Resignation of Member  Mr. Speaker, I have always respected both official languages of our country, but I will give my speech in French as it will be easier for translation. However, I want to tell everybody in English that I was proud to speak both official languages in the House. Life is always good

Infrastructure  Mr. Speaker, I had the honour of being the mayor of Roberval, a small town in Quebec with 10,000 residents, for seven years before I came here. Small towns also have a right to be heard. Big infrastructure announcements are being made regarding $1-billion or $1.4-billion projects

Regional Economic Development  Mr. Speaker, I face the difficult task of addressing something rather unpleasant. In recent years, I had the honour of occupying a role that allowed me to effectively represent Quebec and its regions. I had the honour of being the longest serving minister of Canada Economic Deve

Government Appointments  Mr. Speaker, I can imagine the conversation that took place in the Prime Minister's Office between Katie and Gerry, who must be thinking that they have plenty of cushy commissioner positions to hand out, including official languages commissioner, lobbying commissioner, and the co

Government Appointments  Mr. Speaker, Ms. Meilleur demonstrated that she has better judgment by acknowledging that she was no longer credible. We did not pick Mr. Fraser because he was on the list of the donors of our party. We did it because he was able to do that, and he proved to everybody in the cou

Presence in Gallery  Mr. Speaker, earlier, in an answer, the Minister of Canadian Heritage said that there were 10 people on the short list, the final list, of candidates for the position of official languages commissioner. If I understood the minister correctly, Ms. Meilleur must be on that list, al

Government Appointments  Mr. Speaker, I will ask my question again. If the committee is independent, why did Ms. Meilleur meet with people from the PMO? In this so-called independent and non-partisan process, did Ms. Meilleur meet with people from the PMO, yes or no?

Government Appointments  Mr. Speaker, the Liberals could have used that $13 billion to help the families of Canadians with autism. That would have been a good idea. During the campaign, the Liberals cultivated a squeaky-clean image. They were going to come in here, clean everything up, and make sure all

Softwood Lumber  Mr. Speaker, the fact is that the agreement expired in October 2015, while my colleague, like the rest of us, was on the campaign trail. What he is saying is not true, and everyone in Canada knows it. Now the Liberals are messing around with the employment insurance fund. The l

Softwood Lumber  Mr. Speaker, I want to talk about leadership. Over the course of my nearly four years in the House, I have had the great honour of sitting beside two great leaders. For the past 18 months, I have had the good fortune of sitting next to the interim leader of the Conservative Part

Finance  Mr. Speaker, here are the real facts: the agreement expired in October 2015, during the election campaign. The former minister had already begun discussions with our partners. We did not wait; we were already working on it. What the Liberals are confirming is that we live in a v

Softwood Lumber  Mr. Speaker, that leadership is the problem. In one meeting with President Bush, former prime minister Harper fixed the issue for 10 years. We do not need that many meetings. Back then, none of the provinces needed to appoint representatives. It was the federal government's job

Softwood Lumber  Yes, Mr. Speaker, we are. The warnings that we have been giving the government for months, have now become a reality. One of Canada's many lumber companies has announced that the jobs of 1,300 workers on the north shore, in Mauricie, and mainly in my region will be jeopardized by

Softwood Lumber  Mr. Speaker, what we have just seen shows what is important for the government. That was not in the mandate letter, and she is looking for the answer. That is not a priority for the government. Close to 400,000 people live from the forest industry. The Liberals do not have an ans

National Defence  Mr. Speaker, the softwood lumber issue is proving hard to resolve on both sides of the border, and now, alternative facts have found their way into Canada. Shipbuilding alone cost $30 billion, but the government just cut $20 billion over two years. Then it says that it is invest