François-Philippe Champagne
Saint-Maurice—Champlain, Quebec · Liberal · Canada
“Mr. Speaker, during this final question period before the summer recess, I would have expected the Leader of the Opposition to thank the Prime Minister of Canada for the work he did at the G7 summit. We brought back 13 deals that will generate $5 billion.”
“Mr. Speaker, let me remind the leader that we will take no lessons from the Conservatives. He needs to be reminded. We have the second-fastest growing economy in the G7.”
“Mr. Speaker, as we come to the end of the session, we would expect the Leader of the Opposition to be a bit more cheerful because, in fact, there is good news. If he wants to look at results, Canada is the second-fastest growing economy in the G7. We have seen that investment in machinery and equipment is up.”
“Mr. Speaker, we hear the Conservatives talk against the economy. On this side of the House, we are proud. We are proud to have the most skilled workers in the world. We are proud to have an auto industry, a maritime industry, and an aerospace industry. We are proud to have critical minerals for the 21st century.”
“Mr. Speaker, I would like to begin by thanking the member for Hull—Aylmer for his question and for all his leadership. I am sure that my colleagues will agree with me. He is right. Last week, we unveiled the national food security strategy, because we know that food security is a top priority for Canadians.”
“Mr. Speaker, my colleague will be pleased to hear that the Canadian economy ranks second in the G7 in terms of growth. Not only are we seeing growth, but we are also seeing investment; Bombardier is a perfect example of that. Quebec's aerospace industry is thriving. We have always been there to defend our industries.”
The complete record
Every one of 851 lines we hold for François-Philippe Champagne, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 4 of 18.
“We made a generational investment, $1 billion, which is twice as much as has ever been put into small craft harbours, and I want to thank the member. I want to say publicly that he has been one of the people who has talked to the Prime Minister and I to make it happen. I think that tonight, he should be very proud. It shows the power of MPs. Members of Parliament are here to represent their communities. They are here to speak on behalf of their constituents and to raise issues that matter to the people they represent. I want to say that this member did that superbly. Time and time again, he reminded us of the importance of investing in small craft harbours. I would say that we have delivered. I was pleased to be in New Brunswick just recently with a number of colleagues.”
“Mr. Chair, we can see in my colleague's heart and voice, the passion he has for fishers and for their communities. I want to applaud him. I am sure the people he represents are very proud tonight. I want to thank all my colleagues who have shown up tonight to be here to do the important work of democracy, which is to be held to account. It is what I have been doing for hours, and I will continue to do it because it is what Canadians expect of us. The member talked about small craft harbours. I want to say this in front of all Canadians, because I know this is televised and people are going to watch. He was one of the members who inspired us to do what is right for Canadians, for fishers and for their communities.”
“Mr. Chair, as I said, it is important to get all the information necessary to do our due diligence. I think we are at a time when we need to modernize the way we manage public assets. This measure will allow us to get all the facts and provide a comprehensive analysis so we can make the best decisions in the interest of Canadians.”
“Mr. Chair, I think we need to modernize the way we are currently managing public assets in this country. I think it is important for the government to have all the facts and figures so that it can carry out a thorough analysis of these assets. I would say it is time to modernize the way we—”
“Mr. Chair, I am sure the member can appreciate that, if we are to be consistent with the questions and allegations raised by his colleague, this matter should be addressed to the minister responsible. I know that my colleague is honourable. He understands all the rules of the House. The minister responsible will be happy to provide all the answers my colleague is hoping to get. I will also be happy to pass the questions suggested by my colleague this evening on to the minister responsible.”
“Mr. Chair, not only am I answering my colleague, but I am giving him a generational answer, as my colleague said. That is a good way to put it. For consistency, with respect to the allegations made by my colleagues, he should direct that question to the minister responsible for the project. I am sure the minister responsible will be happy to answer his question.”
