Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply  The hon. member for Elgin—Middlesex—London.

Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply  Madam Speaker, what we saw most often during the pandemic was women trapped 24 hours a day with their abuser, women who had trouble breaking out of that cycle of violence. As I mentioned in my speech, 10-year action plans take too long, because the time to act is now. We have had 18 femicides in Quebec this year, and that is far too many.

Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply  Madam Speaker, in my lifetime, I have fought against the idea of transporting more oil in pipelines. When it comes to pipelines leaking, it is not a matter of “if”, but “when”. That sums up the entire problem with respect to the environment. That is why we need to stop investing in any new pipelines and embark on an energy transition.

Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply  Madam Speaker, my brilliant economist colleague from Mirabel is a hard act to follow. I do not know if I will be able to reach the bar he set, but I will give it a shot. As I rise today for my first speech in this 44th Parliament, I am filled with immense gratitude. I would like to begin by thanking all of my volunteers, the members of my office team, my family, and my partner.

Seniors  Mr. Speaker, everyone knows that low-income seniors have been the hardest hit during the pandemic, but today it is less the pandemic and more the government's inconsistency and lack of compassion that is hitting them the hardest. Today, working seniors have to choose which drug to cut in order to be able to pay their bills at the end of the month, because the federal government cut their guaranteed income supplement.

Seniors  Mr. Speaker, the red flag was raised during the construction holiday. Yesterday, the Prime Minister said that his ministers were working on it, but seniors are waiting and the holiday season is fast approaching. The government is denying some of the least fortunate seniors several hundred dollars a month because of its own lack of judgment.

House debate  Madam Chair, 1982 is the year I was born, so this has obviously been languishing for a while. I had the opportunity to be a parliamentary assistant for a member of Parliament who was named one of the first green architects in Canada and who advocated for green architecture and the use of high-quality wood in buildings, including federal buildings.

House debate  Madam Chair, I listened to this evening's debate. The Prime Minister boasted that Canada was back on the international stage. However, I am once again struck by the fact that we are realizing that this is not true, and that when we sign international agreements, the sectors that are important to Quebec's economy are the ones that get sacrificed.

House debate  Mr. Chair, given the urgency and the speeches in this evening's debate, it is apparent that the softwood lumber issue could affect several areas, especially in our regions in Quebec. I am naturally thinking about Abitibi and Lac-Saint-Jean, but I have to say that even back home in the eastern townships, there are mills that will be affected.

Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply  Madam Speaker, I too would like to congratulate you on your re-election. As a woman, I will say it is always nice to see women serving as Chair. My colleague briefly touched on the issue of violence against women when he spoke about housing. Yes, having more housing is critical to breaking the cycle of violence against women, but I would like to come back to one aspect that he did not bring up.

Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply  Madam Speaker, as the critic for status of women, I would like to congratulate you. I am very happy to see a woman in the chair. That being said, I would like to make a comment. Then, I will ask my colleague from Regina—Qu’Appelle a question. He spoke about what the U.S. President did about the Keystone XL pipeline after he was elected.

Seniors  Mr. Speaker, the poorest working seniors have been plunged into poverty by Ottawa. Those who lost their jobs during the pandemic and who had to apply for CERB ended up having their guaranteed income supplement cut because CERB benefits are treated differently from work income, even though the benefit is designed to replace work income.

Seniors  Mr. Speaker, that is not what we are talking about. The Bloc Québécois alerted the Minister of Seniors and the Minister of Finance months ago, and nothing has been done. We need the Prime Minister to get involved. The CERB should be treated like employment income and seniors need to be able to have their benefits recalculated based on their current income.

An Act to Provide Further Support in Response to COVID-19  Mr. Speaker, I want to congratulate my colleague from Terrebonne on her speech. I want to talk more about two segments of the population that were mentioned. My colleague raised the issue of women. As critic for status of women, I am a member of the Standing Committee on the Status of Women, which had an emergency meeting in the summer of 2020 to look at how the pandemic was disproportionately affecting women.

Seniors  Mr. Speaker, seniors are among those hardest hit by the pandemic. It bears repeating that their financial situation was precarious even before the COVID-19 crisis. Even so, there was nothing for them in the throne speech. They were forgotten. Not a word was said about those bearing the brunt of inflation and rising prices across the board.