Chuck Strahl

[Infrastructure, November 4th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, we have been talking about it for months, but I just received the information two days ago. That is why it is important that we go through this information. That is exactly what I asked for.

The Government of Quebec is working with us on that, which is excellent news. However, there are other questions we wonder about. We have been working on this for months. We have put hundreds of millions of dollars into Quebec. Why has the Bloc Québécois been opposed to every budgetary motion that we have brought forward? I do not understand. Why do those member not stand up for Quebec? Why do they not help us deliver the goods for Quebec?

[Infrastructure, November 4th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, I had a good meeting with Ms. Courchesne. In fact, she gave me that information two days ago.

As promised, now we have the information in hand. We had a very good meeting with Madame Courchesne and Monsieur Lessard. As usual, we have an excellent relationship with the Government of Quebec. Now that we have the data, we can go through it and work together to get a fair and reasonable way of dealing with the issues that she has raised with us.

[Infrastructure, November 2nd, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, what is clear, especially with the Preco projects in Quebec, is that Quebec itself put a December 31 deadline on it. I do not know exactly why. We always thought it should go to March 31.

I have corresponded with the ministers in Quebec and talked about my willingness to move the deadline to March 31, which I think would work well. We are getting more details and I am hopeful. At least, I have asked for more details from Quebec ministers so that we can be fair and reasonable, as we have said all along, as we address the problem. Without those details, it is hard to know the scope of the problem, so I am hoping those details are forthcoming.

[Quebec Bridge, October 28th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, we have been clear and people should be clear as well that the bridge to which they are referring is a bridge which CN says is safe. It has done an inspection on it. It claims that it is safe.

There are some outstanding court cases between CN and the federal government on some other matters. Some of those court cases have to run their course.

However, the travelling public can be sure the bridges are safe.

[Infrastructure, October 28th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is correct. The deadline is still five months away, which means that we have time to sit down together with the Government of Quebec to talk about ways to deal with the projects. We have already been working closely with the Government of Quebec.

About a week ago, in working with the Government of Quebec, I helped to re-profile some money for projects that it said just could not be done because there was not enough time. It said that it would rather do other projects. We said that if the Government of Quebec wanted to do that, then we could work together to make that happen. We have been working on that.

We will be fair and reasonable but we need that data. Just throwing out 30% numbers without any data is anecdotal.

[Infrastructure, October 28th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, I was before committee this morning and I was very clear. We have a good and respectful relationship with the Government of Quebec. The minister said as much in the national assembly this week.

I have communicated to the Government of Quebec that we are being very respectful of working through the provincial government, not directly with municipalities on these projects. That means that the Government of Quebec needs to give us the details of the Preco projects in particular, so that we can work together to find a fair and reasonable accommodation.

We are working well with the Government of Quebec and respecting both provincial and federal laws as we are doing so.

[Infrastructure, October 27th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, the good news keeps coming in. Now I hear there are shortages of workers. How much more creation of jobs can we do? We will continue down the same path: more jobs and more infrastructure projects.

I have already spoken to the Premier of Quebec. I have spoken to ministers Lessard, Hamad and others, saying we will be fair and reasonable. But the deadline is five months away. We are getting data and details from the Quebec government on the status of these different projects. We are working very closely with them.

In fact, in the National Assembly, the minister there said we are working closer together. He is very satisfied with our progress.

[Infrastructure, October 27th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the Auditor General for her analysis of the infrastructure program.

She said, “I would say I would give the government high marks for how they managed” this program.

She said, “I think officials deserve congratulations for rolling out such a major program quickly, without resorting to throwing [any] regulations or safeguards out”.

This program went out the door. It created hundreds of thousands of jobs in every part of this country. We are being fair and reasonable with the municipalities, but we can thank the finance minister , the former infrastructure minister and the government for making sure that this recovery has stayed in place.

[The Economy, October 26th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for Crowfoot for that excellent question.

Because of the government and the excellent work of the finance minister, Canada is leading the recovery with an economic and fiscal record that is stronger than any other industrialized nation.

We are responding to the global recession with an economic action plan that has created jobs and protects families.

Mr. Speaker, you might ask, what was the role of my seatmate in this as it was rolling? The role was this. Over 22,000 projects were rolled out, over 420,000 jobs were created and my seatmate, the former infrastructure minister and the current House leader, was in on every single one of them.

[Infrastructure, October 26th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, it is kind of cruel to hear these questions day after day when I have talked to the Premier of Quebec. I have told him we will be fair and reasonable.

I have talked to Minister Hamad. I said we will be fair and reasonable; just give us the data and let us know what the status of these projects is. I am still waiting for some of those details so that we can work together, as we have been with the province of Quebec and the proponents.

Many of these proponents have been rescoping the size of their projects. Some of them are finished and they are using the excess funds for new projects. We are happy to work with them.

It is all part of being fair and reasonable. The deadline is still five months away.