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Results: 1 - 15 of 172
View Diane Bourgeois Profile
BQ (QC)
Madam Speaker, I am presenting a petition that follows the hundreds already presented by the Bloc Québécois on behalf of the people of Quebec regarding copyright. The petitioners call upon legislators to review Bill C-32, to bring it back to the spirit of the Copyright Act and to restore artists' legitimate rights.
View Diane Bourgeois Profile
BQ (QC)
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Jean-Luc Labrecque, a city councillor in Terrebonne and the president of the Association québécoise du transport intermunicipal et municipal. For over 20 years, Mr. Labrecque has been devoting himself to promoting sustainable development and the use of public transit.
Mr. Labrecque's exemplary commitment has been recognized by Transport 2000 Québec, which awarded him the Guy Chartrand prize in the “outstanding individual in public transit” category. Created in 2005, this honour recognizes the achievements and contribution of individuals who play a role in the creation and implementation of a sustainable transportation policy for Quebec.
On behalf of my Bloc Québécois colleagues, I wish to congratulate Mr. Labrecque and thank him for his commitment to our community. We are privileged to be able to count on someone of his stature and we appreciate his efforts to move the Quebec nation towards a greener future.
View Diane Bourgeois Profile
BQ (QC)
Mr. Speaker, first I want to congratulate the minister. It is not often that we congratulate ministers.
He has answered some of the questions from our veterans. I have spoken with a number of veterans in my riding and there are still a number of other questions I would like the minister to answer.
I have no problem with adjusting the compensation amounts and the amounts to which people with psychological or social problems are entitled. Nevertheless, we know that our veterans are increasingly younger. A clause has been included whereby the sums will be indexed over time. The cost of living never stops increasing and veterans are a bit concerned about that. The sums are adequate for now, but will they be indexed in 5 or 10 years?
Until now, World War II veterans have received services from health care facilities. Modern-day veterans want to know whether those services will be maintained. Will health care institutions be provided for them? Will widows and wives of those who are no longer independent also have access to the services?
View Diane Bourgeois Profile
BQ (QC)
Mr. Speaker, the parliamentary secretary said that the government had created 400,000 jobs with its recovery plan, while the Parliamentary Budget Officer said that the government had protected 135,000 jobs. That is not the same thing.
View Diane Bourgeois Profile
BQ (QC)
Mr. Speaker, the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates has learned more about how former public sector integrity commissioner Christiane Ouimet was hired, about her shoddy work and about the golden parachute she was given.
First, the Conservative government outright rejected 12 candidates for the position in favour of someone with ties to the Privy Council Office. By proceeding in this way, the government simply carried on the Liberal tradition of hiring close friends while ensuring that the commissioner would not get the Conservatives into trouble.
When she was hired in 2007, Ms. Ouimet was well aware of her mandate under the Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act. But once she became the commissioner, she also became the government's puppet and abandoned more than 200 public servants who had filed complaints and were waiting for justice.
Finally, the $500,000 golden parachute is nothing more than a Conservative government thank you to Ms. Ouimet for her sabotage.
View Diane Bourgeois Profile
BQ (QC)
Mr. Speaker, on March 6, we lost one of our pioneering feminists and criminologists, Marie-Andrée Bertrand.
She was the first female Quebecker—the first woman, actually—to earn a Ph.D. in criminology from the University of California's Berkeley campus. A leader of the anti-prohibition movement, she did not believe that criminal legislation was the way to fight illegal substance abuse. She believed in reconciling the confusion between harm reduction and drug prohibition policies.
Her work and research on women and criminal law and her critiques on gender, class and ethnic inequality were well written.
She fought and remained active to the end, and in 2007 she said that a retired feminist cannot easily relax and does not want to.
The Bloc Québécois pays tribute to this woman who was both ahead of her time and inspirational. We offer our deepest sympathies to her family and loved ones.
View Diane Bourgeois Profile
BQ (QC)
Mr. Speaker, two former Conservative MPs have said they refused to participate in the party's fraudulent scheme during the 2005-06 election campaign. They suspected that it was an illegal scam meant to circumvent the Canada Elections Act and the spending limits.
How can the Prime Minister continue to claim that this a simple administrative dispute, when the Chief Electoral Officer, the elections commissioner, the director of public prosecutions and former Conservative candidates and MPs all maintain that the party deliberately—
View Diane Bourgeois Profile
BQ (QC)
Mr. Speaker, Senator Doug Finley, the Prime Minister's henchman during the last two elections, the very one who orchestrated the scam to get around campaign financing limits, broke his silence this week to try to protect the Prime Minister. He would have us believe that the Prime Minister, a known control freak, was not aware of this electoral scam.
