- Member of Parliament
- Member of Parliament
- Conservative
- Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles
- Quebec
- Voting Attendance: 64%
- Expenses Last Quarter: $115,195.70
- Government Page
- Jun/18/24 3:05:03 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Environment, with the support of the Bloc Québécois, is preparing to force more radical policies on Quebeckers by imposing a decree that will destroy the forestry industry in Saguenay—Lac‑Saint‑Jean.
TVA Nouvelles reports that the Bloc environment critic also believes that it is fine for Ottawa to get involved in the caribou issue. The Conservative Party is the only one defending Quebec's forestry workers.
Can the Minister of Environment let Quebec manage its territory the way it sees fit?
94 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Jun/18/24 2:05:27 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, the francophonie is at the heart of Canadian identity. It represents a fundamental pillar of our history and culture. It is a source of pride for our country to count among us francophones who, across the country, contribute to Canada's vitality and linguistic diversity.
On June 24, I am very proud as a Quebecker to celebrate Quebec's national holiday, an emblematic day that brings together Quebeckers and all those who carry in their hearts the love of our dynamic and endearing nation.
How can we talk about Quebec's national holiday without talking about Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day? This celebration, that draws its origins from popular traditions, has become a time for festivities across Quebec, but also in countless francophone communities from coast to coast to coast.
Throughout Canada's history, as Quebeckers, we have contributed to building a unique and prosperous country. I wish everyone a happy national holiday and a happy Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day.
162 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Jun/17/24 2:52:35 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, the Bloc Québécois voted for $500 billion in budget appropriations, which contributed to the current housing crisis. The Bloc also voted with the Liberals against the bill introduced by the leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, who was trying to make housing more affordable.
Numerous newspaper articles are now reporting that homelessness is going up sharply in ridings represented by the Bloc Québécois. Quebeckers are suffering and have lost confidence in this government and its Bloc buddies.
Will the government do the right thing and call an election today?
101 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- May/30/24 3:04:22 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, yesterday, the Minister of Mental Health and Addictions doubled down and said that her deadly experiment of legalizing hard drugs in British Columbia was a success. For the minister, success means a 380% increase in the number of drug-related deaths.
In 2023, the mayor of Montreal reiterated her radical request to legalize hard drugs like heroin and crack. This morning in committee, Montreal's regional director of public health very clearly said “yes” to replicating the B.C. model, even though it has been a dismal failure.
Can the minister reassure Quebeckers and tell them that she will never replicate her hard drug experiment in Montreal?
111 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- May/27/24 2:36:45 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, we know that the minister often spends time at the university. He still has a job there. It looks like he is expecting to get a new job after the next election.
I would also remind the minister that no one in Quebec receives a compensation cheque. The excise tax, the GST and the 19¢-per-litre gas tax need to be axed for Quebeckers, since they do not get reimbursed for them. Will the minister agree to axe the federal taxes for the summer so that Quebeckers can go on vacation and pay 19¢ less per litre of gas?
104 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- May/27/24 2:35:37 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, after nine years of this Liberal government and its out-of-control spending, Quebeckers are facing a full-blown cost of living crisis and are in desperate need of relief. That is why we are calling for the elimination of federal taxes on gas to lower prices at the pump.
We need vehicles to get around during summer vacation, but instead of supporting us, the Bloc Québécois thinks everywhere is like Plateau‑Mont‑Royal and everyone can just take the bus. Will the Prime Minister agree to our request and axe the federal gas tax for the summer?
106 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
Before I begin, I would like to say that I will be sharing my time with the excellent member for Carleton.
What I say in the next few minutes is not intended as a personal attack on the Bloc Québécois or its members. There are a lot of very good people in the Bloc. I want to talk about the Bloc today in more general terms.
First off, we fully agree with today's motion. That is how the Conservatives have always done things: We have always respected the provinces' areas of jurisdiction. It is part of our DNA, and we have no objections. However, we do have questions about the contradictions in the Bloc Québécois's behaviour and actions.
First, it is important to understand that the Bloc's primary motivation is separation, or Quebec sovereignty. It is in their policy platform, and they make no secret of it. Everyone knows that the Bloc wants Quebec to leave Canada.
