Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I listened carefully to the speech by the member for Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel. We are both from Quebec, but that is about all we have in common. It seems that we did not have the same Quebec history course in high school. I think that it is quite clear that Quebec is now in a dead end.

Conservative Government  Mr. Speaker, Quebec's dark ages are back. Never keen on letting any more information out than necessary, this Conservative government prefers to keep the public in the dark and feed it scientific and environmental mistruths instead of the straight facts. This desire to control scientific and environmental information takes many forms.

Ethics  Mr. Speaker, the government's defence does not hold water. Just because Rahim Jaffer was not able to secure a contract does not mean that he is not a lobbyist. Thanks to Quebec's godfather, he was able to make his sales pitch directly to top civil servants. These civil servants were so tired of the constant pressure and never-ending follow-ups from the office of the Quebec lieutenant that they complained numerous times.

Ethics  Mr. Speaker, we never said that he was good, just that he was an unregistered lobbyist. Just because he did not get a contract does not mean that he was not a lobbyist. Had it not been for the hard, honest work of civil servants, Rahim Jaffer would have hit the jackpot with help from the Quebec lieutenant.

Ethics  Mr. Speaker, the Conservative government promised us a better Lobbying Act, but it did not keep that promise. Despite the Federal Accountability Act, people can still get away with claiming that they did not get paid or saying that all they did was send a few emails or attend a few information sessions.

Ethics  Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives promised that ministers would be required to report all contact with lobbyists. Once in power, they changed their minds: only lobbyists are required to report such contact. As a result, it is impossible to compare lists to see who is telling the truth.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, in the history of Canada, a number of exceptions have been made for other provinces to accommodate the various unique characteristics they might have. We feel that, if exceptions have been made for other provinces in the history of Canada, then why not make an exception for Quebec and be accommodating enough to recognize, once and for all, the Quebec nation?

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the hon. member for his question, and I appreciate his attempt to ask me a question in my mother tongue. I am not sure that I understood his question. But I can tell him that since the Bloc Québécois's creation, it is no accident that we are here. The members of the Bloc are elected by Quebeckers.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to rise this afternoon on the Bloc’s opposition day dealing with a subject that is close to my heart. I want to take the time to read the motion before us. I would also like to say that I will be splitting my time with the kind, competent, fabulous member from Trois-Rivières.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I listened to the speech by the member for Brossard—La Prairie and I found some weaknesses in her argument concerning our opposition motion. Maybe she is not aware that the National Assembly of Quebec, which is made up of three parties, namely the Liberal Party of Quebec—which, to this day, is a federalist party and which, as a matter of fact, forms the government—the Parti Québécois and the Action démocratique du Québec, passed a unanimous motion, the same one that we are bringing forward today, asking that the political weight of the Quebec nation be respected in the House of Commons.

Jobs and Economic Growth Act  Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for his question. I see we share the same concerns about the hypocrisy of the Conservative government, which is using the budget implementation bill to introduce a measure that would end Canada Post's exclusive privilege to redirect mail. This will lead to financial losses.

Jobs and Economic Growth Act  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise here today to speak to Bill C-9 on the implementation of the budget that was passed in March. This bill has over 800 pages and implements various initiatives set out in the budget presented on March 4. However, two measures that did not appear in the budget were added to the budget implementation bill.

Democratic Reform  Mr. Speaker, after recognizing the Quebec nation, this government is calling for representation by population to diminish the political weight of Quebec. At the time of the Act of Union, it was not a good idea because it favoured Quebec, whose population was greater than that of Ontario.

Democratic Reform  Mr. Speaker, there are 47 Bloc Québécois members here and they were chosen by Quebeckers. They did not choose the Conservatives and there are good reasons for that. The real reason for adding 30 seats west of Quebec was revealed by the Prime Minister's former adviser, Tom Flanagan.

Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act  Mr. Speaker, I agree with the NDP member. I hope to be able to influence the Liberals on this side and explain to them that, basically, for trade to be mutually beneficial, it must first be fair. That is where everything starts. A trading system that results in the exploitation of the poorest countries and dumping in the richest countries is not viable.