Do the chief organizer's comments not prove that the Conservatives know they are in hot water and are now trying to protect their Prime Minister?
View Diane Bourgeois Profile
BQ (QC)
Mr. Speaker, I would like to pay tribute to a committed volunteer in my riding, Sarto Dupéré, who very much deserves the honour bestowed on him by the city of Blainville: the city's Order of Merit.
His volunteer career began with the scouting movement in Blainville in 1968. He has also been involved in the figure skating club, the Optimist Club, the Conseil régional des loisirs des Laurentides, the Camp quatre saisons and the Air Cadet sponsoring committee. He helped create the Fondation le Sentier de l'Entraide, whose mission is to provide last resort assistance to the most vulnerable individuals and families in Thérèse-De-Blainville. In more recent years, he helped establish the Centre 50+.
At 82, Mr. Dupéré remains young at heart and continues improving the lives of his fellow citizens through his commitment and his advice.
Congratulations, Mr. Dupéré, on this wonderful honour. You have earned our utmost respect.
View Diane Bourgeois Profile
BQ (QC)
Mr. Speaker, I am presenting a petition with 120 signatures, which calls on the federal government not to make cuts in the renovation budget for low income housing.
In Quebec, 544 housing offices produced a health impact assessment proving that major renovations to low income housing are needed. The federal government is responsible in part for this situation because it did not invest enough in the maintenance and renovation of low income housing built in Quebec starting in the early 1970s.
In Quebec, 65,000 families live in low income housing. This work will protect the sustainability of housing stock worth more than $7 billion. The Société d'habitation du Québec needs this funding, which the federal government considers to be adequate.
That is why 120 people are asking the Government of Canada to make the required public investment enabling Société d'habitation du Québec to complete its renovation plan for low income housing, which includes covering an accumulated maintenance deficit.
View Diane Bourgeois Profile
BQ (QC)
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister is meeting the Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador today to discuss the underwater cable project. We know that Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island are trying to get funding from the Conservative government for electrical transmission lines to get around Quebec and send electricity from Labrador to the United States.
Since Quebec developed its electricity network without federal assistance, will the Prime Minister tell Newfoundland and Labrador in no uncertain terms that Quebeckers' taxes paid to Ottawa will not be used to fund this project?
View Diane Bourgeois Profile
BQ (QC)
Mr. Speaker, again this year it is my honour to tell the House about Teacher Appreciation Week in Quebec. I am a veteran of the wonderful world of education, and I would like to reiterate my full support for the people who work in the amazing profession of teaching.
Every day, we entrust them with the things we hold most dear, our children. They pass on their knowledge and know-how to the generation of tomorrow. Teachers are examples for our youth, and we must tell them they are all indispensable. Our children are privileged that they can count on people like them, who give and expect nothing in return. Our teachers embody everything a nation like ours can hope for from our knowledge crafters.
On behalf of my colleagues in the Bloc Québécois, I want to congratulate the teachers of Quebec on their dedication and professionalism and thank them for all they do.
View Diane Bourgeois Profile
BQ (QC)
Mr. Speaker, we are here this morning to debate Bill C-46, An Act to implement the Free Trade Agreement between Canada and the Republic of Panama, the Agreement on the Environment between Canada and the Republic of Panama and the Agreement on Labour Cooperation between Canada and the Republic of Panama.
The Bloc Québécois is not in favour of this bill for a number of reasons. First, this is a bilateral agreement, which the Bloc Québécois believes is ineffective. We believe that a multilateral agreement would be more effective in developing much fairer trade that respects the interests of all of the nations.
The Conservative government has decided to drop the multilateral approach to trade and is entering into many negotiations to sign bilateral agreements. There have not been any studies done by officials at the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade or at Industry Canada to help us determine whether these bilateral agreements would be beneficial to our economy. Regardless of whether these agreements are good or not, they seem advantageous, so the Conservatives and the Liberals are jumping at them. They are jumping into other bilateral negotiations before conducting any studies.
If we do not know that we will come out a winner by signing a bilateral agreement, we should not move forward. For example, the Conservative government plans on signing a bilateral agreement with China. In 2005, Canada imported $32 billion worth of Chinese products, which generated a trade deficit in Canada of $26 billion, or $1,000 per capita. When trade with a country generates five times more imports than exports, the main priority should be to balance the terms of trade and not to make them even more liberal.