It is also important to understand that the Bloc members were elected by about 30% of the population of Quebec. The other 70%, including my colleagues and myself, are just as much Quebeckers as the members of the Bloc. The 70% of Quebeckers who did not vote for the Bloc also have hopes and dreams for the Quebec nation, just like the Bloc does. It is time to stop playing around and always saying that the Bloc members are real Quebeckers, while members from the other parties are not. That is the message we keep getting here in Parliament.
There is another contradiction. According to the Bloc, and as the Bloc candidate who ran against me in 2021 said publicly, when a member of the Bloc gets elected, they are sitting in a foreign country's Parliament. A Bloc candidate runs for office, gets elected by maybe 30% or 40% of the people in their riding, and tells Quebeckers that they are going to represent them in a foreign country's Parliament. That is always how it has been, and it has been the same story for 30 years.
Now let me get to the most serious contradiction.
The leader of the Bloc has repeated, as his own slogan, that if something is good for Quebec, the Bloc will vote for it, and if it is not good for Quebec, the Bloc will vote against it. That is what the leader of the Bloc Québécois says publicly. As a Quebecker, I can say that that is not necessarily a bad thing. It is truly an approach focused on Quebec's main interests, on co-operation with the Canadian federation. We cannot be against that.
However, we have seen the concrete actions the Bloc has taken when voting on budgets, which are contradictory. The Bloc Québécois publicly says that it votes against all the budgets because they are no good, which is true. The Bloc members vote this way for various reasons, saying that they are against them, so people think that the Bloc Québécois votes against the Liberal government's budgets.
However, there is the important matter of budgetary appropriations. The Bloc Québécois has voted in favour of all the supplementary appropriations, totalling $500 billion, but that is something it does not boast about.
I heard the leader of the Bloc answer a question from my colleague from Louis-Saint-Laurent on this very topic this morning. He answered that they would not do like in the U.S. and start shutting down the government. That is how he justified approving $500 billion in additional spending. These appropriations added 109,000 public servants to the government apparatus. Among other things, these appropriations were used to give millions of dollars, tens of millions of dollars, for ArriveCAN.
When a scandal breaks out, the Bloc members are suddenly astonished to discover that they voted in favour of granting the money. In a public exchange, reporters asked the Bloc Québécois House leader a question, and he answered by asking whether they thought that the Bloc members had the time to study every single budget item. Is that not their job? There are 32 of them, and they have their own research teams and staff. What do they do all day? In our party, we scrutinize every budget item. That is why we vote against them most of the time, because they make no sense.
The Bloc says publicly that it votes against the budgets when, in fact, it votes in favour of all the appropriations, while claiming that it has no time to study them. What is the primary responsibility of an elected official? It is to know what they are voting for and to vote against it when it is something that makes no sense.
The leader of the Bloc Québécois often says that the Bloc members are the adults in the room, that they are the best and that they truly work for Quebeckers, yet they voted in favour of $500 billion in additional spending by this government, which, by the way, is the worst government in the history of Canada.
This government has doubled our country's debt, which means that Quebeckers' living conditions are appalling nowadays and everything is much more expensive. Inflation and the increase in interest rates and the cost of living in general, particularly the cost of housing, have skyrocketed, in large part because of this government's mismanagement. The Bloc Québécois approved this reckless spending.
As an organization, the Bloc Québécois is a left-wing, socialist party. We know that. Members of the Bloc have admitted it, have said it. How can they reconcile fiscal responsibilities with always wanting to support socialist, left-wing measures and exponential spending? They cannot have it both ways. They cannot say that they are the responsible adults in the room and then vote with their eyes closed. As the leader of the Bloc Québécois said, the Bloc members do not have time to look at that. It is difficult to vote with one's eyes closed, to vote for spending that just creates problems for Canadians today. In the House, we have done nothing to help anyone over the past nine years. No one has been helped. We just have more problems now than we did in 2015.
Take, for example, the supply vote. Since the new Bloc Québécois leader arrived in 2019, 219 votes have been considered confidence votes, such as votes on budgetary allocations or on motions similar to the one that the Conservative Party moved a month ago. The Bloc Québécois had 219 opportunities to vote against this government that it is criticizing, and we agree with those criticisms. However, instead, the Bloc Québécois voted in favour of appropriations 200 times. They did not support the non-confidence motion and they supported the government. They could have said that they had had enough, but 92% of the time they did not. They chose instead to continue to support this government's out-of-control spending.