“Mr. Chair, my colleague understands that, in a large country like Canada, we need to make generational investments in infrastructure. That is exactly what we presented in budget 2025. I think Canadians understand that if we want to build a resilient country, if we want to export, we need to build infrastructure across the country.”
“Mr. Chair, my colleagues will see that the Government of Canada is making generational investments in infrastructure. The country needs modern infrastructure. That is why, in budget 2025, I presented a major infrastructure plan.”
“Mr. Chair, like all my colleagues here, in the years I have served in the House, I have always treated my colleagues with the utmost respect. I believe that all members of the House are entitled to the same respect. I have already stated on several occasions that I have complied with all the rules required by law. I will continue to do so, as I am required to do, and as all my colleagues in the House are required to do.”
“Mr. Chair, I do not understand the nature of the question. If my colleague already has the answer, I do not see the point of asking. As he says, if the information is in the public domain, he will have the opportunity to obtain all the information he needs. We are here to answer any questions, but when it comes to questions involving information that is in the public domain, I believe my colleague is capable of obtaining it.”
“Mr. Chair, I want to get back to this point because I have been a member of the House for 12 years. I believe that my colleague has been a member for over 10 years as well. We all deserve respect. We all have the right to treat each other honourably. I have conducted myself in an honourable manner. I am answering his questions. I told him that I complied with all the rules under the law and that I would testify before the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics. I think my colleague should be careful about the allegations he makes.”
“Mr. Chair, my colleague is an experienced man. He is a very talented parliamentarian, but he is making a lot of allegations. I know that his legal training should lead him to be cautious in what he says and in the allegations he makes against his colleagues, who are all honourable members of the House, as well as their families.”
“Mr. Chair, the letter in question was forwarded to the Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner. As I said, I have complied with all the rules under the law. I will continue to do so, as I am required to do and as my colleagues in the House are required to do. We are all subject to the same rules here in the House.”
“Mr. Chair, I will continue my quote: “...you have no decision-making authority over matters of human resources at Alto; you do not have the opportunity to further the interest of any specific Alto employee”. I was also told that there is no risk of conflict of interest and that a screen is not required. That is what I was told by the Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner.”
“Mr. Chair, I would like to quote those words again because all manner of allegations can be made in this House, but what matters is the truth. The truth is in a message sent on April 7, 2026, by the Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner, which states, “Alto is a Crown corporation accountable to Parliament through the Minister of Transport, and as Minister of Finance, you have no decision-making authority”—”
“Mr. Chair, allow me once again to quote from the letter for the benefit of my colleague. He is an experienced man. I think he is even a lawyer. It comes from the Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner and it is dated April 7̓. It says that “there is no risk of conflict of interest and that a screen is not required.” In addition, I proactively put a screen in place to avoid any appearance of a conflict of interest.”
“Mr. Chair, allow me to finish quoting the letter, which says that “there is no risk of conflict of interest and that a screen is not required.” Those are the words of the Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner. However, in the interest of integrity, I took it upon myself to proactively implement a screen. I will have the opportunity to explain myself before the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics in the coming weeks.”
“Mr. Chair, I would like to quote an excerpt from the letter written by the Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner on April 7, 2026: Alto is a Crown corporation accountable to Parliament through the Minister of Transport, and as Minister of Finance, you have no decision-making authority over matters of human resources at Alto; you do not have the opportunity to further the interest—”
“Mr. Chair, as I said, I have complied with all the rules under the law. I will have the opportunity to testify before the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics in the coming weeks, and I will be happy to answer any questions my colleagues may have when I appear before the committee.”
“Mr. Chair, 30 seconds is not very long, because building Canada strong obviously requires a strong team Canada, a strong team of workers who will build this country. The sovereign wealth fund is a unique opportunity to build collective wealth, but in a very Canadian way, since it will enable ordinary people, that is, individual investors, to invest in and own part of this collective wealth that we are going to create together. I think it is a great initiative. It is typical of Canada to want to build. That is why we want to build Canada strong for all.”
