44th Parl. 1st Sess.
March 23, 2023 10:00AM
- Mar/23/23 11:08:13 a.m.
- Watch
Madam Speaker, Canada ranks last in the G7 when it comes to the average number of housing units per capita. That alone is outrageous.
There are currently 45,000 people on waiting lists to get low-cost housing in Quebec. It is shameful and outrageous. I spoke with an economist from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation who initiated a study a few months ago. In Quebec alone, in order to address the two biggest problems, which are affordability and accessibility, 1.1 million housing units would need to be built. The private sector will build 500,000 units over the next 10 years.
This means that governments need to step up somehow and build 600,000 units in the next 10 years.
Over the past five years, as part of the broader national housing strategy, 35,000 units have been built and 60,000 units have been renovated, for a total of 100,000. We need 60,000 every year. This country needs a Marshall plan to address the housing crisis.
When is that going to begin?
179 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Mar/23/23 11:29:41 a.m.
- Watch
Madam Speaker, the member briefly touched on the electrical grid, the greening of that grid and the great success Quebec had seen around this. A number of recommendations in this report specifically talk about incentivizing electric vehicles and the infrastructure for electric vehicles.
I think it is widely known that Quebec has led the way in providing that infrastructure for electric vehicles. Could the member speak to the incredible of success of Quebec in that area and how the rest of the country could benefit from the lessons that Quebec has learned?
92 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Mar/23/23 11:30:25 a.m.
- Watch
Madam Speaker, a significant portion of the Standing Committee on Finance's report, and the demands of the Bloc Québécois, deals with the electrification of transportation. One of the key components of transport electrification is the construction of charging station infrastructure so that drivers can charge their vehicles in various locations. That is well under way in Quebec and in British Columbia too, if I am not mistaken, where it is going well.
Obviously, to make electric vehicles appealing, we first need to require dealers and manufacturers to have models available at the dealership, which is not always the case, even in Quebec. We are asking Ottawa to introduce legislation in that regard and also to build a network of fast charging stations. A car that has a range of 400 kilometres, or 250 kilometres in winter, has to be able to charge in different locations. The hon. members for Berthier—Maskinongé and Drummond can attest to that.
166 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Mar/23/23 11:35:15 a.m.
- Watch
Madam Speaker, I congratulate my very esteemed colleague from Joliette on his speech and comments, which are always enlightening, well-thought-out and prepared. We always appreciate the discussions we have with him.
Quebec cares deeply about its culture. This week, the Government of Quebec tabled its budget. There are allocations for culture, especially for certain aspects of culture that I appreciate, in particular facilitating access to culture for youth. Money is allocated for that. Also, some $100 million over five years is being invested in Télé-Québec, if I am not mistaken. That is in addition to Télé‑Québec's current budget. There is also assistance for the media sector.
My question for my colleague is this. The Bloc Québécois expressed its expectations for the cultural sector and, especially, the media sector. I would like him to briefly speak about the importance of the resources we are calling for to restore the vitality of the media sector.
174 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Mar/23/23 2:03:30 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, today I wish to pay tribute to one of my constituents, a worthy and dedicated citizen from the great riding of Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot.
Ten years ago, Pierre-Luc Leblanc became the youngest-ever president of the Éleveurs de volailles du Québec, the Quebec poultry farmers' association. Pierre-Luc's tenure will come to an end in two weeks, making him the second-longest-serving president in the history of this illustrious institution.
Pierre-Luc owns numerous poultry farms and will soon be able to dedicate his full attention to his growing businesses, as well as new ventures, such as opening a large market in Saint-Hyacinthe that is dedicated to local products.
Since 2019, when the voters in our riding entrusted me with the responsibility of representing them here in Parliament, I have worked with Pierre-Luc on the issues that matter to farmers, particularly the issue of supply management. He has been an invaluable ally in our journey towards food self-sufficiency.
On behalf of the entire Bloc Québécois, I wish Pierre-Luc a successful end to his tenure and best wishes for the future.
199 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
Madam Speaker, I have a bit of a technical question for my hon. colleague. We are wondering how such legislation would apply, for example, to Hydro-Québec, the public utility in Quebec that generates electricity, since the legislation designates interprovincial power lines as a vital service and a vital system.
Does my hon. colleague have any idea what this could mean for Hydro-Québec, a public utility?
71 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
Madam Speaker, I do not have a technical response for the very technical question that the member asked. We have to consider the importance of protecting our electrical grids. New Brunswick relies heavily on our partners in Quebec, so it would certainly have implications for my constituents.
These are questions that we need to ask and hopefully consider during the committee stage, and hear testimony from witnesses that would be able to address those concerns.