I will give an example of this spending so that it appears in the public record. Let us take Bill C-36, appropriation act No. 4, 2022-23. The tenor of the bill is not obvious from the title. If we do not take the time to look into it, we really have no way of knowing what it is about. By way of information, it represents $20.7 billion in spending. Here is another example: Bill C-16, appropriation act No. 1, 2022-23. Our viewers will not know what I am talking about. I am talking about more than $75.483 trillion in spending. There are a lot of things in this bill, like pipelines. The Bloc Québécois voted for pipelines in the north. The Bloc supported the bill, despite the fact that the member for Jonquière rails against the oil and gas industry every day in the House. The Bloc voted for it. They did not know that the bill contained anything about pipelines, because they did not read it.
Here is another example: Bill C-24, appropriation act No. 2, 2022-23. It represents $115.056 trillion and change. By “change”, I mean a few hundred thousand dollars. Bill C-54, appropriation act No. 2, 2023-24, represents $108,700,157,669. These are only four examples from a long list of spending supported by the Bloc Québécois. They can say what they want. They will do a lot of things here and there and say that they are the adults and the responsible ones, but, in reality, they have supported this spendthrift government whose spending is out of control. Today we have problems, and these problems were supported by the Bloc Québécois.
Why did the Bloc Québécois support this government when the Liberals have an agreement with the NDP, which is always there to support the government, no matter what? The Bloc Québécois could have done the same thing the Conservative Party did: vote against the Liberals' nonsense and ensure that the country is truly managed effectively. The fact is that their objective is to get Quebec to separate. The Bloc's actions are meant to give them reasons to say that things are not going well in the other camp.
1631 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- May/21/24 2:59:46 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, July 1 is shaping up to be a disaster for people looking for housing in Quebec. According to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, new housing construction in Montreal has decreased compared to last year for both multi-unit dwellings and detached homes. Clearly, this Prime Minister's strategy is just one more in a long list of failures.
Will the Prime Minister remove the barriers to building instead of wasting Quebeckers' money?
75 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- May/21/24 2:20:51 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, many Quebec families are being forced to cancel their summer vacation plans because the Liberals' taxes and spending, backed by the Bloc Québécois, have made life unaffordable. Some people can barely afford food, so going on vacation is out of the question. While the Prime Minister treats himself to $230,000 luxury vacations on the taxpayers' dime, most Quebeckers are being forced to scale back their holiday plans or cancel them altogether.
The Conservatives are calling on the Prime Minister to give Quebeckers a break this summer by axing the carbon tax, the gas tax and the GST on fuel from now until Labour Day to help families simply take a summer vacation. This measure would allow families to save hundreds of dollars and enable Quebeckers to discover places like the Maritimes or Ontario.
The Conservatives will axe the tax for everyone as of the next election, but in the meantime, the Prime Minister should adopt this common-sense proposal to lend a hand to Quebec families this summer.
175 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- May/10/24 11:22:20 a.m.
- Watch
Madam Speaker, the Governor of the Bank of Canada has repeatedly confirmed that the Prime Minister's spending is keeping interest rates high.
Many mortgage holders will face large increases in their payments as their loans come up for renewal over the next two years. That is the direct result of this Prime Minister's $500 billion in centralizing, inflationary spending, backed by the Bloc Québécois.
When will the Prime Minister and the Bloc Québécois stop their out-of-control spending and give Quebeckers a break?
95 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- May/6/24 2:37:39 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, the Conservative Party has a great vision, a common-sense vision. This government left all that behind nine years ago. On the other side, we have the Bloc Québécois, which is no better than the Liberals. The Bloc Québécois supported $500 billion in additional spending. It always says it is going to vote against the budget, yet it always votes for specific budget allocations, which has led to the struggle that Quebeckers and Canadians face today.
Can the government ask the Bloc Québécois why it always goes along with the government's schemes, that lack all common sense?
113 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- May/6/24 2:36:24 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, Quebeckers are struggling. They are being hit hard by mortgage renewals. Mortgage rates are high, mainly because of the Prime Minister's chaotic management of the public purse, with the support of the Bloc Québécois.
Over the past nine years, the Bloc Québécois has supported and voted in favour of additional spending of over $500 billion. That includes a June 2022 vote on $115 billion to be used in part for pipelines. People should take note that the Bloc Québécois voted in favour of pipelines. Will the Liberals and the Bloc Québécois take responsibility for the sharp rise in mortgage rates and the cost of living?
