Business of Supply  Madam Chair, I would like to share with the government a message that I received yesterday from a dozen community groups in the Montreal area. It seems many people are unhappy with the emergency community support fund. Here is what they are saying: The structure of the program is complex, the eligibility criteria are unclear, the application forms and accountability requirements are too onerous, and private foundations are refusing to establish consultation processes.

Proceedings of the House and Committees  Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for her speech, which clearly demonstrated her interest in and passion for defending the environment. I obviously share that interest, since I was the NDP critic on that file for many years. What is more, I really like her bill on the Paris targets and the need to table annual reports in that regard.

Proceedings of the House and Committees  Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for her speech. Regarding one of the last points she raised, I have to say that one of the things I like best about being a politician is going door to door. I have a feeling people might not be too keen to open their doors and shake our hands.

Proceedings of the House and Committees  Thank you, Mr. Speaker. When my colleague gets emotional, his voice gets a little raspy and he reminds me of Jean Garon. I just want to say two things, Mr. Speaker. First, I completely agree that we must improve the working conditions of front-line health care workers. These workers are often nurses or orderlies.

Proceedings of the House and Committees  Mr. Speaker, the pandemic and the current crisis have exposed all of society's flaws and failures, vulnerable populations, the effects of privatization, the cuts and the austerity of unbridled capitalism. Does my colleague agree with the NDP that things must not go back to normal, since what was considered normal before was a big part of the problem?

Proceedings of the House and Committees  Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his speech. I also want to congratulate his local hockey team, which won the championship for the second consecutive year. That is wonderful. My colleague raised some important points. The government had to act fast. It made announcements quickly, but it was not able to keep its promises right away.

Proceedings of the House and Committees  Mr. Speaker, I listened to my colleague's speech with interest. It is true; he is very eloquent. I really appreciated two expressions. The first: necessity is the mother of virtue—sorry, of invention. Sometimes it could be virtue, depending on the person. If necessity is the mother of invention, I think it is good news for workers that we are aiming for a minimum of 10 paid sick days per year.

Proceedings of the House and Committees  Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his speech. I have a question that is bothering me about the position of the Conservative Party. They always say that they do not want the 338 members back here, but they want Parliament to work. At the same time, they do not want electronic voting.

Proceedings of the House and Committees  Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his efforts and his passion for the Côte-Nord. It is very evident. This is not an ideal situation. We are going through a crisis. There is a pandemic. I believe that everyone is trying to find ways to help people and to keep Parliament working.

Proceedings of the House and Committees  Mr. Speaker, I will use the same word my colleague used: “irony”. I find it especially ironic today to hear the Conservatives become the great defenders of institutions, parliamentary freedom, democracy and committees. I was here for the nine years that former Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper was in power.

Proceedings of the House and Committees  Mr. Speaker, I would like to hear what the government House leader has to say about two issues. First, I find it disturbing that people living in poverty in Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, in Montreal and elsewhere, have to force themselves to go to work when they are ill because they have no access to sick leave.

Proceedings of the House and Committees  Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his speech. I do not understand why the Conservatives insist on rejecting a solution that will work quite well. A hybrid Parliament will allow everyone to take part and ask the government questions, as we saw in Great Britain. I would like my colleague's thoughts on the committee of the whole model.

Government Response to Petitions  Mr. Speaker, you will have noticed that the voting was carried out in such a way that members opposed to the motion had to rise very quickly, which meant that the NDP caucus did not have time to stand up to have their vote recorded. Our vote was not recorded at all, and I consider having our votes recorded to be part of our parliamentary privilege.

Committees of the House  Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Montarville for his speech. I think we agree that we stand with the protesters in Hong Kong, and also with the Tibetan and Uyghur peoples. I would like to ask him about something he brought up, because the Conservatives like to pick and choose whose rights to stand up for, based on their ideological or political interests.

Committees of the House  Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his speech, which I found very interesting. Obviously, every democracy embraces the concept of liberty and its value. I was pleased to hear him talk about not only the protests in Hong Kong, but also the plight of Tibetans and Uighurs, who are being oppressed by the government in Beijing.