House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2021, with 60% of the vote.
Committees of the House November 30th, 2020
Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the second report of the Standing Committee on Official Languages in relation to the motion adopted on Tuesday, November 24 regarding the modernization of the Official Languages Act.
Social Development November 26th, 2020
Mr. Speaker, this week the government launched calls for proposals for three programs: the Black entrepreneurship program; the community support, multiculturalism, and anti-racism initiatives program; and the supporting Black Canadian communities initiative.
I am pleased that my government has introduced these measures to help Black communities in particular combat discrimination.
Could the Minister of Small Business talk about why these programs are important?
Committees of the House November 23rd, 2020
Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the first report of the Standing Committee on Official Languages, in accordance with the orders of reference of Monday, April 20, 2020, and Wednesday, September 30, 2020, concerning the main estimates 2020-21.
Montreal Island North Health and Social Services Centre November 16th, 2020
Madam Speaker, today I rise in the House to acknowledge the work done by the Montreal Island North Centre intégré universitaire de santé et de services sociaux, the CIUSSS, since COVID-19 broke out in Montreal North, the epicentre of the pandemic. I am especially proud of the accomplishments of the school testing, early childhood intervention and communications teams, as well as those of community organizations, and of the work they continue to do.
This morning, with the honourable senator, Dr. Marie-Françoise Mégie in attendance, I had the honour of awarding the Bourassa MP's medal to Zina Benshila, Sylvie Guibert, Sandra Lalancette, Karine Morier and Danielle Thériault in recognition of their dedication and determination.
I would like the thank the CIUSSS administration and congratulate the recipients and their team.
Bourassa Youth November 3rd, 2020
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in the House to speak about the youth in my riding of Bourassa. We know that our youth are the present and future of our country. Our role as adults is to support their development and growth as citizens.
Today, I want to congratulate present and former students of École Henri-Bourassa, the school I attended in my youth. They had the courage to file a formal complaint with their school about the racist and unacceptable behaviour of a teacher in a position of authority.
Like all youth of Quebec and Canada, the youth of Montreal North are the builders of our future society. Thanks to their courage, actions and determination, they are assuming their civic responsibilities and paving the way for a stronger and more inclusive Canada. Well done. I am proud of them.
Government Programs September 30th, 2020
Mr. Speaker, the government acknowledges that a long history of racism, discrimination and prejudice against Black people has had a serious impact on these communities.
Business communities rely on informal support systems or family members, friends and other Black business owners for help. The pandemic has highlighted and magnified the inequalities that Black business owners face. As the throne speech acknowledged, there is work still to be done.
I congratulate my government for announcing the new $211-million Black entrepreneurship program. The Prime Minister of Canada, the member of Parliament for Papineau, met with several members of Black communities.
Can he tell us how—
Address in Reply September 23rd, 2020
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for her question. This is an issue that affects her personally.
The Speech from the Throne clearly acknowledges how much women have been affected by the pandemic. We have taken a number of measures that have benefited women, such as the Canada emergency response benefit, among others. In the throne speech, we also said that we were going to introduce a special plan to support women economically, in order to help them start businesses and to give them more opportunities to get back into the workforce.
We continue to move forward.
Address in Reply September 23rd, 2020
Mr. Speaker, I am really pleased to answer my colleague's question.
In the second part of the Speech from the Throne, we talk about the economy. Among the measures we are taking, we will create one million jobs across Canada.
As my colleague points out, we said that the Canada emergency wage subsidy would be extended until next summer, as it has proven to be beneficial. From the beginning of this pandemic we have seen how hard it was and continues to be for businesses. We said we would be there for them. We have been there, we are there and we will be there. We will help these businesses create jobs, keep operating, and hold on to their workers, like those in the agri-food industry who make it possible for us to keep food on the table every day. We will continue to help businesses in order to help us get through this pandemic.
Address in Reply September 23rd, 2020
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for her moving intervention. I invite her to work with the government to continue developing measures aimed at helping indigenous communities. We have two ministers addressing this issue.
Going off the speech I just read, I would remind my colleague that we are going to take a number of measures in response to the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls' calls for justice.
As my colleague said, there is a huge amount of work to do on health care and housing. However, if we all pull together, we can build a better future for all indigenous communities and marginalized groups.
Address in Reply September 23rd, 2020
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question.
In his question he refers to sustainable measures. We just delivered the throne speech, which sets out our vision and the direction we plan to take over the next few years. What more does he want in terms of sustainable measures? It talks about health, economic priorities, rebuilding and values. Yes, I am a member from Quebec. Yes, I am proud to be a Quebecker and a Canadian.
Not only is our government taking plenty of action to support Quebec, but the Prime Minister is also working with all the premiers of the provinces and territories to implement measures that will help everyone. That is becoming increasingly common during this pandemic. The Prime Minister has had, and continues to have, many telephone conversations with the premiers of the provinces and territories. We must continue to negotiate, but it must always be in the best interest of Canadians.