House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2025, with 44% of the vote.
Business of Supply June 10th, 2025
Mr. Speaker, I congratulate the ministers on their appointments to cabinet.
I will start with a simple question. Does the minister not find it a little strange that we are here in this committee of the whole, but we still do not have the departmental plans?
Business of Supply June 10th, 2025
Mr. Speaker, when it comes to relations with the Americans, I would say that Quebec has led the way because our system is tied to California's system.
Here is the funny part. Next week we are going to move on to the business of supply. We know that the government intends to get strengthen ties with Europe. However, the government announced that it was abolishing carbon pricing, even though it knows the EU's position on that. There is still no departmental plan, even though we are going to vote on appropriations.
I look forward to finding out whether an agreement was reached between Canada and the European Union without our knowledge that would mean that Canada will not have any problems exporting goods to the EU, despite abolishing carbon pricing. If we get access to a departmental plan before voting on the appropriations, we may find out more.
Business of Supply June 10th, 2025
Mr. Speaker, I think we are entitled to it because we contributed to it. That is precisely the problem: We contributed to it. Of course, what we gave, we need to get back. The same goes for British Columbia.
That said, it is ironic because my colleague remembers very well how the Liberals swore for a long time, hand on heart, that the carbon tax was good for everyone. We had the numbers, we had the facts, we had the documents and we quoted the Parliamentary Budget Officer. It went on and on. Today, the government is proud to have abolished it.
My Conservative friends must be laughing their heads off, but, as they say, laughing does not make it funny.
Business of Supply June 10th, 2025
Mr. Speaker, what I have missed over the past six months is my hon. colleague being all over the map. He always gives very long speeches that go every which way in the preamble. He wants to answer everything, but at the end, he asks a question that is a bit out in left field.
Do we need to support a bunch of industries? The answer is yes.
Are there also industries that are part of the past and do not deserve support, and should we be thinking about a just transition? The answer is a resounding yes.
Business of Supply June 10th, 2025
Mr. Speaker, the jig is up. Ottawa's mask has fallen to reveal the true face of injustice. While Quebec has been faithfully keeping its commitments and fighting the scourge of climate change for years, Canadian power, blinded by its political interests, has betrayed the most basic principles of fairness.
On April 22, in a move unworthy of a just country, the Canadian government issued a colossal $3.7 billion in fake cheques labelled “carbon rebate” to people in provinces that year after year had refused to step up and do their part in what could be considered the fight to secure the future of this planet.
Meanwhile, we, the people of Quebec, have been exemplary and courageous; we have our faults and our qualities, but I think those are arguably qualities we share. Since 2013, we have led the way with our own carbon market, but we have gotten nothing in return—not one penny. Worse yet, we are being fleeced to pay for others who are dragging their feet when it comes to the environment. Is that Canadian justice? Is that how Canada rewards people for putting in an effort?
This is not a simple oversight. It is a cold and calculated betrayal. It is an affront to the people of Quebec, their virtue and their intelligence.
Who is going to pay for this joke? The people of Quebec, that is who. Our nation is providing $814 million to support a Canadian lie.
In 2025, while Quebeckers have shown themselves to be, as always, valiant and fair-minded, Ottawa, with a gimmick that is unworthy of founding principles and equal rights between peoples, has the nerve to perpetrate an unprecedented spoliation.
Between April 22 and April 28, just a few days before the general election, the federal government undertook an electoral strategy designed to pay out an astronomical sum in the form of cheques to people in the other provinces. Amounts ranging from $220 to $456 per person were sent out without a penny of carbon tax being collected during the period in question.
What about Quebec? Quebec was excluded and punished for being a forward-thinking nation. Why is that? We were punished because, over a decade ago, we chose to be responsible and we set up our own carbon market. We rejected inaction and neglect. Ottawa is now using that very virtue as an excuse to extort money from us.
Although Quebec did not receive any cheques, it did contribute money for that federal expense. This bears repeating: Quebec provided funds to enable that federal expenditure. It paid $814 million. Our taxes, our sweat, have been used to fund cheques sent to citizens of other provinces, without the slightest acknowledgement or compensation.
When the National Assembly of Quebec, the legitimate legislature of Quebeckers, spoke with one voice, across party lines, to demand redress for this injustice, what was the response? It was met with bureaucratic acrobatics. The Prime Minister stated that Quebec had chosen a different system. We have heard that as recently as today. To this, we say: Is it a mistake to act responsibility? Is it a crime to have foresight? The answer is no.
This is not a question of choice; it is a question of respect and justice. Ottawa stubbornly refuses to show us that respect.
The Bloc Québécois is not asking for anything extravagant in its motion. It is only asking for minimal redress for a proven, recognized and demonstrated prejudice; a simple return of what was taken from us; a simple acknowledgment that Quebec is not a fiscal cash cow here to satisfy Ottawa's electoral whims.