The Bloc Québécois will not support these bilateral agreements until we receive a guarantee or can be convinced that they will benefit the Quebec economy.
We are told that Panama is the most industrialized country in Central America and it has the highest economic indicators in the region. According to the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Canadian exports to Panama consist mainly of finished products, such as machine tools, automobiles, electronic and electrical equipment, pharmaceutical equipment, pulses and frozen potato products. Canada also exports financial, engineering and professional services, as well as information technology and communications services.
Canadian direct investments in Panama are made mainly in the banking, financial, construction and mining sectors. Every time the Conservative government comes forward with a bilateral free trade agreement, it always includes mining.
Our primary imports from Panama are metals—mostly gold—precious stones, fruit, exotic nuts, fish and seafood.
The free trade agreement between Canada and Panama will have an impact on our country. According to the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, this deal includes eliminating Panamanian tariffs on many Canadian products.
This means that our businesses will be able to invest in Panama without any tariff restrictions. Thus, Panama will eliminate all tariffs on non-agricultural products.
The Canadian exports that should benefit the most from these concessions are fish and seafood products, construction materials and equipments, frozen potato products, pulses, beef and beef products, most pork products, malt, forest products, and flight simulation and training equipment. So far, so good.
Canada, for its part, will eliminate 99% of its tariffs on products from Panama, except certain sugar products and products under supply management, of course.
The federal government wants to ratify this agreement very quickly because, so it says, it wants to get ahead of the United States and the European Union, which have both signed similar agreements but have a much longer ratification process.
The problem for us is that Panama is a tax haven. I would remind the House about a certain prime minister a few years ago who had interests in Canada Steamship Lines and who managed to get some deals ratified with known tax havens, including a deal with Barbados, which he just slipped through right under our noses. Panama is also part of this group of countries that are known tax havens. It is even on the OECD's grey list.
The OECD uses four criteria to determine whether a country should be placed on its grey list of tax havens: no or only nominal taxation; lack of transparency; laws or administrative practices that prevent the exchange of information; and indications that the country is attempting to attract investments that are tax-driven and do not involve economic activity.
One of the things that stands out for me is the fact that there is no or only nominal taxation. I have nothing against our corporations doing business. However, I do have a problem with the fact that, because of a lack of transparency, corporations cannot say how much money they make there and do not repatriate the money. As for laws and administrative practices that prevent the exchange of information, it seems to me that I have seen this before. I am currently a member of the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates. We are coming to realize that the government is using the excuse that it must protect confidential information to withhold information about money, for example about the freeze on budget envelopes, or about what it is doing with the money. It is very annoying. It means that Canadians cannot find out what is being done with their taxes, and government officials cannot determine how much profit has been made in other countries. This issue of laws or administrative practices that prevent the effective exchange of information is tiresome.
Then there are the indications that the country attracts investments that are solely tax-driven and to not involve economic activity. We must remember that, in some countries, certain Canadian corporations have a dismal record when it comes to mining, among other activities. How will we ask questions to obtain information about what is happening? This is a problem for the Bloc Québécois.
Furthermore, the right-wing government has passed a repressive bill that, in theory, could criminalize workers. It has agreed to review the law but we are not sure that it will do so.
In short, the Bloc Québécois does not support this bill.
We do not know enough about it, and there are not enough guarantees and safeguards. It is a bilateral agreement that completely ignores human considerations and does not demonstrate the openness that should be the hallmark of such agreements.
View Diane Bourgeois Profile
BQ (QC)
According to the Institut de la statistique du Québec, 30% of exports to Panama come from Quebec. As far as imports are concerned, Quebec's share is under $2 million.
We are all for trading with Panama and exporting to that country. Nonetheless, we do not want to be involved with these rogue states that use freer trade and making money as an excuse for violating environmental laws and workers' rights established by the International Labour Organization. These things are extremely important to Quebeckers. Even though Quebec does business with Panama, if such agreements are concluded, Quebeckers will not forget how important these two concepts are for Panamanians.
View Diane Bourgeois Profile
BQ (QC)
Some aspects of this agreement are still flawed, including the one the hon. member just mentioned. It is all well and fine to ratify agreements very quickly, but we have to make sure the agreements are not missing anything before we open the floodgates.
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