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.

Order Respecting the Business of the House and its Committees  Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his speech. After listening to it, I am wondering whether he actually wants the hybrid model to become the usual practice. Is that really what he wants? Our role, the reason why we were elected, is to come to Ottawa to debate and legislate.

Flooding in British Columbia  Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his speech and I send my full support to people in the Abbotsford area. My stepson has embraced the Vancouver area and British Columbia. It is one of Canada's major agricultural areas, and I have been fortunate to visit. I come from an agricultural riding myself, so my thoughts are with the farmers who have lost so much in this disaster.

Hybrid Sittings of the House  Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague from the Quebec riding of Louis-Saint-Laurent for his remarks. This is my first intervention in the House in this new Parliament, the 44th Parliament, so I would of course like to take a moment to thank my Shefford constituents for giving me a second vote of confidence.

Goldboro Project  Mr. Speaker, there are some news reports that are very discouraging for our planet. In my region, people are upset about the Goldboro project. People in the Montérégie region and the Eastern Townships recently learned that the Alberta natural gas company Pieridae is currently lobbying the federal government and MPs to obtain public money for the construction of a port and a natural gas liquefaction plant near Halifax.

Budget Implementation Act, 2021, No. 1  Madam Speaker, I think the government's spending power could be interpreted as “power to not spend”. Under the pretense of a crisis, the government does not want to reinvest in certain sectors, particularly health, insisting that it will see how things are after the crisis, that it will determine if, and how much, it can afford to invest.

Budget Implementation Act, 2021, No. 1  Madam Speaker, I will try to give a brief answer. If I understood correctly, my colleague had a two-part question. First, he talked about seniors aged 75 and older who will get something. However, there are just as many seniors who will get nothing, because they are under 75. This means the government is completely turning its back on 50% of seniors.

Budget Implementation Act, 2021, No. 1  Madam Speaker, the Bloc Québécois firmly believes that a number of measures will have to remain in place until certain sectors have fully recovered from the crisis. The culture and tourism sectors, for example, will suffer the effects of the crisis for longer. I invite my colleagues to think about what my colleague from Berthier—Maskinongé said; he said that we need to strike a balance.

Budget Implementation Act, 2021, No. 1  Madam Speaker, my esteemed colleague and seatmate, the member for Berthier—Maskinongé, is a tough act to follow. Since he was a teacher, he knows that repetition is the key to success, and that is what we need to do. My husband, who works in advertising, would say the same thing, so that is what I am going to do today.

Budget Implementation Act, 2021, No. 1  Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague from Mégantic—L'Érable. Both of our ridings cover part of the Eastern Townships. My colleague began his speech by talking about natural resources. Is he aware of the new Goldboro project that would cut through part of the Eastern Townships?

Budget Implementation Act, 2021, No. 1  Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his very interesting speech. He showed us the many differences between Quebec and the Canadian provinces. I know that my colleague has taken a great interest in agriculture, in particular the next generation of farmers. There are very few supports in this budget for the agriculture sector, which is so important.

Budget Implementation Act, 2021, No. 1  Madam Speaker, interestingly enough, the first speaker asked a question about housing and said that the federal government had invested enough, while the second speaker spoke about health transfers. I just had a discussion with Marguerite Blais, Quebec's minister responsible for seniors and caregivers.