Finance Committee on Oct. 31st, 2011

[David Raven]

Frankly, I'll talk to anybody, and we have been on their lists with presentations for years. We take every opportunity we can to present this case.

[Cathy McLeod, Conservative, Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, BC]

Maybe do a little bit of a shift in terms of the highway, because it's certainly very clear what your questions and priorities are there. Certainly I know the communities in my area had enormous benefit from the stimulus funding in the last number of years, and from the gas tax that's now been made permanent.

Can you talk briefly, as a former mayor of a small town? I know some of those measures would have been extremely helpful, and I would ask for your comments in terms of how well the program moved. Did it move smoothly, did projects get underway quickly, and did it provide benefit to your communities?

[David Raven]

There's no question the gas-tax funding has been a tremendous boost to both of our communities as we've gone forward with it. Some of that funding has gone into what I would call maintenance on the highways and improving that access as we've gone through with it.

Bear in mind, this is the Trans-Canada and it's the gateway to those Asian markets: 6,000 vehicles a day, and 55% of that is heavy truck traffic crossing through there. Everything helps, but we need more.

[Cathy McLeod, Conservative, Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, BC]

I was thinking more generally of community infrastructure.

[David Raven]

Well, community infrastructure, I can itemize them again and again. I know the community of Revelstoke had $5 million in projects that we funded through that, all very necessary infrastructure pieces that we turned out.

[Cathy McLeod, Conservative, Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, BC]

But it really should have tackled some of the deficits that you might have had in the past.

A quick comment, and there may be time for a response in terms of the Canadian Boreal iIitiative. You talked about the industry, and they have taken great leadership. I have to also make comment on the green transformation fund. I look at the pulp mill in Kamloops, Domtar, which has now decreased emissions by 70%. They're feeding significantly into the grid--huge, huge dollars from green transformation.

[The Chair, Conservative, James Rajotte]

There is time for another round, so do you want to start this in another round?

[Cathy McLeod, Conservative, Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, BC]

No, that's okay.

[The Chair, Conservative, James Rajotte]

You have time for a second round.

[Cathy McLeod, Conservative, Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, BC]

I thought I had a minute. I didn't think I was at five minutes.

[The Chair, Conservative, James Rajotte]

You used up the minute. There is time for a second round. Let's come back to that. It is an important question.

Mr. Giguère, you have the floor for five minutes.

[Alain Giguère, NDP, Marc-Aurèle-Fortin, QC]

My question is for Mayor Raven.

The Federation of Canadian Municipalities submitted information to the committee indicating that the infrastructure deficit was $126 billion.

I sympathize enormously with your problem. You aren't the only ones in Canada. We have the same kind of problem in Quebec. I've heard the same kind of comments in the high north. I've heard them everywhere.

People need a major infrastructure budget. I can't believe there are still people who don't understand that infrastructure is an investment. Allowing infrastructure to deteriorate and to be destroyed to the point where it becomes dangerous and where people die is irresponsible, particularly when the money is there.

As mayor and representative of all mayors, what additional budget are you requesting in order to correct the situation immediately, not only in your constituency, but in Canada as a whole, where these kinds of problems are not being solved?

[David Raven]

Thank you very much.

This is our presentation on the Trans-Canada Highway, which is a joint federal-provincial responsibility. We have indicated that $150 million over a 10-year period would be a good start.

Within my city, I need another $50 million next week.

[Alain Giguère, NDP, Marc-Aurèle-Fortin, QC]

Ms. Benty, do you want to add anything?

[Christina Benty, Mayor, Town of Golden]

I would agree. There is no way that municipalities, just through property taxes, can bear the infrastructure deficit that is occurring in their communities.

The gas tax has been phenomenal for our community, and we have invested it in local infrastructure. But it is incredibly important to see additional dollars going into our crumbling infrastructure. We are talking about basics: water, roads, and sewers. These are everyday issues.

[Alain Giguère, NDP, Marc-Aurèle-Fortin, QC]

My next question is for the representative of the Fédération culturelle canadienne-française.

There has been a lot of talk about Radio-Canada. For political reasons, Radio-Canada has become increasingly commercial and has to conceal its commercial secrets. That is particularly the case if it does not want to lose a significant portion of its advertising funding.

The committee has heard from a representative of the Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne du Canada. She said that Radio-Canada was all well and good and very interesting, but she would like to have a little more local content. She wanted a little more local news and programs produced in the field, which was not happening as a result of financial restrictions.

Can you tell us a little more about that?

[Éric Dubeau]

That's a comment that very much concerns my members and my members' members, as well as all those who live and work in Canada's francophone communities.

A Calgary resident who tunes in on radio isn't interested by a news program that starts by talking about the Champlain Bridge. I say that with all due respect and affection for my francophone counterparts in Montreal.

