Richard Nadeau

[Committees of the House, February 27th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, I commend my colleague, who is a strong advocate for minority rights on the Standing Committee on Official Languages.

I would like to know what he thinks about the following. We heard the member for Saint Boniface say that it took 90 years to bring French schools to Manitoba. It took 56 years, after they were abolished by Regulation 17, to have French schools at all levels in Ontario. It took 64 years in Saskatchewan. And all of this happened before the court challenges program.

By abolishing the court challenges program, could we not end up back in the dark days when francophone minorities were losing their rights in instances where they were very much in the minority, because the majority, much like the Conservatives today, could not care less?

[Committees of the House, February 27th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to know what my colleague from Acadie—Bathurst thinks of the fact that, in May 2006, the present government stated before the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights that the court challenges program was an excellent program that helped the disadvantaged in our society, minority groups, to stand up for their rights. The government made that statement in May 2006 at the United Nations and, a few months later, in September of that same year, it slashed the program.

I would like to hear the member's opinion on that.

[Petitions, February 27th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, today I am tabling a petition with 420 signatures. These Quebeckers support Bill C-482 and are calling on the federal government to take tangible action showing that it respects the Quebec nation and Bill 101.

[Petitions, February 15th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, I am tabling today a petition signed by 367 citizens from Quebec who support Bill C-482, An Act to amend the Official Languages Act (Charter of the French Language) and to make consequential amendments to other Acts.

These petitioners demand that the federal governement actively respect the Quebec nation and Bill 101.

[Committees of the House, February 15th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, I wonder if I might seek unanimous consent of the House to table a petition. Could I? It is very succinct.

[Official Languages, February 15th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives are systematically obstructing the work of the official languages committee in order to prevent the committee from inviting the minister to appear.

This counterproductive strategy is an affront to the principle of ministerial responsibility. Disrespectful comments made by the Conservatives to opposition members in order to delay a motion to invite once again demonstrate this party's ideology when it comes to respect for procedure. We are ready to discuss the renewal of the action plan for official languages and the committee needs to hear from the minister.

This coalition of Reform, Alliance, Progressive Conservative and failed Liberal members is letting spite get in the way of its committee work. Not all that long ago, the Conservatives were cancelling meetings to prevent debate of the court challenges program. Refusing to invite the minister to discuss the renewal of the action plan is just more of the same; it is obstruction.

[Livestock Industry, February 13th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, I congratulate my colleague from West Nova on his excellent speech. All of Acadia must be very proud this evening. And so am I, even though, sadly, I have no Acadian roots.

That said, let us talk about packaging and advertising. To ensure that the packaging of our beef and pork products is more appropriate and that we can buy our own products here—I realize that there is free trade and international trade—it seems to me that it would help our producers if the packaging showed that the contents were from Quebec or Canada, instead of where the packaging itself was made. The same with advertising. Without becoming isolationists, we should at least show enough pride to say that the product in question was produced here. This way, we would be helping our producers. I would like to hear my hon. colleague on that.

[Livestock Industry, February 13th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, I have to admit that, like my colleague from Malpeque, I found the comments of the hon. members for Selkirk—Interlake and Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound very enlightening.

They spoke openly about a situation they are familiar with and in which many hog and cattle producers find themselves. I could have listened to their comments for many more hours because they were very interesting, almost as interesting as those of my Bloc colleagues. I could have listened to them for many hours.

I would very much like the member for Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound to educate our Quebec Conservative members about this situation.

We listened just now to the member from Lotbinière—Chutes-de-la-Chaudière, and his views are quite the opposite and—

[Livestock Industry, February 13th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to congratulate my colleague from Selkirk—Interlake. In his comments, he claimed that the situation has now resulted in an income crisis in the pork and beef industries. He pointed out—as did my Bloc Québécois colleagues—that this crisis is persistent, ongoing and causing great harm to producers.

I would like to hear what my colleague from Selkirk—Interlake thinks of the comments made by the member for Lotbinière—Chutes-de-la-Chaudière, which contradicted the reality. To hear him, you would think that everything is rosy and wonderful and that we are actually wasting our time tonight discussing a sector of the economy that is vital to Quebec and Canada.

[Senate Appointment Consultations Act, February 12th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, my colleague is completely right. For there to be democracy, people must be elected as part of a decision-making body. We do not need two decision-making bodies within a single state. The House of Commons and the National Assembly are where elected members debate topics and bills in order to vote for or against a given bill, amended or not. There must be a vision that responds to the needs of the people. A senate is nothing more than a political favour.