SoVote

Mr. Denis Trudel (Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, BQ)

Feb/15/22 4:55:44 p.m.
Watch

Madam Speaker, my colleague talked a little earlier about the Canadian flag. I would like to take this opportunity to say that in Quebec, on February 15, we celebrate Patriots' Day and their tricolour flag. My colleague may not be aware of this, but on February 15, 1839, five freedom fighters in Quebec were hanged by the British authorities. Just before he was hanged, Chevalier de Lorimier cried out, “Long live freedom, long live independence!” That is what we are celebrating today in Quebec. Getting back to the motion before us, my colleague is accusing us, the Bloc Québécois, of delaying the process. That is rather fascinating. Vulnerable seniors have been waiting for a cheque for a year, but it is the Bloc Québécois that is delaying the process. Let us talk about employment insurance. There are 90,000 households in Quebec waiting for a cheque because the government is paralyzed, but we are the ones delaying the process. Let us talk about immigration. There are hundreds of thousands of family reunification cases. There are some in my riding, including families from Haiti. The mother is here, the father is over there and there is no reunification. There have been delays for the past year or two because the government is paralyzed, but it is the Bloc Québécois that is delaying the process. Is my colleague not a little embarrassed today to hear about all these vulnerable people who are unable to get their due because the government is paralyzed?

265 words

All Topics

Context: House Hansard - 31 - Feb/15/22

Mr. Mark Gerretsen

Feb/15/22 4:57:11 p.m.
Watch

Madam Speaker, I am not saying that the Bloc is delaying the process. What I am saying is that it is because of the NDP that the Bloc members have the luxury of being able to vote against this motion. The Bloc members know full well that if they were not in this position and the NDP was not voting in favour of this motion, they would have a lot more pressure to vote in favour of it. Where I am identifying the hypocrisy is that the Bloc members were willing to deal with this issue through a unanimous consent motion that they raised on a number of occasions today, to deal with it swiftly in one quick motion, in less than 15 seconds, yet they will not vote in favour of this motion to move it along just as quickly. That is the hypocrisy.

145 words

All Topics

Context: House Hansard - 31 - Feb/15/22

Mr. Lloyd Longfield (Guelph, Lib.)

Feb/15/22 7:43:04 p.m.
Watch
Re: Bill C-12

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague down the way for asking the right questions. Why are we doing this tonight? Why are we having this debate when we know what the right thing to do is? It is to support our seniors as quickly as possible. How did we get here? When we think of the CERB being put into place, it is because of the tools we had as a federal government through employment insurance. Some of the characteristics of the employment insurance programs, such as income testing, found their way into the program that we delivered at rapid, lightning speed through our departments, and now we are doing the right thing. That test did not work for seniors who were supplementing income, so we have to do the right thing by seniors. I agree with the hon. member that we should be getting to the vote now. We should not be delaying this on behalf of our seniors. Could the hon. member reflect on how quickly we did what we did using the tools we had through employment insurance to create a new program? Now we are pulling that back since it was not exactly employment insurance, but the CERB emergency response we did.

206 words

All Topics

Context: House Hansard - 31 - Feb/15/22

Mrs. Shelby Kramp-Neuman

Feb/15/22 9:59:36 p.m.
Watch
Re: Bill C-12

Mr. Speaker, I am happy to respond. This is a result of poor communication and a lack of dialogue. Recognizing that this is time sensitive, there would be no obvious hold up or delay in the delivery of this. We are not talking weeks and weeks. We are talking about giving it the prudent time that it deserves, and I do not think that is asking too much. We are not delaying the bill.

74 words

All Topics