would like to be able to do more than that. They would like to have ambitions for their children and themselves. They would like to be able to envision a happy retirement. They would like their children to have a better standard of living than they did, and they would like progress to continue. That is not what is happening.

Instead, we now have a government that refuses to listen and is putting on blinders so that it does not have to deal with any issues it does not consider to be a priority. For example, it would be a good idea to ensure that online merchants do not cannibalize the sales of local retailers and entrepreneurs, whether they have an online presence or not. I sometimes get the impression that this government firmly believes that it does not have to listen to us. That is why I was talking about the government's superiority complex, and that is why the entire opposition is united in saying that this does not make sense. We represent the Quebeckers and Canadians who elected us, whether the government likes it or not or believes it or not. There is an alternative to this government. Oh yes, your royal highnesses, there is.

The electors have placed their trust in us, whether we be New Democrats, Bloc members, Greens or Conservatives. It is our duty to speak not only on behalf of our party, but above all on behalf of the citizens who elected us, and even those who did not.

I heard someone mention the magic number of 100,000 constituents. That is a lot of pressure! We have our work cut out for us, as we must represent them all. That is why we are joining together to tell the government that its way of moving its agenda forward is unacceptable. It is elegant in its way of forcing its agenda on us, and its communications are very skilfully put together.

I met with some friends, and there was a seven-year-old girl who asked me what I did for a living. I told her I was a politician. She asked me what a politician was. I told her that my job was to represent the people who chose us in an election, so we could represent their values, their needs and their aspirations. She asked me if it was enjoyable. I told her that usually it was enjoyable, but that for a while now it had started becoming not so much fun. She asked me why. I told her that we were used to expressing ourselves in a parliament that truly respected democracy, but that at the moment, we had the feeling that we had fallen under the influence of certain, let us say, unsavoury countries. She told me that she liked the prime minister a lot. I will not tell him she said so, naturally. She said she thought he was handsome. I told her that was great, that he is very handsome, very nice, which is what we were sold during the election campaign. Behind all that, however, you might say there are some older gentlemen who are not so nice, people who have some very specific priorities and are responsible for this government saying one thing and doing the opposite.

The government talks about its election promises; it is always harping on about them. It says it is doing what it promised in its platform. Come on! The government never once mentioned this sort of change. If we have succeeded today in getting this government to listen to reason a little, it is because we, in the opposition, stood firm. We are still a long way from all the promises it made. Funnily enough, what comes to mind is Bill C-51. What is the government going to do with that?

I am looking at my colleagues who were with me in the last parliament, who were ranting and raving, saying that the bill was scary, that they were going to vote in favour of it but then amend it later on. The Liberals have been in power for a year and a half. Let them get on with it, then, let them do something. One might say the government is suffering from acute “consult-itis”: it consults and then consults again on the consultation.

We need to get going. There are important subjects to address. I understand that most of them are deserving of wise reflection, but what is certain is that we need action. When we look at the situation of the portfolio I am responsible for, culture and the news media, it is a wholesale massacre. The government must hurry up and do something, and must take advice from the people who are there to express the views of their fellow citizens.

[Privilege, May 2nd, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Edmonton West for his strong speech. He explained how important the work of an opposition party can be in our democratic process.

He described my colleague from Winnipeg North as a professional. That is true, because he consistently does the same thing whether he believes in it or not. A professional tennis player has to always play at his best even in the rain, even when his heart is not in it, even when he is tired.

Well, my colleague from Winnipeg North always goes full throttle no matter what we are talking about, because it is always the same thing. He comes to the defence of a well-established party that acts like royalty, with royal privileges and a royal attitude toward its entourage who prevent the poor ordinary members from speaking.

I wonder if the government is just trying to buy some time. Could it be that after presenting themselves during the election campaign as a youthful, marvellous, sunny, and progressive alternative, now they are not so sure what to do about all their pending promises and need to think long and hard about how to explain their deficits?

[Canadian Heritage, April 13th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, this morning's edition of Le Devoir stated that Donald Trump intends to renegotiate NAFTA and that he wants to abolish the cultural exemption that has protected our distinct culture for 30 years. This means that our films, our music, and all of Quebec culture will get no protection from the American steamroller.

Even Liza Frulla, president of ADISQ, is sounding the alarm. This morning, she had this to say about the minister: “Her intentions are still not clear. We want to know what the federal government's position is on this file.”

When it is at the negotiating table, the government will have to defend our distinct culture. One must be clear when negotiating.

Will the minister immediately declare that the cultural exemption in our free trade agreements is non-negotiable?