“I know it is a bit late, but they still have enough energy to cheer on Canada and the resilience of our economy, our workers and our industries. It is a pleasure to build Canada strong together and to build the strongest economy in the G7.”
“Mr. Chair, it fills my heart with joy because, here in the House, we often hear the opposition criticizing the government, but when it comes to the International Monetary Fund, we know that it looks at global economies and offers an informed and impartial assessment. In that regard, it can be said that the International Monetary Fund has held up Canada as an example of a country with the strongest public finances in the G7. We can imagine the growth of these countries. I will simply provide a few figures. Canada has the second-fastest growth in the G7. Italy is at 0.5%, Japan is at 0.7%, Germany and the U.K. are at 0.8%, and France is at 0.9%. Meanwhile, Canada stands at 1.5%. Some hon. members: Hear, hear! Hon. François-Philippe Champagne: Mr. Chair, even my Conservative colleagues should be applauding this evening.”
“Mr. Chair, it is refreshing to hear a colleague who was once a minister of finance talk to us about issues and real things. I think that the people of Laval must be very proud to hear my colleague share his experience. It is a great privilege to serve with a colleague who was once the finance minister of a great province like Quebec. I salute him and thank him for his economic statement. He is right, and it is refreshing to hear comments and questions like these because, essentially, what is being said is that two G7 countries, Canada and Germany, have an AAA credit rating. What does that give us? It gives us the fiscal capacity to make generational investments, similar to those that our colleagues in Germany made. We are doing it in infrastructure, obviously in housing, productivity and innovation, as well as effort.”
“Again, Mr. Chair, in the spirit of collaboration, I am extending an olive branch to my colleague to put him in touch with astronauts so that he can learn how a launch site in Canada would be in the best interest of Canada's national security.”
“Mr. Chair, I do not know why, when we do these exercises, we need to talk down industry, why we need to talk down Canadians, why we need to talk down what people are doing. Let us talk about the industry. This is an olive branch. I am happy to put him in touch with astronauts—”
“Mr. Chair, I am here to answer the questions from the member. What I find sad tonight is that there would be a way to celebrate the great success of our astronauts, the fact that we have launched a Canadian around the moon, the fact that we are investing in our space industry, the fact that we will have a launch site in Canada, and it is going to be part of the resilience of—”
“Mr. Chair, the member went after the space industry. He went after a launch site. He is now going after Nova Scotia. I do not know where this is going to end, but one thing I can tell members is that I am going to stand with the people of Nova Scotia. I am going to stand with our astronauts. I am going to stand with the space industry. I will remind him that I am happy to put him in touch with astronauts. He would learn that Canso is a particular site from which to launch and something we need in terms of national security.”
“Mr. Chair, I do not know if there is a space parliamentary committee but the hon. member would gain knowledge by talking to our American colleagues. He would learn that having a location in Canada is very strategic in order to launch into a particular orbit, and I can put him in touch with a few astronauts if he wants.”
“Mr. Chair, he can talk down the industry. I will stand up for astronauts and the industry at every step of the way. If he was talking to our southern neighbour, he would understand that it is important for Canada to be able to launch from a Canadian site in order to get into a certain orbit, and we can do that in Canso, Nova Scotia.”
“Mr. Chair, my colleague should, instead of going after the space industry, celebrate what we have achieved recently. We had our first Canadian to go around the moon. We went back to the moon as humanity. I think he should be proud. Instead of talking down a whole industry and talking down the space industry in the country, he should—”
“Mr. Chair, I know that my colleague is an experienced member of the chamber. He is making allegations. It is not the first time that he has made allegations like this, but I think he should be careful in his line of questioning. At the same time, he should realize that the space industry is a great place to invest.”
“Mr. Chair, my colleague is asking questions about space. I think space is an important industry in Canada. I hope he is going to have many more questions. As a former minister responsible for the space agency, I will have a lot to say about that.”
