federal politics

DeBellefeuille sets her sights on a fifth term

Sarah Rennie – LJI reporter

With all signs pointing toward an election being called once parliament returns from prorogation in late March, the parties are already gearing up for a spring vote.

Salaberry-Suroît MP Claude DeBellefeuille has already thrown her hat into the ring, announcing on January 7 that she will seek a fifth term representing the region as a member of the Bloc Québécois in Ottawa.

DeBellefeuille’s first term in office stretched from 2006 to 2011. She ran in both the 2011 and 2015 elections, before regaining her seat in the House of Commons from 2019 to the present.

During this last year, DeBellefeuille said she continued to bring people together to find solutions to challenging issues. She specifically mentioned convening the Comité d’Action de Suivi pour la Voie Maritime, which she initiated in 2019, to mitigate the planned closure of the Larocque Bridge at the start of last year.

DeBellefeuille also highlighted efforts to bring the RCMP and border municipalities together over border control issues. The deputy was instrumental in the creation of a single telephone number that citizens could call to reach the RCMP, the circulation of an informative leaflet to border residents, and new aluminium panels to be installed with the phone number to reach the RCMP.

She also noted the Bloc Québécois’ support for seniors, and the party’s hard push to withdraw supply-managed products from trade negotiations with Bill C-282, which passed all stages in the House of Commons before stalling in the Senate.

Salaberry-Suroit MP Claude DeBellefeuille has announced she will run again in the next federal election, which is expected to be called sometime this spring. (PHOTO Facebook MRC du Haut-Saint-Laurent)

DeBellefeuille said she is determined to continue this work in her riding. “I’m extremely happy in my role as MP; it’s a position that fills me with happiness,” she stated, noting it is an honour to serve the citizens of Salaberry-Suroît.

“My work in Ottawa isn’t over yet, and I’m determined to keep on making things happen,” she added.

Regarding Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s resignation on January 6, DeBellefeuille acknowledged his commitment to the public, before adding she believes he made the right decision to step down.

“Regardless of the leader, regardless of the circumstances, there must be an election in the spring of 2025!” she exclaimed.

Once called, this election will mark DeBellefeuille’s seventh campaign. If re-elected, she will take office for her third consecutive, and fifth term in 18 years.

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TRAM TRACKER: Anti-tram mayor would be ‘catastrophe’: Duclos

TRAM TRACKER

Anti-tram mayor would be ‘catastrophe’: Duclos

Peter Black, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

peterblack@qctonline.com

With the next municipal election still a year away, Jean-Yves Duclos, the MP for the downtown riding of Québec and minister of public services and procurement, is warning that an anti-tramway mayor for Quebec City would be a “catastrophe.”

Speaking with reporters at an event on Nov. 1 in Quebec City, Duclos said, “It would be a disaster for Quebec City to deprive itself of money from the Canadian government.”

Duclos was responding to questions about a recent Le Soleil poll that shows support for Mayor Bruno Marchand and the tramway project slumping. The survey found 40 per cent of the sample of 514 online respondents supported the tramway, a drop of five points since a similar poll in June.

Marchand’s approval rating similarly has dropped to 38 per cent, a decline of seven points.

Duclos, who is also the federal Liberals’ Quebec lieutenant, said, “We’ll see what people want to decide, but I think it would be a disaster for Quebec City to miss its chance. We’re already behind all the other comparable cities in Canada. We have the chance to catch up.”

The federal government has already committed $1.3 billion to the initial tramway project and has promised to chip in more with the added costs of the project as proposed in June by the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec Infra.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said last week on social media if he becomes prime minister he would not invest in the tramway project but rather the “third link” across the St. Lawrence River the Quebec government is proposing.

Duclos said Poilievre “is misleading the people of Quebec City by making them believe that he could use the tramway money to invest in a third link.”

Marchand and his Québec Forte et Fière party took over the tramway project from the administration of Régis Labeaume when he won the 2021 election. Nineteen of the city’s 21 councillors are from parties that support the tramway, with the two-person Équipe priorité Québec caucus the only outliers. Former Quebec Liberal minister Sam Hamad, who is considering a mayoral bid, has said there are too many questions about the tramway for him to support it.

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Duclos slams Tory MP who wanted English answer in Commons

Duclos slams Tory MP who wanted English answer in Commons

Peter Black, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

peterblack@qctonline.com

Calling it “an insult to all francophone members of the House, including the Conservative members opposite,” Liberal MP for Québec and minister Jean-Yves Duclos demanded that a Tory MP apologize for asking him to answer a question in English.

The episode erupted during question period on Oct. 24, when Larry Brock, the MP for the Ontario riding of Brantford–Brant, asked Duclos, the minister of public services and procurement and Quebec political lieutenant, about contracts to a company he claimed were corrupt.

Duclos replied in French, saying, “I am going to say something in French that my colleague has already heard several times in English,” asserting that the auditor general and RCMP are independent and “doing their job” to investigate allegations about the contracts.

When Brock replied, saying, “My question is in English, but I digress,” there was an outburst in the House that Speaker Greg Fergus tried repeatedly to quell, reminding members, “It is a very important and basic fact here that questions can be asked in English or in French and that questions can be answered in English or in French.”

Conservative MP for Lévis–Lotbinière Jacques Gourde followed up Brock’s question with one in French, to which Duclos replied, “I want to congratulate my colleague on asking his question in French. He could have asked it in English because in the House we are free to speak either of the two official languages. I would like to invite his colleague [Brock] to apologize for asking me to answer his question in English.”

Afterwards, Duclos posted the video from the exchange on X, saying, “A francophone should never have to apologize for speaking French in Ottawa. I invite my opposition colleague to retract his statement, quickly.”

Fellow minister Pascale St-Onge reposted Duclos’ message, saying, “Bilingualism is a fundamental principle of our country. We have the right to express ourselves in the language of our choice. Disappointed, but not surprised that another Conservative MP has shown no regard for francophones.”

St-Onge was alluding to an incident in April when Tory MP Rachel Thomas asked the heritage minister to answer a question in English at a Parliamentary committee.

Brock issued an apology on X “for the comments I made dur- ing Question Period … Every member of Parliament has the right to express themselves in the official language of their choice and my comment was inappropriate.”

The Liberal Party of Canada followed up with its post on X: “Liberals will always de- fend bilingualism in Canada – whether the Conservatives like it or not.”

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