Canada's Contribution to the Effort to Combat ISIL  Mr. Speaker, I would like thank my colleague for his speech. I would also like to commend him for his past contribution to the armed forces. However, I am a bit surprised. The Bloc Québécois has always been an advocate of peace, international aid, and solidarity with and respect for international institutions, such as NATO and the United Nations.

Employment  Mr. Speaker, 2,400 Quebec families will be affected, but the best the Prime Minister can do is shed a few crocodile tears. We have already lost enough jobs, and this is more bad news. Maybe the government is planning to amend the Air Canada Public Participation Act. We have already lost 2,600 jobs because of that, which two court rulings confirmed.

Employment  Mr. Speaker, yesterday we learned that 7,000 workers, including 2,400 in Quebec, would be losing their jobs. The Prime Minister, however, did not seem even remotely concerned. He, quite frankly, had nothing to say to them, aside from his usual platitudes. The employees and their families are worried.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, as my colleague from Laurier—Sainte-Marie said earlier in her speech, we should bear in mind the words of Voltaire, who said, “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” I cannot understand why the Liberal Party, which is the party that gave us the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, would attack a civil society movement and attempt to shut it up.

Economic Development  Mr. Speaker, we only sign something if we agree with it. Everyone but the Liberal government understands that. Yesterday morning, Quebeckers woke up to bad news. Rona has been sold to American interests. Rona employees do not know what is going to happen to them tomorrow, but the bosses are pocketing $40 million.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his speech. Previous governments have been known to take money from the workers' fund that was meant to pay for employment insurance. Previous Liberal governments have taken as much as $55 billion. The Conservative government also helped itself.

Economic Development  Mr. Speaker, this morning, Quebeckers got some very bad news. Rona, one of the crown jewels of our economy, is being sold to the Americans. For now, the U.S. company is promising not to get rid of the headquarters or any jobs. However, we have been around this block before, and we all remember Rio Tinto and the rest.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, the struggle for women's rights and equality in our society is huge and complex. It should be over by now. We should be there already. I hope that, one day, violence against women, gender discrimination, sexism, sexist advertising, and pay equity issues will be things of the past.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for her most interesting question. I made a comparison with what has existed in Quebec for nearly 20 years now, which we can use as a model. However that is not the only example, and we can perhaps draw inspiration from better practices that exist elsewhere in the world.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question and his interest in the issues of women’s struggle and pay equity. We in the NDP are ready to work with all parliamentarians to advance the rights of women. I am entirely ready, as are my colleagues, to receive his suggestions and good ideas so that we can create the best committee and the best law possible.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I am very honoured and pleased to rise in the House to discuss the NDP motion moved by my colleague from Nanaimo—Ladysmith. This extremely important motion is very representative of the values that the NDP has always held. It is a perfect example of our concern for equality, equity, solidarity and support, as part of our efforts to ensure real and continuous progress for all groups in our society.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Trois-Rivières for his excellent speech and I congratulate him. How urgent is it to achieve gender equity in his riding? If women's purchasing power were increased through pay equity, what impact would that have on economic growth in Trois-Rivières?

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for her speech. Unfortunately, instead of providing any clarification, her speech just causes more confusion. On the one hand, I was very pleased to hear my colleague say that pay equity for women is a basic right. On the other hand, she defended the Conservative legislation from 2009 that makes pay equity an issue covered by collective bargaining rather than a human right.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, why pay equity in 2016? As our Prime Minister has said, because it is 2016. I have a question for my colleague from Jonquière and I want to congratulate her on her speech. After a decade of darkness under the Conservatives, women's rights unfortunately regressed. Why is pay equity now an urgent issue?

Health  Mr. Speaker, Quebec has made it legal to charge ancillary fees for publicly insured health care services, even though this practice violates the Canada Health Act. It is unacceptable for a person's access to health care to be determined by the size of his wallet. I wrote to the minister in November to inform her of this situation, but I have still not received an answer.