Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, today, in response to a question asked by my colleague from Repentigny, who wanted to know why the government was issuing permits to oil and gas companies to allow them to drill in the habitat of the right whale, an endangered species, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Natural Resources said they were not drilling licenses, but only exploration licenses.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I would like to point out that my colleague from Chicoutimi—Le Fjord talked about the people who are currently giving it their all for the Saguenay—Lac‑Saint‑Jean region and the fact that people are tightly knit over there. That is indeed the case. As members know, there are two kinds of people: those who are not willing to pay the price, as my colleague from Chicoutimi—Le Fjord would say, but also those who dedicate themselves.

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, I understand that he had almost finished his speech, but there was a problem with the interpretation. It has nothing to do with the time he had left or the time he was given. The Chair did not indicate that he had to ask a brief question at the beginning. Regardless of how much time had been used, when there is a problem with the interpretation, the member has to start from the beginning, period.

Business of Supply  I have a point of order.

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, I just want to make sure that my colleague is going to repeat his intervention from the start and that he will be given the same amount of time he had before my colleague's point of order.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I was expecting a more difficult question than that. In the same question, my colleague said that we are like the Conservatives, but he also said that they each used the same person to cover up a scandal. He said in his question that they were the same, that the Liberals were doing the same thing as the Conservatives, that they were using the same person to cover up a scandal.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, we are getting more and more evidence that the government is so full of itself that it thinks it is a majority government and forgets it is only a minority. It does not respect the will of its own Parliament, its own House of Commons. Worse yet, and to my surprise today, the Liberals came in with an arrogant and aggressive attitude.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, it has been a while. We will get into the debate again. I will start by reminding members that all the Chinese diaspora groups advocating for human rights in Canada and Quebec demand a public inquiry into Beijing's interference. Mehmet Tohti, representing the Uyghur nation in Canada, Hong Kong pro-democracy dissidents, Falun Gong practitioners, and supporters of independence for Tibet, all of whom were already experiencing Chinese intimidation tactics on Canadian soil long before this scandal broke, slammed the Liberals' actions in The Globe and Mail just this weekend.

Democratic Institutions  Mr. Speaker, all human rights groups in Canada from the Chinese diaspora community are calling for a public inquiry into Beijing's interference. Mehmet Tohti, representing the Uyghur nation in Canada, pro-democracy dissidents in Hong Kong, the Falun Gong and Tibetan independence fighters—all of whom were already experiencing Chinese intimidation tactics on Canadian soil long before this scandal broke—denounced the Liberals in The Globe and Mail.

Democratic Institutions  Mr. Speaker, I am not the one asking for this. They are. The government needs to stop using security reasons as an excuse whenever the issue of Chinese interference comes up. We do not have the memory of a goldfish. We remember the case of Maher Arar, a Canadian citizen who was tortured in Syria.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, an application refusal rate of 72% is more than triple that in Ontario. Beyond all of these individuals' shattered dreams, the Institut du Québec is concerned that Quebec's activity is threatened. In other words, the federal government is pushing francophones to go study elsewhere when they could be making an invaluable contribution to Quebec.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, how infuriating, especially since the government has spent all week acting like it has something to teach Quebeckers. Meanwhile, people look at what the government is doing, and I guarantee they are struggling mightily to be polite. This government is breaking the rules, and its only excuse is that these students are from Africa.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, last year, the federal government rejected 72% of francophone students from Africa who were selected by our universities to study in Quebec. That is according to the Institut du Québec. This is not a new problem. The same thing happened in 2020 and 2021, to the point where the Department of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship had to acknowledge, last October, that there was racism within the organization.

Panchen Lama  Mr. Speaker, on May 17, 1995, a six-year-old Tibetan monk disappeared. He was recognized as the 11th Panchen Lama, one of the most revered leaders in Tibetan Buddhism after the Dalai Lama. The Panchen Lama is a symbol of tremendous importance to the Tibetan community, which is currently being denied its religious and cultural freedom.

Criminal Code  Madam Speaker, I want to say how much I value my colleague. I work with him on various committees. I want to congratulate him on his speech. What I particularly like about my colleague is that when he and I debate, our positions are always based on facts. I am open minded, but now, the Conservatives are telling us that hunters will be penalized if we pass this bill.