“Mr. Chair, I think everyone watching, particularly those in Oshawa and in southwestern Ontario, know that this minister and this government have been standing shoulder to shoulder with them. We can talk to the unions, the local union members, the industry partners and the manufacturers. We have stood with industry and workers every step of the way. When I started in my previous job as minister of industry, we made investments to make sure that the sector would grow and adapt to the new reality. This is a fast-evolving market, but the investments we are making today need to take into account the future as well, and I think the member will recognize—”
“This is what we are seeing in all the other G7 countries, but smart countries invest not only for now, but for the future. These investments will provide benefits to Canadians in the long term.”
“Mr. Chair, let me talk about Volkswagen for a minute. I can see the smile coming back on the member's face, because Volkswagen will be one of the largest industrial sites in North America. She should be celebrating. I am sure she likes St. Thomas and southwestern Ontario as well. This is going to be an investment that is generational. If she had been with us when we announced that in St. Thomas, she would have seen the community members and the mayor. Everyone was there celebrating the fact that, for the first time in the history of Canada, we were able to attract a European manufacturer. When I started that journey, people thought it would be impossible. We made it possible. Canadians understand that obviously a number of projects get delayed. It is not unique to Canada.”
“Mr. Chair, it is a pleasure. I know the member knows the sector because she has New Flyer in her riding, which I am still looking forward to visiting because it is a great company, and it is also looking at electric buses. My colleague will be happy to learn we were very disciplined. The Chair will remember this because I know he took note at the time. We were talking about production subsidies. This was on the back of the Inflation Reduction Act. In order to attract these investments, we were very smart, because we said we would only pay out when a number of units had been built and sold. Members should be reassured that we have been good fiscal stewards. We have attracted investment. We have been very disciplined in how we structured these deals. I would say to my colleague that she should keep in mind that the electric stack is the—”
“Madam Chair, I am so happy to have that line of questioning. I almost hope that time would stop for a minute, because honestly, I could go on and on. Let us talk about Volkswagen, one of the largest automakers when we landed the gigafactory. It is the largest gigafactory outside of Europe of Volkswagen. In which country did they decide to put it? It was in Canada. It is amazing that, for the first time in Canada's history, we have attracted a European automaker to Canada. I see in her smile that the member knows in her heart that we have done good things for the workers and that we have done good things for the industry. She is a good member. She is experienced. She will appreciate that—”
“Madam Chair, I would think it is exactly the opposite. I think electrification is still our north star. Let me just remind my colleague that when Tesla started business, it took 17 years to be profitable. When the Model T Ford was introduced, it was not a success. When we have been doing the same thing for 100 years with internal combustion engines and we switch technology after a century, it is quite normal that we have adjustment of technology, of consumer habits and of markets, and the position that has been taken by our neighbour to the south has affected this. We have seen delays in most of the projects in the G7, but I still believe in investing in the electric stack and in making sure that we have the ecosystem to build a car—”
“We can build the country; eliminate tariff barriers between the provinces; invest in our sovereignty, competitiveness and innovation; build safe and resilient communities across the country; and take fiscal measures that ensure that new investments made in Canada today benefit from the lowest tax rate in the G7. Canada is still a leader. We have the second-highest growth in the G7. Canada's economic growth is twice that of our counterparts in Europe, twice that of Great Britain—”
“Madam Chair, I can imagine how pleased the people of Beauport—Limoilou are to hear their MP speak this evening. The Habs are not playing this evening, so I presume that a lot of people are watching their MP tonight. He is doing a great job. It is clear that, as the former president of the Chambre de commerce et d'industrie du Québec, he understands the issues. He is right. That is one thing that sometimes bothers me about my opposition colleagues. They forget that we are trying to navigate very uncertain economic times. The IMF publishes an uncertainty index. Right now, the level of uncertainty is almost as high as it was after the Second World War. We are living in uncertain times. I think that, in times like these, we need to focus on what we can control, as the Prime Minister so rightly said. What can we control?”
