Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply  Mr. Speaker, I would say that we are essentially doing the NDP a favour. However, I thank the member for Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie for reiterating the essence of my speech. Not too long ago, the NDP had a virtual monopoly on the interests of Quebec. There is not much left. It wo

Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply  Mr. Speaker, I am overjoyed to answer yes. I will even go further. When measures are proposed that could potentially have a real impact on reducing greenhouse gas emissions to fight climate change, we will be there. We have even proposed some ourselves, including a bold law that

Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply  Mr. Speaker, by its very nature, the throne speech is a statement of principle. It contains ideas that may seem, perhaps intentionally, vague, hazy and ill-defined. Yesterday's speech, delivered by the British monarch's representative at the Prime Minister's behest, is nonethe

Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply  Mr. Speaker, I would like to point out that the member for Joliette also went to Washington. It would be a little naive to think that individual action alone can produce results. Sometimes actions outside of Canada can transcend party lines. Unfortunately, things are little more

Intergovernmental Relations  Mr. Speaker, the Premier of Quebec and the premiers of Canada's provinces gathered at the Council of the Federation meeting on Monday. They unanimously called for a 5.2% increase in health transfers. As they pointed out, it is not the Canadian government that hires doctors, nur

Intergovernmental Relations  Mr. Speaker, should respecting provincial jurisdictions not be the first consideration when working with them? Similarly, on the environmental front, all the premiers, including Quebec's, asked that environmental assessments carried out by the provinces and by Quebec take preced

Claude Béland  Mr. Speaker, today I want to pay tribute to Claude Béland, a great Quebecker who left us on November 24 at the age of 87. As president of Mouvement Desjardins from 1987 to 2000, he embodied everything that is most noble and admirable about Quebec. A passionate advocate of co-op

Election of the Speaker  Mr. Speaker, you will not be surprised to hear that I want to mark this moment as my first time ever speaking in the House. This is a tremendous honour for me, and I will surely cherish this memory for the rest of my days. I want to start by expressing my immense gratitude to th