127 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- May/2/24 2:55:30 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, I would remind the Minister of Finance that 48% of Liberal voters think that their government is mismanaging public finances. That was in a Leger poll that came out recently. Worse still, the Bloc Québécois is pretending to be critical and to defend the interests of Quebec. It voted for $500 billion in additional budgetary allocations. Voting for the Bloc Québécois is certainly costly. It is the party that is propping up this country's fiscal disaster.
When will the Prime Minister, supported by the Bloc Québécois, stop his out-of-control spending and give Quebeckers a break?
114 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- May/2/24 2:54:20 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, interest on the debt is exploding. The debt will continue to rise as long as spending remains out of control. The Bloc Québécois continues to support these centralizing Liberal policies, which are driving up the cost of living. For example, on December 13, the Bloc Québécois voted in support of over $20 billion in spending.
When will the Prime Minister, supported by the Bloc Québécois, stop his wasteful spending so Quebeckers can start living with dignity again?
92 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Apr/29/24 2:53:37 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, meanwhile, what are we to make of the $54.1 billion that Canadians and Quebeckers have to pay in interest to banks in London and New York because of this government's out-of-control spending supported by the Bloc Québécois, which has voted in favour of all budget allocations for the past nine years?
Let us think about it: The Bloc Québécois voted for every budget allocation, which means that today we are stuck paying interest equivalent to all the health transfers for all the provinces. We could do so much more with that money.
Will the government stop its out-of-control spending and will the Bloc Québécois stop supporting it?
128 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Apr/29/24 2:52:23 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, this morning the Journal de Montréal reported that 25% of Quebeckers cannot afford to live with dignity, and that even working 50 hours a week is not enough to ensure they do not end up in a precarious situation. This is what we have come to, after nine years of this government. The statistics are clear.
The Bloc Québécois claims to promote the interests of Quebec, but voted with the Liberals on every budget allocation to support this exorbitant, inflationary spending.
Do the government and the Bloc Québécois have the courage to admit that they have failed Quebeckers and must stop their out-of-control spending?
118 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Apr/10/24 2:42:17 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, how can you trust them?
When it comes to any federal responsibility, like border management, managing our military, ArriveCAN or employment insurance to name just a few, it is apparent that everything goes haywire with this government. Now he is adding insult to injury by encroaching on areas of Quebec jurisdiction.
Does the Prime Minister understand that he will just make the situation worse for Quebeckers and for all other Canadians?
73 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Apr/10/24 2:41:08 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, after eight years of this Prime Minister, rents have doubled and the dream of home ownership for our young people is dead. Food banks are reporting record demand.
Everything he touches turns bad. He is ruining everything in Ottawa, and now he wants to impose his incompetence on Quebec with his centralizing pre-budget announcements. Does the Prime Minister understand that his meddling is simply making things worse for Quebeckers?
72 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Mar/21/24 5:01:34 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, of course I speak with my constituents. They elected me because most of them feel pretty much the same way I do. People are really fed up with the Prime Minister and his government. Every time I meet with people in Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, they ask me when this Prime Minister is going to leave. They want him to go because they are fed up. That is what people tell me every time I attend a public event. They are fed up with this government.
I would remind my colleague that when the Conservative government was in power, people were not lining up at food banks as they are today. There were not 800,000 Quebeckers who needed food banks. Parties like the NDP can say what they want, but before the 2015 election, the Conservatives had a budget surplus. We got Canada through the 2008-09 economic crisis brilliantly.
I have nothing bad to say about the Harper government, quite the contrary. That is why I wanted to be a Conservative, and I am very proud of that today.
184 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Mar/21/24 4:59:08 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, I was trying very hard to figure out where my colleague was going with all that.
First of all, the carbon tax is a tax plan, not an environmental plan. Second, my colleague from Montcalm just said that the government's official dance partner is the NDP. I mentioned in my speech that I do not understand why the NDP continues to support the government, but that is their problem.
What I am saying, however, is that the Bloc Québécois, as an opposition party, can join the Conservatives. Bloc members complain about various government measures every day. Forget the carbon tax. The Bloc Québécois criticizes everything the Liberal government does.
Why would the Bloc Québécois hesitate to take advantage of today's opportunity to pass a non-confidence motion by voting with us against this government, which is terrible for Quebeckers and Canada?
157 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- menumenu
- notificationsnotifications
- home
- mailmail
- searchsearch