In my opinion, that's an opportunity that our Radio-Canada friends have missed. It's at least an opportunity on which they could build. In other words, if they improved their local content, on the local stations in particular, they would link Radio-Canada with people in the field who currently have no voice or place there.

These are obviously issues that we regularly address with our Radio-Canada contacts.

[Alain Giguère, NDP, Marc-Aurèle-Fortin, QC]

I have an important supplementary question. Even when it sells advertising space to the private sector, Radio-Canada has a national mandate to guarantee Canadian unity and to serve the Canadian will. The idea is to provide French-language services to the rest of Canada as much as it is to provide English-language services to Quebec.

From that perspective, is it really important to reinvest on a massive scale so that those services are matched in the local communities?

[Éric Dubeau]

I believe I just answered you.

There is an opportunity to build on what's already in place. For example, we could hear more of our artists on Radio-Canada's airwaves. We could have more opportunities to bring people together based around local stations.

These examples concern the case of Canada's francophone community. I won't speak on behalf of my English-language counterparts in Quebec.

[Alain Giguère, NDP, Marc-Aurèle-Fortin, QC]

Thank you very much.

I didn't exceed the five minutes allotted to me.

[The Chair, Conservative, James Rajotte]

We'll now go back to Mrs. Glover.

[Shelly Glover, Conservative, Saint Boniface, MB]

Thanks to all of you for being here. It's a pleasure to see you here.

I'll speak English first and then I'll switch to French.

I'm going to do a bit of cleanup. I'm pretty passionate about the things that have happened with this government over the last little while. We put almost $60 billion toward the stimulus package that the folks across the way voted against. I want to make it clear that when the finger-pointing starts in committee like this, I'm sorry, but I've got to clean up the mess. You can't speak out of both sides of your mouth. You have to support it when we put infrastructure dollars forward. You can't make it up that you're going to support it next time when you didn't support it the first time.

I am very pleased to see some of the work that's been done in your community. I've been told about it, and I thank you for the recommendation today to do more.

When it comes to life-and-death situations, no party is more on board. I thank you for making your presentation, because I know it's difficult to admit that you may be going to funerals of people you know very well.

We've heard you, and I want to reassure you there is a second plan for the Building Canada fund. Right now we are consulting through our minister to develop a long-term vision for that plan. I don't want the committee to ignore the fact that this on the table, and I do want to reassure you of that.

I want to speak with Mr. Dubeau for a moment.

I essentially want to thank you for mentioning Saint-Boniface. I'm the member for that constituency. The Centre culturel franco-manitobain has received funding from our government—unprecedented funding—to build a theatre for the Le Cercle Molière company. That funding has really been well received.

I also just wanted to assure you that we are still standing by our commitments under the Roadmap. You have a recommendation for the government to remain committed to supporting the official language minority communities. I'm telling you we're doing that.

That's why we've invested $1.1 billion in the Roadmap, which, I repeat, is an unprecedented amount.

Can you give us an example of a previous government that put more money into either francophone arts and culture through instruments such as the Roadmap, or into Radio-Canada?

[Éric Dubeau]

It's a pleasure for me to answer no. And I want to congratulate you on that.

This is something that is increasingly being pointed out in our communities. There has been a historic investment. I'm going to take the liberty of emphasizing that Minister Moore has reminded us that the Government of Canada, led by Prime Minister Harper, was the only government in the world that had doubled or increased its investment in arts and culture in the middle of an economic crisis.

I want to compliment and congratulate you on that.

[Shelly Glover, Conservative, Saint Boniface, MB]

Thank you very much.

I want to repeat, in committee, that the opposition voted against both measures. So no one can come into committee and have it both ways.

I'm also really concerned about Radio-Canada's transparency and accountability. When you spend taxpayers' money, there is a responsibility to respond to requests for access to information concerning expenditures. Personally, that's not a problem for me.

I have always supported measures in favour of minority communities; that's for sure.

What could we do to improve Radio-Canada's accountability? Do you have any concerns on that topic?

[Éric Dubeau]

I would encourage you in that direction for the simple reason that Radio-Canada is a big, complex and important corporation, as you all know. At times it can be a major challenge to have get accurate picture of the amounts granted and how they are allocated. I am saying that with some generosity. I believe Radio-Canada's officers are doing what they can, in the circumstances, to be transparent and to maintain that transparency.

In our brief, we encourage the government to give Radio-Canada an even stronger mandate with regard to the Canadian francophonie. You could tell its officers that a portion of its investments and grants should be directed to its obligations toward Canada's francophone community. In my view, that's an approach that might encourage and promote enhanced transparency.