“Pressure has started to ease in major cities on house prices, as well as on the cost of housing. I would like to congratulate my colleague on the speech he gave today in the House. It was a speech that demonstrated just how well he understands the issues that matter to the people in his constituency, to the people of Quebec City, but also to Canadians as a whole.”
“That is why Build Canada Homes is going to play an important role, because we do need to build more housing, but what we really need to do is build more affordable housing. We know that housing is the first pillar of affordability for families. People need to be able to find safe, affordable housing that is within their financial means and that is suited to their family's needs. I would like my colleague to know that I think he has a very good grasp of the reality, namely that housing has been the priority. The 2025 budget includes generational investments. If we look at the total investments the government is making in housing for the five-year period from 2026-27 to 2030–31, we see that a total of $56 billion will be invested in various measures to help build more housing. We are already seeing results.”
“Madam Chair, in front of all the people of Quebec City who are watching us, I want to congratulate the member. I think that the people of Quebec City should be proud to have an MP like him. He has a strong grasp of the issues, not only in the greater Quebec City area and in the national capital, but also as the former president of the Quebec City chamber of commerce and industry. He is obviously someone with extensive knowledge of important issues and economic matters. He spoke to a very important issue, the housing issue. This is true in Quebec City, true across Quebec, and true across the country. We know that housing is one of the pillars of affordability. I know my colleague understands that. That is why we have made generational investments.”
“Madam Chair, my colleague will be pleased to learn that we have invested several billion dollars to support workers during these challenging times. My colleague knows this very well, as he is from Quebec. We have seen many industries affected by the unfair tariffs imposed by our American neighbours. The government's response was to help our workers and our industries, particularly Quebec's lumber and aluminum industries. I think that my colleague should acknowledge what we have done to help workers.”
“Madam Chair, as members are well aware, the Ethics Commissioner is independent from the government. He is an officer of Parliament who does the important job of advising my colleagues here and fulfilling that role. The Ethics Commissioner has the resources he needs to fulfill his important role in our democracy.”
“Madam Chair, what this means is that everyone can find ways to improve efficiency. As I believe I have said, citizens have been tightening their belts for quite some time. It is only natural that we also ask federal institutions to tighten theirs. I know my colleague is familiar with a tool called technology. There are technologies available today that allow us to do things better and faster. We are often able to achieve efficiency gains like the ones we found at Statistics Canada.”
“On the contrary, Madam Chair, I would say that this government is making significant investments. More than $50 billion was allocated in the last budget. The amounts that we discussed with our provincial counterparts were mentioned. My colleague will be pleased because I have a confession to make tonight: At Quebec's request, we have even decided to invest in health infrastructure, which was a request—”
“Madam Chair, I believe it is common knowledge that there is a connection between this company and me. What I can say is that this government is proud to be making generational investments in infrastructure from coast to coast to coast. I believe my colleague has noted that some of the major projects we need to carry out across this country include investments in housing, investments in infrastructure and investments in innovation and productivity. That is exactly what we have done. On a cash basis, we are talking about close to $450 billion over five years. These are truly generational investments.”
“Madam Chair, obviously I object to the wording of my colleague's question. I believe the language goes far beyond his intention, but I will give him the benefit of the doubt. He knows that we will always be here to work in the best interests of all Canadians, including Quebeckers. I myself am proud to represent one of the largest ridings in Quebec, Saint-Maurice—Champlain. I want to salute the people of Saint-Maurice—Champlain who are listening to us tonight and thank them for allowing me to serve them here in Ottawa.”
“Madam Chair, I have an excellent relationship with my colleagues in the Quebec government, and this is one of the topics we are discussing. I can reassure my Bloc Québécois colleague that communications with the Government of Quebec are going very well. I have frequent discussions with my Quebec counterparts. We will continue to work in the interest of Quebeckers and all Canadians. I think that my colleague should be reassured this evening to know that the Minister of Finance is on very good terms with his colleagues in Quebec City.”