Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, one of the advantages of having served in the House for a long time is that I can make connections with different eras. I remember that during one era that began in 1993, the Liberal prime minister of the time, Jean Chrétien, told us that we needed to talk about the real issues, about what matters to our constituents on a daily basis.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I would like my colleague from Guelph to explain to me, just for fun, exactly how the special ties between his community and the British monarchy have changed anything in the life of his constituents. How many times has the monarch bothered to knock on his door and reaffirm the special ties between Guelph and Buckingham Palace?

Business of Supply  Actually, Mr. Speaker, this motion does affect the daily lives of Quebeckers and even those of my colleague's constituents. The government is taking money out of the pockets of his constituents and Quebeckers' pockets to maintain this institution. While the Governor General is organizing parties and travelling by plane with fancy dinners for her and her guests on board, the people in my colleague's riding are struggling to make ends meet because the cost of living is too high.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I will note at the outset that I will be sharing my time with my wonderful colleague from Beauport—Limoilou. I have been listening to my colleagues in the federalist political parties speak since this morning, except maybe our friends in the NDP, who like to make a big show of their Canadian pride by trying to protect a foreign institution at all costs.

Julie Bellerose  Mr. Speaker, when I was appointed the Bloc Québécois's foreign affairs critic, I did not know that included space. However, today I will be talking about space thanks to Julie Bellerose. Last week, this engineer from Sainte-Julie led a NASA mission that was straight out of science fiction.

International Day of Peace  Mr. Speaker, today is the International Day of Peace. We are marking this day but not celebrating it, as peace is an ideal that seems increasingly elusive in the world's current state. We mark this day by thinking in particular of the Ukrainian people who, better than anyone else, are now tragically aware of what it means.

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, taking that logic to ridiculous extremes, I wonder if it is even worth trying to answer that.

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, my colleague asked a very interesting question, and he is absolutely right. There is reason to be concerned about Huawei's presence in the 5G sector in Canada, despite the company's good intentions. For example, when the Chinese offered to build an ultramodern building for the African Union, it turned out that the company and Chinese authorities were spying on the African Union.

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, I do not doubt my colleague's intentions. However, I would like to point out that, without disclosing any caucus secrets, and setting aside this noble argument that another committee could not be created because the House of Commons just did not have enough resources, I know for a fact, from what some Conservative colleagues have confided to me, that there were internal disagreements about whether it was advisable to bring back the Special Committee on Canada-China Relations.

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, my simple answer to my colleague is yes. If we need to reconsider Canada's existing relations with the People's Republic of China, everything must be on the table and we will have to consider the positives and negatives of each issue. We have to acknowledge that Canada's economic relationship with the People's Republic of China is quite deep.

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, the answer is simple. Realistically, there are only so many resources, technically speaking, that the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development can devote to addressing these topics and issues. Right now, the Russian invasion of Ukraine is getting a lot of attention.

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, this feels a bit like Back to the Future or Groundhog Day, as we keep reliving the same thing over and over again. Of course we have always been in favour of creating a committee to examine the relationship between the People's Republic of China and Canada. It is no different today; we have not changed our minds.

Questions on the Order Paper  With regard to Canada’s representation abroad: (a) why are there no Canadian embassies in Nepal and Armenia, and are there any plans to open one in the near future; (b) why is there currently no Canadian ambassador to France, and are there any plans to appoint one in the near future; and (c) why is there no Canadian ambassador to China since the resignation of the previous one, and are there any plans to appoint one?

Points of Order  Mr. Speaker, there have been discussions among the parties and if you seek it, I believe you will find unanimous consent to adopt the following motion: That the House emphasize that Canada is a welcoming country, open to the world, invested in the fight against anti-Semitism and all forms of discrimination and condemn the false, defamatory and offensive remarks made by the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov.

Committees of the House  Madam Speaker, I do not know how to answer my colleague. He appears to think that if he just keeps repeating his claim that Canada is wide open, we will end up believing him. However, sincerity cannot be judged based on words, but rather on actions. I am sorry to say that the federal government does not walk the talk.