Budget Implementation Act, 2024, No. 1  Madam Speaker, I am pleased to stand and speak to the budget bill, Bill C-69, here in the House today. I think budgets are an opportunity for us to examine the values that we have as a nation. To many people in this House, government can be a force for good, but others, and I am thinking of my Conservative colleagues, view government as something to be feared, something to be shrunk and something to be incapacitated.

Criminal Code  Madam Speaker, when the Bloc Québécois leader's office informed me that I would be delivering a speech in the House about Bill S‑224, I thought it was a joke, but it is not. Apparently I really have to do this. Bill S‑224 is quite simple. It contains a single clause. The committee worked hard on this. We heard from witnesses, and we ended up deciding to delete the clause in question as well as the title of the bill.

Criminal Code  I have seen the hard work he has put into fighting for victims of crime and trying to get all parties on board with a common-sense idea to hold offenders who commit the crime of human trafficking to a higher standard than we hold the victims. Unfortunately, the bill has been attacked by the Liberal government with not only an amendment that hollows it out and guts it, but also an amendment that goes so far as to actually delete all of the contents of the legislation, making it meaningless and also making the bill ineffective in challenging the status quo.

Electoral Participation Act  However, it is not just about the system itself; it is also about giving people access to voting. This is why the bill is important. The NDP pushed hard to make sure there were provisions in place in the bill that would actually ensure that the next election has the greatest participation possible of Canadians of all ages, all backgrounds and all colours and creeds, to make sure that every Canadian has a right to vote.

Budget Implementation Act, 2024, No. 1  One example is having the Canada child benefit continue for six months after a child's death. I would simply like to hear her speak to any measure in the bill she considers worthwhile, or to know whether she thinks Bill C-69 is a total write-off.

Canadian Heritage committee  Thank you for inviting the FCCF to discuss the opportunities afforded by Bill C‑354, which the Bloc Québécois introduced. The bill seeks to amend the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission Act to make it mandatory for the CRTC to consult with the Government of Quebec on Quebec's cultural distinctiveness, before furthering its objects and exercising its powers in respect of aspects of the Canadian broadcasting system.

Electoral Participation Act  Equally as important are the individual components of this bill and ensuring that it provides what it is supposed to provide.

Canadian Heritage committee  What the bill says is simply to inform, to consult. In my opinion, this is not something that is very restrictive in terms of time. That was a request from Quebec's minister of culture and communications, at the very end of the process surrounding the study of Bill C-11, which was nearly passed.

Canadian Heritage committee  Roy, as president of the FCFA, you clearly explain the situation in which we find ourselves in Canada, that is, the danger posed by the decline of French. Tools have been made available to us through Bill C‑13, and I'm very proud to have worked closely with the former minister of official languages to get a better bill passed. However, it doesn't change the need to move things forward in all areas, if there's a political will to stop this decline of French.

Electoral Participation Act  It is discussion that my colleagues and I are having, not just here on this side of the House but on all sides of the House. This being the second reading stage of the bill, I look forward, when it reaches committee, to having those very discussions so that a lot of what we expect to be in the bill is in the bill, once again, for democracy. Equally important is to ensure the protection of the candidates, as well as the MPs who may, in fact, be elected.

Canadian Heritage committee  Will people have an expectation of pre-consultations? That is not in the bill, and I want to be clear that the bill was very carefully drafted. We are worried about expanding the scope of who we have to consult with before we make a decision.

Electoral Participation Act  It is therefore essential that this information be protected accordingly, which is exactly what Bill C-65 proposes to do. Finally, I am proud to highlight the measures proposed in Bill C-65 to safeguard the electoral process. This year is an important year for elections around the world.

Canadian Heritage committee  All that said, we agree on the importance of the CRTC conducting much more systematic consultations on the realities of francophone markets in the country, including the cultural specificity of Quebec. However, part of Bill C‑354 poses a problem, the part dealing with francophone markets outside Quebec. As worded, the bill provides that the CRTC will have to consult the governments of provinces other than Quebec on the realities of the francophone markets there.

Electoral Participation Act  I will get back to that later. This is an important bill, fundamental to the legitimacy of parliamentary democracy, yet it was introduced with a gag order. They do not want much discussion. Moreover, people will go on vacation and they are supposed to know what is in the bill.

Budget Implementation Act, 2024, No. 1  I will repeat what I said when speaking to the budget. Canadians are losing hope. They are hanging on by a thread, and this bill will be the scissors that severs it. This bill should not be passed. Canadians are depending on all opposition members to stop the government's harmful policies and its out-of-control spending, and vote non-confidence.