Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply  Mr. Speaker, I would like to acknowledge the people of Laurentides—Labelle and thank them for placing their trust in me. We have been hearing about prosperity for the last little while, but let us not forget those who are vulnerable. Earlier, members talked about community orga

International Holocaust Remembrance Day  Mr. Speaker, 75 years ago, the world discovered a whole new dimension to the horrors of war. Seventy-five years ago to the day, we discovered Auschwitz. Within its walls, over one million men, women and children were murdered because of their religion. They were killed because th

Black History Month  Madam Speaker, we are celebrating Black History Month, as we do every February. Throughout the month, we will be making statements in the House to recognize influential members of Quebec's black community. The theme is “Here and now”. With those words, we hope to bring to light

Justice  Mr. Speaker, the federal government is giving $125,000 to the Montreal English School Board, which has an annual budget of $350 million. The criteria for the court challenges program are clear: To be eligible, the organization must be in need of financial support to make their ca

Justice  Mr. Speaker, using our tax dollars to sponsor a legal challenge of Bill 21 is illegitimate. It is probably also against the rules. To get funding from the court challenges program, the English Montreal School Board had to prove that it needed financial support. The board's budge

Justice  Mr. Speaker, the problem is not the court challenges program. It is a good program, except it is supposed to help those who really need it, not an organization that has a $365 million budget. Can we agree on that? The government wants to give the English Montreal School Board $1

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I would like to use my time to thank my fellow citizens in Laurentides—Labelle who placed their faith in me. This is the first opportunity I have had to do so. I would especially like to thank all of my volunteers, including Samuel Gervais and Alexandre Dubé. I woul

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, I thank the member for her question. Earlier I mentioned that some improvements have been made. We have made adjustments based on needs, and we have come a long way. We have made improvements to benefits for new parents and for people providing end-of-life care f

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I am in complete agreement with my hon. colleague. The billions of dollars transferred to the consolidated revenue fund are gone. The slightly more than $1 billion we are talking about is so small, and, in any case, it comes from workers and employers. The figures a

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, I will address the two points raised by my colleague. I am wondering about something. If I am a fisher and am eligible to receive EI for seasonal work, but I happen to get sick, is it better to claim as a fisher or as someone with a serious illness? When a seasona

Citizenship Act  Mr. Speaker, we come together today to discuss Bill C-6, an act to amend the Citizenship Act. This bill implements the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's call to action number 94, proposing a change to the citizenship oath as it is drafted in the schedule to section 24 the Ci

Citizenship Act  Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question. I did speak about contradictions. I think it is very important to remain vigilant when naming specific aspects rather than talking in more general terms. We must not use extreme wording. Instead, we need to think about true,

Citizenship Act  Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question. We do support Bill C-6. We cannot oppose the idea of respecting aboriginal rights, but, as I said earlier, we have to avoid listing individual elements. We need a comprehensive approach to these rights. We do support Bill C

Citizenship Act  Madam Speaker, I am not sure I understood the question. I would like to tell my colleague what people tell us when we talk about Bill C-6. Regardless of where they are from, be it British Columbia or Quebec, people tell us that recognizing aboriginal rights is essential, but we

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, I will discuss our position on the motion and share some of my own thoughts on this request. As the Bloc Québécois critic for access to information and ethics, emphasis on ethics, I think it is important to explain what I think this motion is really about. First