Mr. Speaker, I congratulate you on your appointment. I want to mention that I will be sharing my time with the member for Hull—Aylmer. I also want to congratulate all members of the House on winning their seats.

I am here today to support the Speech from the Throne. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the voters of Beauport—Limoilou for doing me the honour of choosing me as their member of Parliament. I will do everything in my power to live up to their trust.

Next, I want to thank all the volunteers who believed in me and in my election campaign. We certainly did not have a head start, but we took the time to talk to the people. I want to thank Jacques and Louis-Philippe.

I want to thank my family and especially my parents, Huguette and Paul-Émile, who instilled their values in me and made me the man that I am. I also wish to thank Mélanie, my partner in life, for her support. It is thanks to her that I am able to undertake this extraordinary commitment and embark on this amazing adventure.

I also want to acknowledge the people for whom I am here today: my four children, Christopher, Léa, Tristan-Olivier and Emma-Rose, and my two grandchildren, Jayden and Mason. The reason I ran for Parliament was to work to build a more prosperous Canada for them. I love them all very much.

I am the youngest of seven children raised on a dairy farm in a small village called Notre‑Dame‑du‑Lac in the Bas-Saint-Laurent region. I spent my childhood working on the farm, helping my father and siblings with the milking. Later, as a teenager, I followed my brothers into the bush, to work as a lumberjack until I was 25 years old.

At the age of 20, I became a father for the first time. I was plunged into a life full of challenges that I was not yet ready to face. At the banks, where I worked for two decades, I was lucky enough to be in a position to help people. I could help families, like my parents' family, become homeowners. Later, I had the opportunity to help entrepreneurs fulfill their dreams and create prosperity in our community. I fully understand the impact that uncertain times like these can have on the people in our communities.

I helped families who could no longer afford their mortgages. I helped business owners who felt they were at the end of their rope and were just days away from filing for bankruptcy. I took the helm of Quebec City's chamber of commerce and industry during the COVID-19 pandemic, when many business owners in the region did not know what lay ahead for their businesses. I know the value of things. That is why I was so deeply moved by the throne speech.

For me, the most important words in that speech were these: “the economy is only truly strong when it serves everyone”. In short, if we want to create economic value in a lasting way, we must do so in a way that respects our deeply held values. We also need to make sure no one is left behind. In short, this throne speech, which I have read, is a government road map that aligns perfectly with my personal values and with my ambitions for the Quebec City region.

We need to invest, not just spend. The throne speech we heard last week gives me confidence that the Quebec City region will not only make it through this period of uncertainty, but will emerge stronger than ever.

The government will quickly address an issue that is a huge problem in Beauport—Limoilou: the housing crisis. The plan is simple yet highly ambitious. The government is going to launch a massive homebuilding project in order to lower prices. The vast majority of first-time homebuyers will also save up to $50,000 in GST on homes at or under $1 million. That will help young people get onto the property ladder.

Earlier, I quoted this phrase from the throne speech: “the economy is only truly strong when it serves everyone”. That is why I am proud of the concrete measures our government has announced to directly improve people's lives. I am thinking in particular of the tax cut, which will put money directly into the pockets of the middle class. It will allow a couple to save over $800 and will benefit more than 22 million Canadian citizens. That is not to mention the popular existing programs that will be maintained and enhanced, such as child care, pharmacare and, of course, dental care.

With respect to economic development, the Quebec City region has been at the heart of the government's strategy for years. Thanks in particular to the work of my colleagues from Québec Centre and Louis‑Hébert, the Davie shipyard's future is secure. The Quebec bridge, a critical link and vital artery for Quebec City, is now owned by a government that sees its restoration as a priority. The government is also a key financial partner in Quebec City's strategic public transit project.

The work will continue. The throne speech signals a new era of growth for Canadians. In my discussions with the people of Beauport—Limoilou, one thing that often came up was the idea that economic development projects should not be pitted against each other. It is not either-or. We can build by saying “and” instead.

The same is true for the environment. The greatest challenge of our generation is to build a sustainable economy, an economy that respects our planet. Some would have us believe that we must choose between economic development and environmental protection. We can do both. There is no point in dividing people. We should work together to build for the long term.

I strongly believe that the Quebec City region has a major role to play in Canada's future. For millennia, my region has been a dynamic and essential trade hub. Quebec has always been and will always be the gateway to America. Having come to realize that our U.S.-centric supply chains are less secure than we thought, we are going to diversify our economy. Canada will increasingly look to Europe for its supply chains. My region was a builder yesterday and continues to be a builder today. It has always been a driver of prosperity for this country in the past, and that will not change.

In Mandarin, the word “crisis” consists of two ideograms. The first one means “danger”. We have certainly felt that over the past few months with our neighbour to the south. The second is “opportunity”. We are entering a period of opportunity. We have the opportunity to remove barriers to internal trade and labour mobility, which cost Canada as much as $200 billion each year, and the opportunity to create a major energy corridor and become an energy superpower. Let us seize every opportunity to make our country a G7 economic leader. The people in my riding of Beauport—Limoilou are proud of this and intend to work on helping our country flourish and building a strong and united Canada.

In closing, I am proud of my professional career, proud of the values that make me who I am today, proud of our government's ambitious vision for its citizens and proud to be here with all of my colleagues to build the strong and united Canada of tomorrow. The true north is indeed strong and free.

Steeve Lavoie