Louise Chabot

[Employment, June 17th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, we know how the Liberals operate. They give money hand over fist to oil companies and to firms like McKinsey for untendered contracts. However, they count their pennies when it comes to helping unemployed workers, young people, people with disabilities and others join the workforce.

The $145 million in cuts represent 16% of federal labour transfers to Quebec. It makes no sense. The government needs to reverse course.

Will it cancel the cuts?

[Employment, June 17th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, Quebeckers are joining forces and speaking out against $145 million in cuts to workforce training in Quebec.

The Quebec government and labour market partners have asked Ottawa to back down in a letter signed by the Fédération des travailleurs et travailleuses du Québec, the Confédération des syndicats nationaux, the Centrale des syndicats du Québec, the Conseil du patronat du Québec, youth chambers of commerce, as well as manufacturers and exporters. They are all speaking with one voice.

The Minister of Labour is scheduled to meet with his counterpart today. Will he announce that he is cancelling these cuts?

[Louise Bourgeois, June 17th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to pay homage to a very special person who passionately invests in my riding and throughout Quebec. I am referring to Louise Bourgeois, president for more than 20 years of the Fédération des mouvements personne d'abord du Québec, and a member for more than 30 years of the Sainte-Thérèse movement.

Mrs. Bourgeois is a great activist who is involved in the collective defence of the rights of people with intellectual disabilities. She lends her voice tirelessly to those who, like her, promote the fact that everyone has the same rights and that we need to do more and do better. Mrs. Bourgeois's expertise, dedication, compassion and tenacity make her an exceptional person who is making a significant contribution to a fairer, more inclusive society. I would like to congratulate her and thank her for her commitment.

[Budget Implementation Act, 2024, No. 1, June 17th, 2024]

Madam Speaker, there will be no suspense here. This is another closure motion that the New Democratic Party will support. I have lost count of the number of gag orders limiting time on questions as fundamental as the budget.

I understand the NDP even less, who continue to insist on limiting parliamentarians' right to speak to the budget. Yes, the budget allows gains to be made. However, when we hear the Liberals speak on the topics of social housing, the new disability benefit, the environment and climate change, they get all worked up.

They are also creating badly written social programs, like dental care, which has been assigned to a private insurance company, rather than recognizing Quebec's expertise and jurisdiction in this area and transferring the money with full compensation. This would have allowed us to enhance our own program.

I am becoming uncomfortable with the fact that parliamentarians, in a democracy, should face repeated closures on substantive issues. It is certain that my political party and I will again vote against this attempt to limit the time to study a budget that does not meet Quebeckers' needs.

[Excise Tax Act, June 17th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, I understand that I was not entitled to display the logo. I apologize.

I was saying that this bill helps highligth the importance of our social services and mental health services. The need for these services can arise at a very young age. In fact, it is not just individual adults who may need such services. Children, youth, parents and families may need them too. I think that COVID-19 exacerbated the tensions that may have already existed in this regard.

The bill's merit lies in the fact that it exempts professional mental health services from the goods and services tax. In other words, patients obtaining these services in the private sector will no longer have to pay the tax, which will make these services more accessible.

I do, however, have doubts as to whether exempting a private sector professional from the tax will make these services more accessible. We all know that the cost of these services in the private sector is onerous and that few people have access to them. That is why it is important to work toward making access to these services virtually universal in the public sector. In Quebec, work is under way to do precisely that.

There is also the matter of the definitions. What is psychotherapy? If we define it in simple terms, it is the psychological treatment of a person. What is mental health counselling? That is less clear, in our eyes. For example, psychological treatment services for individuals in Quebec are regulated by professional associations. We call these services “reserved”. There is a reserved title for those practising such professions. Things are less clear with mental health counselling, however. What type of profession are we talking about here?

The Ordre des psychologues du Québec cautioned us about mental health counselling, because that can be pretty much anything. There is little in the way of training, and it is not regulated. If mental health counselling is not better defined, we are not certain that this legislation will strengthen what we are trying to strengthen, which is why we were so interested in studying this bill in committee. As it turned out, though, it was not possible to study it in committee.

This bill should have been studied in the Standing Committee on Finance, but because of economic omnibus bills, such as Bill C-59 or the current Bill C-69, which deals with the budget, the usual 60-day deadline for committee study, after referral of a private member's bill, was not met. Despite a request for an extension, this bill could not be studied.

That is quite troubling. It makes us think about the process of studying bills. We should ensure that a bill passed at second reading in the House also passes at the committee stage. Had that happened, we would have heard from experts and witnesses who could have better defined what the bill seeks to do, especially in terms of psychotherapy and mental health counselling services. That would have been important.

