Denis Blanchette

[Canadian Museum of History Act, May 22nd, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for his excellent speech. He really put things in perspective this evening.

I, myself, am from Quebec City, where all of the people in the archeology unit, all 43 of them, were laid off. In addition, the government is planning to relocate five million artifacts from Quebec City to Gatineau. I have a hard time believing the goal is to get them into more museums. That does not make sense.

I would like my colleague to comment on that. I get the sense that the government wants to take Canada's history out of its global context and focus on something overly local.

[Committees of the House, May 21st, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I really liked my colleague's conclusion. This leads me to raise what I think is a relevant point. Employment insurance included funds allocated for training. These funds were drained. A separate program was created and announced, but no agreement has been reached with the provinces. This did not stop the government from advertising the program.

I would like my hon. colleague to continue talking about a broader and more inclusive vision in terms of not only job training but also skills development for the jobs of tomorrow.

[Nuclear Terrorism Act, May 10th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for his speech.

He mentioned some important aspects of life in the nuclear era, his primary focus being the safe storage of nuclear materials. I agree that safe storage is not the main purpose of the bill; however, if we want to reduce the risk, then safe storage is a key component of all the actions taken by countries that want to restrict access to nuclear materials for malicious purposes.

I would like the hon. member to elaborate on what he thinks about safe storage, which is a part of prevention. We cannot just implement repressive measures. We must also promote prevention.

I would like my colleague to comment on that.

[Nuclear Terrorism Act, May 10th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his speech. The bill allows us to honour international conventions. However, it did take quite some time to deliver a relatively simple piece of legislation to align our domestic laws with international agreements.

I would like to hear what the member has to say about how slowly Canada has moved to ensure compliance with the international conventions it signed.

[Nuclear Terrorism Act, May 10th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for her speech. I am sure the government finds it disconcerting to know that it cannot always say one thing and do another. Could the member talk some more about how the government should change its view on international treaties, so that we can do more and move faster to crack down on these dangerous devices?

[Privacy, May 2nd, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives really should take the risk of identity theft more seriously. The privacy breaches that have occurred at the Department of Public Works and Government Services have affected no fewer than 348,061 people over the past 10 years. This department alone is responsible for one-third of the violations of Canadians' privacy.

Does the Minister of Public Works and Government Services have a plan to stop the privacy leaks that have been occurring in her sieve of a department?

[Strengthening Military Justice in the Defence of Canada Act, April 30th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for her speech.

How odd for the government to complain that we are taking too long to pass this bill, given that it has been working on the bill for so long and especially given that it is the one controlling the legislative agenda.

My colleague mentioned a very important point. Despite the fact that the LeSage report was adopted more than a year ago, we have yet to see any response to the report. The fact is that we are supporting this bill even though it is just a small step in the right direction.

Could my colleague talk about how eliminating criminal records will affect military personnel?

[National Defence, April 26th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, we still have no explanation from the Minister of National Defence about why soldiers in Mazar-e-Sharif receive less danger pay than soldiers posted in Kabul.

The minister is so determined to abdicate his responsibility for this fiasco that a press release was issued stating that the government is not to blame.

If I have understood correctly, the government is saying that a government decision is not the government's fault and it is quoting the government to prove it.

When will we get a real explanation?

[Shell Eco-marathon and National Volunteer Week, April 26th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I want to congratulate the mechanical engineering team at Laval University on winning the Shell Eco-marathon Americas, held in Houston from April 4 to 7. The team beat its own fuel efficiency record with 1,525 kilometres per litre.

I also want to talk about National Volunteer Week. Every year, 13.3 million Canadian volunteers give 2.1 billion hours. This year's theme is “Everywhere for everyone”. In Quebec, there are 2.4 million volunteers who give 310 million hours. Fifty-four percent of people between the ages of 15 to 24 volunteer their time. On the evening of Saturday, April 6, at Laval University, in the middle of their exam period, I dropped the puck at a hockey-a-thon organized by medical students. Twelve teams played all night long, and one brought home the ultimate prize. The following morning, these young people gave the money raised to the Fondation de l'autisme de Québec. We can only imagine what our community would be like if not for this generosity.

[Quebec City Artifacts, April 24th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, after 43 Parks Canada employees were laid off, some five million artifacts are still being stored improperly. For nearly a year now, we have been asking the Conservatives about this utter mismanagement of artifacts in the Parks Canada heritage collection. They still have done nothing to rectify the situation. Yet the minister did tell the House that he had begun a dialogue with Quebec's minister of culture at the time.

What happened to that dialogue? When will the artifacts be stored properly in Quebec City?