Richard Martel

[National Defence, April 30th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, the press coverage this morning is unanimous. Yesterday's announcement is frustrating, cruel and disappointing right across the board. Do the Liberals really think people are that stupid?

Not only did the Prime Minister do nothing for six years about sexual misconduct in the military, he protected his boys club. The Minister of Defence was aware of this, and so was the Prime Minister's chief of staff.

How does he explain his government's complicity in the code of silence regarding sexual misconduct in the military?

[National Defence, April 30th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday's announcement from the Minister of National Defence regarding the problem of sexual assault in the military was nothing more than a smokescreen intended to distract Canadians.

It has been six years since the tabling of the Deschamps report, which identified problems in the military.

The fact is, this government has done nothing for six years. This self-proclaimed feminist Prime Minister failed to protect women.

Will he admit that?

[Health, April 27th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, among other things, the Liberal Prime Minister could have done better when it comes to providing a stable, predictable supply of vaccines, enhancing border controls and procuring a sufficient number of rapid tests. Speaking of areas where he could have done better, there is also the budget. In the midst of a pandemic, he is refusing to give the provinces health care transfers with no strings attached. That was the provinces' main demand.

How can the Prime Minister explain the fact that he spends money hand over fist except when it comes time to help our provincial partners with their health care budgets?

[COVID-19 Emergency Response, April 27th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, many countries are beginning to reopen, but the exact opposite is happening in Canada. We are back in lockdown, there are curfews in effect and hospitals are overrun.

We are in this situation because the government is having a hard time procuring vaccines. Only 3% of Canadians have received their second dose. Meanwhile, the Prime Minister is saying that he is not going to make any changes to his approach, despite the fact that he could have done a number of things differently to prevent the third wave.

Will the Prime Minister admit that, contrary to what he says, he failed to obtain vaccines on time?

[Labour, April 26th, 2021]

Because of this situation, companies in Canada and around the world now consider the Port of Montreal to be so unreliable that they are taking their business to other North American seaports. We are basically a laughingstock.

Quebec minister Pierre Fitzgibbon said this morning that the situation is critical for our businesses and that two strikes in one year is not acceptable. The other thing that is not acceptable is the Liberal government's inaction. Why are the Liberals content with their failure and weakness?

[Labour, April 26th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, dock workers at the Port of Montreal have been without a contract since 2018. The government has allowed uncertainty to hang over this highly strategic port for more than two years.

As I said last week, the Liberals are slow to make decisions, and they are slow to act. Instead of being proactive, they wait until the problem is too obvious to ignore. Now the dock workers have started an open-ended general strike. Why did the Liberals take so long to act?

[Health, April 23rd, 2021]

Madam Speaker, it is difficult to understand why the Prime Minister was once again slow to act given the experience he gained in managing our borders during the first wave. He is not learning from his mistakes.

It took pressure from the Conservatives, the provinces and the media for him to finally decide to close the borders and protect Canadians. The situation is deteriorating in other countries. Can the Prime Minister assure us that he will no longer jeopardize the health of Canadians by dragging his feet?

[Health, April 23rd, 2021]

Madam Speaker, it took every effort to get the Prime Minister to close the border last night to countries with severe outbreaks of variants.

It is unbelievable that it takes the government such a long time to make decisions. When it comes to public health, it is crucial not to take any risks. The Prime Minister has been exposing the public to serious risks from day one of his term. He is slow on vaccines, slow to close the borders and slow with rapid testing. Does he realize that he caused this third wave?

[Health, April 22nd, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, much like with the borders, the Liberal government failed to take action to increase health transfers for the provinces with no strings attached, in the midst of a pandemic. It failed to take action to secure the vaccine supply for Canadians. There is no question that it is the Prime Minister's fault that we are in the midst of a third wave.

Will the Prime Minister do the right thing and temporarily close Canada's borders to countries where there are severe outbreaks?

[Health, April 22nd, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, our leader and member for Durham quickly called for the government to temporarily stop flights from countries with serious outbreaks of COVID variants. The Premier of Quebec also formally asked the Liberal Prime Minister to do more at our borders. We have been calling for these measures for a long time, but now it is too late. We already have a case of the Indian variant in Canada. The Conservatives want to take action at our borders.

How many variant cases will it take before the Liberals take action?