Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Brome—Missisquoi. I am glad that he has referred to the OECD, because it is precisely that very body, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, that is telling us we need to improve our system because there are some problems.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I am happy to tell you I will share my time with my friend from Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, who does a wonderful job for his fellow citizens. I am pleased to take the floor this afternoon to inform you and invite you--

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I seize this opportunity to thank my colleague from Ottawa—Orléans for his intervention. He works very hard for the people in his riding. This afternoon, I would like to say that it is important to strongly oppose this motion, with its outrageous content, which underplays the excellent budget presented in this House.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I come from Lévis, where the largest Quebec and Canadian cooperative, the Mouvement Desjardins, has its headquarters. This financial institution says that the 2009 budget presented by our government is the best prescription for preparing the Quebec economy to deal with the economic crisis.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I was listening to my colleague’s speech but it seems to me that she is more the one who is turning her back on Quebeckers by presenting the two parts of this motion today and voting against the budget. I find it hard to understand how she can oppose a budget that increases equalization payments to Quebec by $8.3 billion.

Member for Bas-Richelieu—Nicolet—Bécancour  Mr. Speaker, the Bloc members are abandoning Quebec families, workers and seniors by voting against a budget that the Desjardins Group has stated will stimulate the economy in this time of global economic uncertainty. Meanwhile, some members of the Bloc have gone off the deep end.

Interparliamentary Delegations  Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 34(1), I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the report of the Canadian parliamentary delegation to the Canada-France Interparliamentary Association on its participation in the 35th annual meeting held in Quebec City from September 8 to 15, 2008.

Budget Implementation Act, 2009  Mr. Speaker, I have a question for the hon. member for Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup. I listened to his speech and was surprised that he did not support this budget, given the wide consensus around it in Quebec. We need only think of Mouvement Desjardins, for example, which acknowledges the fact that this budget stimulates the economy in Canada and Quebec as it goes through uncertain times.

Points of Order  Mr. Speaker, we could keep playing word games, but this is a matter of basic respect. I am appealing to the leader of the Bloc Québécois' sense of honour and asking him to use parliamentary language and behave appropriately in the House. If he wants to end up in Quebec's National Assembly one day, he needs to know that what he says here in Ottawa does not—

Points of Order  Mr. Speaker, I would like to congratulate you on working so hard to bring a little decorum to this House. We are just beginning a new session and we have passed a budget. Some members seem to be frustrated, and they are saying most unfortunate things, things that would not be tolerated in Quebec's National Assembly.

Public Safety  Mr. Speaker, two days ago I was surprised when I received a message from the member for Ahuntsic in my personal e-mail account. She sent a series of articles and videos about the recent conflict in Gaza to all MPs. What shocked me the most was the fact that some of the 27 attachments applauded the actions of Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades.

The Budget  Mr. Speaker, our government has one priority, and that is to protect Canada during this world economic recession. Young families are at the core of our economy. They represent this country's future. This is why we are giving them particular attention in the 2009 budget, our plan of action and economic stimulus.

Agriculture  Mr. Speaker, many Canadian farm families strongly supported our government in the last election because they know that we keep our promises. And they can expect nothing less at this time. In addition to stimulating the economy, creating jobs, and investing immediately in roads, buildings and bridges, I expect the economic action plan to produce concrete results for farmers and to protect those who have been hardest hit by the recession.

Points of Order  Mr. Speaker, tempers are flaring. Not everyone will have the same opinion regarding how to address the economic situation facing our country. Various concrete measures can be proposed, but we must always show respect for the political functions and for the highest political function here, which is that of our Prime Minister.

The Political Situation  Mr. Speaker, Mrs. Bergeron of Lévis wrote to me today to condemn the political situation. She said: This attempt to overthrow the government looks to me like a coup d'état. People I have talked to feel the same way. We simply refuse to allow a coalition to take (and steal) power without having been elected by the people.