Martin Champoux

Madam Speaker, at the time the Defence Investment Agency was created, another mechanism had been in place for decades. The need to procure military equipment is nothing new for Canada. It has always existed. The government has purchased aircraft and had ships built in the past. None of that is anything new. What forces the government to create a new agency now, one that is going to release the [more]

Madam Speaker, is this not a way for the government to shirk some of its responsibility? Is it not a bit risky to create an agency to handle such crucial and sensitive defence investments? Questions are already being raised. Prime Minister Minister of Finance and National Revenue First, there is the appointment of the agency's president, who is close to theand has a background at Goldman Sachs. [more]

Madam Speaker, before I start, I want to acknowledge my colleagues who are proudly wearing the poppy as we begin the annual poppy campaign to remember those who gave their lives and fought for our values and freedom. This is my annual reminder. This year is the second year that I have the honour of serving as the honorary president of the poppy campaign in my riding of Drummond. The poppy is [more]

Madam Speaker, it is my turn to thank my colleague from Saint-Jean for her excellent speech and for her passion. I believe the House can see that that passion is shared by all Bloc members when we talk about culture and the French language. The government has decided to step in for the digital giants, which were supposed to pay out $600 million in compensation. In my colleague's view, what [more]

Mr. Speaker, I wonder if the Liberals have forgotten their $600-million promise, their commitment to impose a levy on the web giants. The worst part of all of this is that taxpayers will have to foot a $600-million bill to make up for the government's backtracking on the levy. Instead of making the web giants pay, the government is foisting the bill onto all taxpayers, even those who do not have [more]

Mr. Speaker, all TV and radio station operators in Quebec are required to pay levies, pay fees, pay into the system. That is how cultural production is funded. However, thanks to the Liberals, American streamers like Netflix do not have to pay a penny. The American web giants that are infinitely richer than Quebecor or Bell Media get a free pass, which, by the way, directly contradicts the [more]

That, given that, (i) culture is central to Quebec’s identity, (ii) the cultural sector plays a critical role in Quebec’s economy, (iii) the media and cultural production sectors are facing serious pressures that hamper their development, (iv) the government nevertheless abolished the Digital Services Tax levied on the U.S. digital corporate giants, the House call on the government to: (a) uphold [more]

Madam Speaker, a budget is like a big stew. There are all sorts of things in there. We can love corned beef but not cabbage. When we vote for a budget, we are voting for a series of measures. Before a budget is tabled, parties make requests. We have recommendations to make for the budget. The Bloc Québécois had 11 amendments, many of which were culture-related. None of the Bloc Québécois's [more]

That is a very good question, Madam Speaker, and I thank my colleague for asking it. My colleague is obviously generalizing; he is really broadening the scope of the issue, but fundamentally, I understand that we are talking about broken promises. In our motion today, we are addressing a promise that, while not yet broken, has not yet been kept, and that is very concerning. I am talking about [more]

Mr Speaker, I need not tell you how much I appreciate the comments we just heard from my colleague from Edmonton Strathcona, with whom I once had the great pleasure of working on the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage and, incidentally, on this sort of bill. I want to ask my NDP colleague what she thinks of what I would call a cynical move. What does she make of the fact that the government [more]

Madam Speaker, I want to thank my colleague very much, and I look forward to hearing his comments on today's motion later on. We should remember that this tax was originally requested and required to fund the cultural sector and the media, this entire sector where American digital companies swoop in and get rich. In the end, it was not used for that purpose at all; it was used for something else [more]

Madam Speaker, I am being asked for a brief answer to a question that would take several minutes to address, but I will simply talk about the digital services tax, which could have been used to fund the cultural and broadcasting sectors, as well as the backtracking on the levy of 5% to 15%. These concessions were made during negotiations with Donald Trump. What did we get in return? Nothing, [more]

Prime Minister Mr. Speaker, I have said this before, but it bears repeating: The future of our culture depends on requiring American streaming platforms to pay levies. However, every time we talk about it, the minister descends into partisanship. That is a shame because the levies were the result of long-term work carried out across party lines. We have no problem saying that in Quebec, the [more]

Mr. Speaker, the answer is yes. There is a positive element to it, but much will depend on the powers ultimately granted to the commission in question. I believe it is important to have an independent body somewhat along the lines of what we see with a quasi-judicial tribunal such as the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, or CRTC. The CRTC has its flaws, but no one can [more]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Lethbridge for her very relevant question. I find it interesting to hear her talk about the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, or CRTC, as the organization that could take on those powers, considering that it is not every day that I hear her praise the work of the CRTC. That said, we are completely open to this type of [more]

Mr. Speaker, I thought the question was for you. That was my understanding. No? Then I will answer. That is an excellent question, and I thank my colleague, the parliamentary secretary, for asking it. C-34 I think we are going to run into a number of challenges. The biggest challenge we may face is pleasing everyone. Based on the correspondence that we have received regarding Bill, some people's [more]

Mr. Speaker, that is my fan club. I cannot control them. I am really sorry. I want to come back to the idea of social media platforms and the algorithms they use to attract not just young people, but adults as well. We are talking about young people and saying that they are vulnerable, but often adults are too. Let us face it. Sometimes we fall asleep with our phone in our hand after spending [more]

Mr. Speaker, that is an excellent point that I was unfortunately unable to address as I only had 20 minutes for my speech. Yes, the jurisdictions of Quebec and the provinces will have to be respected. C-34 One aspect of Bill, or the approach we feel will have to be taken, is education. As members know, education falls within the jurisdiction of Quebec and the provinces. It will therefore be [more]