Raynald Blais

[Committees of the House, February 5th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, first, I would like to thank the member for Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Lachine for her contribution to the discussion of this subject which is very close the hearts of residents of the Gaspé and the Îles-de-la-Madeleine and, of course, to the members of the family, who are in my thoughts right now. They came to my office about a year ago to ask that we pursue this matter to shed light on this case and, if possible, to clear the name of Wilbert Coffin.

I hope that the Conservative government will have something to say on this matter. I believe that it has a responsibility in this case. As the member for Hochelaga has said, there is a black mark on the history of the Gaspé, and also on the life of Wilbert Coffin and the history of the Coffin family.

In my view, the current government now has a responsibility to shed light on this case. I am very glad to have the member’s support, and I imagine that she now expects a great deal from the government, specifically, how it intends to deal with this matter.

We need to move quickly. I would say that the murder of Wilbert Coffin, because murder it was, took place February 10, 1956. The 50th anniversary is next Saturday. The crime took place 53 years ago and there were witnesses. The witnesses are no longer with us. Each passing day makes a review more difficult. For that reason, I imagine that she is waiting for news from the government.

[Income Tax Act, January 31st, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to acknowledge the work accomplished by the hon. member for Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, because introducing a bill of this kind is a good illustration of the great challenges we face. One of these great challenges is to ensure that our regions—and I come from what is called a resource region—can have access to this development.

I have the following question for the hon. member, even though I think he already mentioned it clearly and eloquently: does his bill to help communities like ours come under federal jurisdiction? I understand full well that the answer is yes, but I would like my colleague to say a few words on the positive aspects of this bill. I know full well that there are some and I want to give the hon. member for Chicoutimi—Le Fjord the opportunity to talk about the positive aspects of this bill which, in my opinion, is important.

This shows, yet again, that the people of the Bloc Québécois act with discipline and responsibility.

[Canada Pension Plan, January 29th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, I would not like this question and comment period to be solely for friends of the government and government members. That is why it is important that members of the opposition be able to put other questions to the minister concerned.

For the moment, I would like to draw the minister’s attention to a subject that is very important for the people of Quebec and for seniors throughout Canada. I refer to the guaranteed income supplement. Unfortunately, a great deal of money has been, I would dare to say, withheld and in the end these people have not seen a single penny of this money. But they were entitled to it. Now, I believe that they deserve some social justice. These people who are hard up, who need this money, deserve to recover that money that quite simply passed under their noses.

I would like the new minister responsible for this matter to tell us what he intends to do about the error that was made concerning seniors and the guaranteed income supplement.

[Petitions, December 13th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, today I am tabling another petition—and not necessarily the last one—from people in the riding of Gaspésie—Îles-de-la-Madeleine, who are asking the federal government to do no less than take necessary measures to ensure that rail passenger and freight services be maintained and enhanced in the Gaspé, which involves the acquisition of the Matapédia-Chandler line as well as Via Rail's capital and operating budgets.

[Fisheries and Oceans, December 4th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, will the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans stop hiding behind his bureaucrats' reports and explain to the Quebec nation why, just hours before the Quebec fisheries forum, he unilaterally reassigned one of Quebec's fishing zones off the Magdalen Islands to Prince Edward Island?

[Fisheries and Oceans, December 4th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, on November 24, I attended the Forum québécois des partenaires des pêches held in our national capital, Quebec City, as an observer. I thought that the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans would take advantage of the opportunity to propose some solutions and make some interesting suggestions for the Quebec industry, but he came empty-handed.

Can the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans explain why he showed up at the forum with no solutions, no new ideas and no plan to support the fragile industry?

[Business of Supply, November 28th, 2006]

Should my colleague from the Conservative Party not be saying, rather, that the real field of reference for the health care file is Quebec and its health and social services department?

[Business of Supply, November 28th, 2006]

Since we must start somewhere, I would like the hon. member to start by respecting our areas of jurisdiction. Starting somewhere would give Quebec the means to deal with the various challenges facing the health care sector.

To start somewhere would mean to start by recognizing that health care is a matter of provincial jurisdiction, as the hon. member did at the beginning of his speech. But the member then went on to discuss a number of possible encroachments on this jurisdiction.

When a member begins his speech with a certain logic, he must follow through, otherwise, the rest of the argument does not hold water.

[Fisheries and Oceans, November 23rd, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, the seal hunt has recently been the victim of an enormous propaganda effort by various groups opposed to the hunt. A number of celebrities from other countries went public to denounce the hunt, going as far as to use disinformation.

Knowing that the seal hunt is a major economic activity in the Magdalen Islands, could the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans tell us what he intends to do in order to speedily rebut the propagandistic and defamatory messages being given by its opponents?

[Interparliamentary Delegations, November 22nd, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 34(1), I have the honour to present to the House, in both official languages, the report of the Canadian parliamentary delegation of the Canada-Europe Parliamentary Association to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, respecting the meeting of the Committee on the Environment, Agriculture and Local and Regional Affairs, held in Paris, France, on May 12, 2006.