Aside from Quebec, I do not know how mental health services are regulated in the Canadian provinces. What are the definitions for the provinces? Are these regulated professions, or do those professionals have the authority to provide psychotherapy services? In any case, the committee process would have been very important.

Since we were not able to study it in committee, we are now here in the House to pass this bill. The Bloc Québécois nevertheless supports it. We know there is currently a certain inequity in terms of the excise tax exemption. We know it applies to doctors and psychologists. It should apply just as much to these mental health professionals─ and I say “professionals” because, for us, that is important─at least when we see the growing number of services in this sector.

I have to say that when it comes to mental health, Quebec was a pioneer in terms of psychotherapy legislation. This also inspired several provinces. We recently saw that the Quebec plan d’action interministériel en santé mentale 2022‑2026 outlined a framework for mental health by focusing on seven specific areas, namely, the promotion of mental health and prevention of mental health problems, services to prevent and respond to crisis situations and actions aimed at youth, their families and their loved ones, in particular.

I do not have the time to list them all, but want to say that mental health is a priority for our social services, which, as we know, have a very strong role and presence in our society. That is also why, with the modernization of legislation on professions, the Ordre des psychologues du Québec has been entrusted to deliver licences to practise to other professionals such as school counsellors and psychoeducators, as well as nurses.

If we had had time to study Bill C‑323 at committee, we would have been able to add other types of professionals to the list. That was not possible, so we have to leave it at that. I would remind the House that the definition of “mental health counselling” really needs to be clarified to ensure that we have regulated services by professionals, which is the case in Quebec.

As I said at the beginning, I will close by saying that it is all well and good to address inequity when it comes to the GST, but that is not going to guarantee universal access, which is what people really want when it comes to the services provided by mental health workers and professionals. That will take a major investment in our public services, because Quebec's education sector, its health and social services sector and its community organizations do require significant funding.

The problem is, the federal government is going to fix things by removing a tax while it continues to chronically underfund our health and social services. If the private sector is given a bigger role in our system, which I find unacceptable, I think we really need to ask ourselves how much the federal government needs to invest in health and social services to enable Quebec and the provinces to strengthen their public systems.

[Excise Tax Act, June 17th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, we are dealing with Bill C‑323, which basically seeks to amend the Excise Tax Act.

We know that, in a schedule, this act provides tax exempt status for various health care products and services offered by private practitioners. This includes optometry, naturopathy, acupuncture and midwifery services. These services are currently exempt from the goods and services tax. The bill seeks to add psychotherapy and mental health counselling services to this list of services that are exempt from the goods and services tax.

This bill at least highlights the importance of mental health and the important work to be done in this area to ensure that all—

[Questions on the Order Paper, June 14th, 2024]

With regard to the Age Well at Home initiative: (a) how many organizations submitted projects between June 8, 2022, and July 29, 2022, in the constituency of Thérèse-De Blainville and, of these project submissions, how many (i) were approved, (ii) were denied, (iii) have not yet received a response; and (b) of the project applications in the constituency of Thérèse-De Blainville that have not yet received a response, (i) what are the estimated timelines for processing these applications, (ii) what are the reasons for these processing delays, (iii) will the amounts approved initially for these applications be adjusted for inflation?

[Questions on the Order Paper, June 12th, 2024]

With regard to Site 06875001 – Camp Bouchard, Ex Ammo Dump, on the Federal Contaminated Sites Inventory: (a) what measures are currently underway to decontaminate the site; (b) what is the plan and timeline to decontaminate the site; and (c) what amounts have been allocated to decontaminate the site?

[Budget Implementation Act, 2024, No. 1, June 11th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals are accusing the Conservatives of not having a plan, but the Liberals' plan is to spend money in jurisdictions that are not its own, that they are not responsible for and that are the sole purview of Quebec and the provinces, by imposing conditions. Quebec has established social programs, child care, dental care, health insurance and housing solutions. The federal government is investing billions of dollars in our areas of jurisdiction. At the same time, it is not spending money on strengthening its own social programs, such as old age security, employment insurance and its immigration policies.

Does my colleague not think that his government's priority should be to invest in its own areas of jurisdiction?

[Employment Insurance, June 10th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, now is the time to protect workers. Why do the Liberals always wait until there is a disaster before they take action?

There needs to be a single eligibility threshold of 420 hours with the maximum amount of benefits. It is time to permanently end the EI spring gap. It is time to undo the discrimination against women who lose their job while they are on parental leave. The Liberals can no longer condone a system that leaves six out of 10 workers out in the cold.

When will EI be reformed?