75 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
Mr. Speaker, I commend and thank the member for Saanich—Gulf Islands for her hard work and her abiding passion. She is the epitome of environmental activism. We do not always agree, but I welcome her contributions.
The French Revolution introduced the concepts of liberty and equality and, in its wake, started a movement in support of those concepts. Since the liberties of some groups sometimes clashed with the liberties of others, there was inevitably a reckoning around the imbalance that was created among the various parties, an imbalance that lead to inequality.
There is no doubt that the federal government has a responsibility to the people of Canada. Some citizens experience inequalities in their relationship with the environment. While we recognize that inequalities do exist, we cannot at this point conclude that these inequalities are attributable to race alone.
The Bloc Québécois supports the intention expressed in the title and preamble of Bill C-226, a bill that seeks to advance environmental justice. If Parliament is to pass new legislation, we believe that the concept of environmental justice must be the main subject or central concept, so to speak.
The living conditions that some individuals and communities in Canada find themselves in—and I am thinking here of drinking water, for one—are unacceptable. Governments must live up to their responsibilities in that regard. That is why we think that the House is justified in expressing its desire to act against the environmental inequality and discrimination covered in Bill C‑226 and why we think that it should study these phenomena in greater depth in order to understand the mechanisms and explore possible solutions.
I would now like to talk about three assumptions.
The first is that, if Parliament is to pass a new law, we believe that the concept of environmental justice must be the main subject and central concept, the foundation on which we build, the starting point.
Second, there is no doubt that the federal government has a responsibility to certain populations in Canada who are facing inequalities in their relationship with the environment.
Third, the living conditions that some individuals and communities in Canada find themselves in, including their access to drinking water, are unacceptable, and governments need to live up to their responsibilities.
Before I talk about environmental justice, it is important to talk about justice itself. What is justice? Although everyone talks about justice, it is not an easy concept to understand or define. Is justice equality? Is it equivalency? Is it legality? Is it equity? What is justice?
To learn about and understand a concept, there is nothing like a bit of exploration to figure out what we are talking about. The concept of comprehension is interesting in and of itself. The roots of the word are cum and prehendere, which means “grasp the whole”. Comprehending means grasping the whole.
In a debate like this, we cannot have tunnel vision or a partial vision of the whole. Equality means we are all the same. Equivalence means we are all equal. Legality implies conforming to a standard. What do we do when there are no standards? The reason for our debate today is to determine whether there will be a standard.
In the absence of guidance, what we need to strive for is equity. Equity is the fair assessment of what each individual should get. I would add that it is the fair assessment of what each individual should get, but without letting ideology get in the way. Equity is a more perfect form of justice because it considers exceptions. When we introduce a rule or a law, we are essentially drawing a straight line between two points. However, by drawing a straight line, we are excluding people who are near the line, but not on the line. As a result, they are excluded often. Equity adapts in order to do justice to the greatest number of people, to do justice to everyone.
This bill strikes a good balance and includes some compensation. Our objective should be to ensure that Bill C-226 provides equity to all and does justice to all.
Before concluding, I would like to flag three major problems with Bill C‑226.
First, the bill will probably not have any significant impact on the populations affected by pollution that the bill's proponents say they want to help. We are skeptical.
Second, the proposed pan-Canadian approach is not in line with Quebec's reality and goes against the clearly expressed will of Quebec's National Assembly.
Third, Bill C‑226 focuses less on advancing real environmental justice and more on introducing the concept of environmental racism into Canadian discourse and law to secure an ideological victory in order to serve a cause.
In conclusion, I will reiterate what was said by my esteemed and irreplaceable colleague from Mirabel, whose community is going through a disastrous situation with respect to environmental injustice. His riding includes the neighbouring municipalities of Oka and Kanesatake, where the tension could be cut with a knife.
There is a recycling company that is depositing toxic and hazardous materials, or allowing them to be deposited, in a landfill located on indigenous territory, yet the federal government is not doing a thing about it. It is not lifting a finger. By failing to take action, Ottawa is allowing the residents of the nearby municipalities of Oka, Saint‑Placide and Saint‑Benoît in Mirabel to be called racist for complaining about the landfill located on indigenous territory, when they, too, are victims of this inaction. Residents are legitimately afraid to drink the water or to use it for their crops. The situation is serious.
In this case, we need to put things in perspective and not call this environmental racism when it basically boils down to inaction and deliberate indifference on the part of the federal government and the RCMP. I mention the RCMP because the media has repeatedly reported and proved that Kanesatake is controlled by criminal groups and that the band council is not taking action.
This is a clear case of environmental injustice, and the federal government already has the means to act in this matter. The people of Oka are entitled to clean drinking water too. Something needs to be done soon.
1068 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- menumenu
- notificationsnotifications
- home
- mailmail
- searchsearch
