House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2021, with 54% of the vote.
Air Transportation November 16th, 2016
Mr. Speaker, of course many airports in Canada do not have security screening services. The Sherbrooke airport is one example.
As we have said very clearly, the Sherbrooke airport can equip itself with such a system, but it must do so at its own expense. This is available to all airports that wish to have such a system. That has been our position for a very long time.
Port of Québec November 16th, 2016
Mr. Speaker, the Port of Québec is dear to my heart. I was born in Quebec City and its port is important. We are working on this file and when we have something to report, we will do so.
The Environment November 16th, 2016
Mr. Speaker, the reason we chose Groupe St-Pierre is that we want to get rid of the Kathryn Spirit as quickly as possible. It has been there for five years, and it is time to take action. The previous government did not deal with this issue, but we will. We will pay $7.9 million to build an embankment to isolate the ship from the St. Lawrence River. In the spring, we will put out a tender for the ship's dismantling.
The Environment November 16th, 2016
Mr. Speaker, I would highly encourage my colleague across the way to read what we said in the oceans protection plan, because there is some very clear indication there, with respect to derelict and abandoned vessels, of a large number of initiatives that we are going to make in order to make owners accountable; also working with the provinces and territories as part of the mechanisms to clean up and, also in the long term, begin the process of cleaning up these hundreds of wrecks that are on our three coasts.
Infrastructure November 16th, 2016
Mr. Speaker, I do not know where my colleague is getting those numbers. I will say that we are investing $182 billion in infrastructure over the next 12 years.
According to the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, our infrastructure deficit is between $600 billion and $1,000 billion. We need to invest in infrastructure. The government is going to do a lot, but we also want to leverage this bank in order to create other investments in infrastructure. It is the right thing to do.
Infrastructure November 16th, 2016
Mr. Speaker, I do want to talk about something the hon. member said, and that is our credit rating. It is the best in the G7. That is a fact. That is good news.
I also want to say again that we have committed to an unprecedented investment in infrastructure of $182 billion over the next 12 years. This is something that our municipalities across the country have been asking for for a very long time.
We are the government that is acting on that. This is a solid plan for green, public transit, and social infrastructure. Canadians are very pleased with our decision to invest in infrastructure.
Infrastructure November 16th, 2016
Mr. Speaker, yes, I am going to stand up and remind my colleague that in our economic statement this fall, we set aside $2 billion for rural communities. On top of that, we are making significant investments in infrastructure.
This infrastructure bank will enable us to increase our infrastructure investments in number and in scope. Canadians want modern infrastructure. This creates jobs and helps keep our economy competitive.
Infrastructure November 16th, 2016
Mr. Speaker, actually, this government is doing something the previous government never even dreamed or thought of doing. We are doing something that is going to be extremely important for this country, and we are going to get the details right. What this will do is to leverage private sector funding to build infrastructure in this country, which is something the previous government did not do. It will create jobs. It will be good for the economy.
The private sector wants to get involved. What is so difficult to understand about that?
Infrastructure November 16th, 2016
Mr. Speaker, it is always a pleasure to talk about our historic involvement in creating more infrastructure in this country than has ever been created before, $181 billion over the next 12 years.
Yes, we will have green infrastructure, social infrastructure, public transit infrastructure, rail-trade corridor infrastructure, and yes, we will have a bank. That bank will leverage more investment from the private sector and that will create more infrastructure, which Canadians want. It will create jobs. It is good for the economy. What has the opposition got against infrastructure?
Marine Transportation November 15th, 2016
Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for South Shore—St. Margarets for her advocacy, particularly with respect to abandoned and derelict vessels.
Our government is committed to improving marine safety as well as the safety of shipping on all our three coasts. It is also providing economic opportunity.
We were very proud to announce a week ago the oceans protection plan, a $1.5 billion investment over the next five years. This is good for our coasts for generations to come. We are very happy we have involved our indigenous communities, coastal nations, as well local communities on our coasts.