This injustice, however, is only a symptom. Of course, as long as Quebec is tied to a state that decides unilaterally, that distributes resources according to its partisan interests, that excludes Quebec when it suits it and taxes us when it needs to, we will be condemned to suffer.
We demand, with the quiet strength of people who are in the right, that Quebec be compensated without delay for the entirety of its stolen contribution.
The Prime Minister of Canada, the leader of a morally bankrupt Liberal government, not only has betrayed the principles of his own party, but worse, he has betrayed science, the future, and the trust of the people. He gave in.
Still, he and his ministers have claimed for years, with numbers to back them up, that carbon pricing was not a burden, but a fair redistribution policy that benefited the middle class and protected the most vulnerable. We have all heard these arguments from the other side of the House, with facts and evidence. He told us that the Parliamentary Budget Officer had said so and attested that eight out of 10 Canadians received more than they paid. We have all heard that.
Then suddenly, just today during question period, we heard the Prime Minister say that he was proud to have abolished the carbon tax. Wow. Under that system, Quebec was excluded, as usual. Quebec was excluded even though we paid, excluded even though we were exemplary, excluded because we are different. The reason, we are told, is that Quebec has its own system, a system that works. Because it works so well, because of that virtue, Quebec is being punished, to the tune of $814 million, which was taken out of the pockets of families, seniors and workers.
We might say that this exclusion is probably just one facet of an even greater betrayal. What is the point of all this? It is to satisfy the oil barons, a fossil monarchy that dictates the laws to Canadian Parliament and to whom the Liberals have become obedient servants. They confuse the private interests of the oil sands with the national interest of Canada. We are currently going through an unprecedented centralization phase. That is the table Ottawa is setting behind the smokescreen, inside the Trojan horse that is “one economy, not 13”. That is what they are inviting us to once again, despite the unanimous opposition of the National Assembly.
Quebec does not want a bitumen future. Quebec wants a future with clean air, justice, progress. If Canada refuses that path, we will carve it out alone. We have no problem with that.
The Bloc Québécois motion is just a first step, a modest requirement. It is about giving us back what was taken from us. Behind this motion, there is a bigger idea: we will no longer put up with being disrespected like this, ignored, pillaged. Quebec is not to be a forgotten province. We are an awakened nation.
Today, we are calling for justice, on this issue and many others.
National Defence June 10th, 2025
Mr. Speaker, over 60% of Canada's aerospace manufacturing takes place in Quebec. That needs be reflected in the contracts. Quebec's shipbuilding industry has the expertise to build icebreakers. That needs be reflected in the contracts, all the more so since, I remind members, Quebec got ripped off under the shipbuilding strategy. Another one of Quebec's strengths is artificial intelligence. That too needs to be reflected in the contracts.
At the very least, Quebec deserves its fair share, equal to 22% of defence investments. Will the minister even commit to establishing a floor?
National Defence June 10th, 2025
Mr. Speaker, if Ottawa reinvests in defence, that money must serve Quebec's economy. It needs to be used for our aerospace sector, our shipbuilding industry and our artificial intelligence, among other things. Ottawa needs to hire Quebec suppliers instead of giving our money to the Americans, as it did with the F‑35s. That is why the Bloc Québécois is proposing a bill to implement a local procurement policy to encourage our businesses and keep the benefits at home.
Since the government has announced that it is going to reinvest in the military, will it take up the Bloc Québécois's proposal?
Finance June 9th, 2025
Mr. Speaker, Ottawa just announced $9 billion in new defence spending starting this year. In the current global context, the Bloc Québécois agrees that we must invest in defence, but that is another $9 billion that the Liberals are asking us to blindly support without a budget or even an economic update. No one will know how that spending will be financed or how big the deficit is at the time of voting.
Could the Liberals finally do the responsible thing and show us the state of our public finances?
Forestry Industry June 5th, 2025
Mr. Speaker, the layoffs in the forestry industry are an indication of what is going to happen with steel and aluminum if Ottawa does not change its current approach, which is to do nothing at all. We know that it is not what they are known for, but maybe the Liberals could be proactive for once. They need to proactively offer cash to the industry and create a wage subsidy to prevent a wave of layoffs.
Tariffs doubled yesterday. Could Ottawa take action for once before plants start closing and jobs start disappearing?
Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply June 4th, 2025
Mr. Speaker, congratulations on your new title and your new seat. I hope you are enjoying your time in the chair.
My colleague talked about the government's intentions with regard to reducing greenhouse gases. First, I would like to know if she believes it. I would also like to hear her thoughts on how these objectives square with all the talk about building this pipeline.
Does my colleague believe in the pipe dream of green oil that has been so popular in the petroleum industry over the past few years?