What is the total funding allocated by the government to the constituency of Lotbinière—Chutes-de-la-Chaudière between fiscal year 2006–2007 and the current fiscal year, broken down by (i) department or agency, (ii) activity, (iii) amount?
House of Commons photoLost his last election, in 2015, with 26% of the vote.
Questions Passed as Orders for Returns March 27th, 2012
What is the total funding allocated by the government to the constituency of Lotbinière—Chutes-de-la-Chaudière between fiscal year 2006–2007 and the current fiscal year, broken down by (i) department or agency, (ii) activity, (iii) amount?
Port of Québec March 6th, 2012
Mr. Speaker, the government gives us “words, words and more words”. I am beginning my response with lyrics from a French song sung by the late Dalida because, frankly, how can the Conservative government claim to recognize the strategic importance of the Port of Québec without taking any tangible action at all?
Oh yes. I forgot. It did agree to grant $1.8 million from the infrastructure stimulus fund for sufficient pump capacity in case of fire. But we are talking here about regular maintenance. The government has nothing to brag about. Installing this infrastructure was the very least the government could do to support the Port of Québec. To come back to Dalida, all the government offers is “words, words, words”.
It is all well and good to have legislation that recognizes the importance of a basic piece of infrastructure for our country, but if the infrastructure is merely mentioned in the legislation and no resources are allocated to it, we cannot achieve results. Given the trust the people in the Quebec City region have placed in me as an elected member of Parliament, I refuse to work for nothing and insist that tangible improvements be made to the Port of Québec, which has enormous needs. Although part of the port may be protected against fire, the wharves are crumbling. If the port were a house, the windows would be leaking and the doors would no longer close. As with the Prime Minister's residence, the Conservatives prefer to neglect the issue and spend all their time talking. On our side, we are proposing tangible support for this important piece of infrastructure.
I am against the approach the government proposed, saying that the players have to get involved. While in Canada we are seriously neglecting support, maintenance and development of our fundamental infrastructure, other countries in the world like Brazil, China or even the United States, which are dealing with much bigger economic problems than we are, are investing massively in infrastructure. They do not look at the costs of developing and maintaining basic infrastructure, such as ports, as a burden. They look at them as an investment in the future, a legacy to be left to the people around us, to our children and our grandchildren.
The Port of Québec has been a typical port in the Ontario-Quebec continental gateway for decades. It has been neglected and abandoned. How can we continue to tolerate this?
Given the current government's high-handed attitude toward those who come looking for handouts, it is embarrassing to think that the Port of Québec will likely not be able to handle the new influx of goods under the projected Canada-Europe free trade agreement. As an elected representative of the Quebec City region, that is something I refuse to accept.
It is truly a shame to see Canada in general miss the boat when it comes to the infrastructure upgrades needed to position our country in the community of nations after years of negligence. It is not just this government during its six-year mandate, but also previous governments that thought it was good management to cut budgets and leave the problems to future generations.
On May 2, 2011, the Quebec City region did not accept words without action. The Quebec City region will continue to reject empty words.
I hope I have managed to get the members opposite to listen to reason. I hope they were listening. I presume so, because I have a lot of respect for them, just as I do for all the people in my riding.
I invite all hon. members of this House to do something practical and exemplary for the country and all of its ports.
Business of Supply March 5th, 2012
Mr. Speaker, let us look at the situation as it currently stands. This government has increased costly tax measures, sometimes by tens and sometimes by hundreds of millions of dollars, for a total of billions of dollars. And that does not include cuts to the GST and corporate taxes. In total, tens of billions of dollars in taxpayers' money is wasted every year, which allows this government to create one artificial crisis after another. The treatment of veterans is an artificial crisis created by this government.
Considering the delays in processing veterans' claims and considering the current system's many shortcomings, will my colleague not vote with us to defend maintaining the current budget at least, if not possibly even increasing it? At the very least, the current budget needs to be maintained in order to avoid cuts.
Business of Supply March 5th, 2012
Mr. Speaker, after listening to the hon. member's speech, I must admit it never ceases to surprise me. In any case, the Conservatives constantly display some hysteria—we might even say they illustrate and add colour—in launching witch hunts they justify as an attempt to cut red tape. I have seen the same thing when it comes to small businesses and another hon. member from this government. At the end of the day, they are sweating the small stuff and completely ignoring the bigger picture at the expense of our veterans.
After his speech, will the hon. member please stop distracting us from the main issue, which is truly to take care of our veterans with tangible actions? In other words, will he listen to the NDP's proposals instead of focusing on problems that do not really exist?
Provincial Powerchair Football Tournament March 5th, 2012
Mr. Speaker, on Saturday, February 25, the second annual provincial powerchair football tournament was held in Quebec City at the Centre communautaire des Chutes in the Beauport area. The local team, the Éclairs du Pivot, hosted the following three teams in a tight competition: the Saint-Jérôme Pitbulls—this year's champions—the Montreal Juni-Sport and the Dragonniers from the Madelaine-Bergeron school in Quebec City.
Powerchair football is soccer for people who use power wheelchairs. The event gave the athletes in attendance the opportunity to excel and compete against participants with disabilities from across Quebec and thereby build mutual respect.
Véronique Denis, honorary chair of the tournament, uses a wheelchair and is a member of the Pivot board of directors. She said, “I believe that all the athletes and organizations like Le Pivot are proving to society that people with disabilities have a place and that it is possible to achieve great things together”.
Ms. Denis, I wholeheartedly agree.
Business of Supply March 5th, 2012
Mr. Speaker, I must congratulate my colleague from Québec on her speech and her hard work together with my colleague from Sackville—Eastern Shore on the veterans file. Our veterans feel terribly abandoned and neglected. That is a disgrace.
This is not the only area in which the government has been negligent and adopted questionable tactics. Consider seniors, who are so swiftly referred to websites even though they do not have Internet access. They also have a hard time figuring out which of the various programs apply to them.
It gets worse. All of this window dressing is just another way for the government to avoid providing services. The government wants everyone to see that services are available, but it does not help people benefit from those services. What does my colleague think of that?
Service Canada March 2nd, 2012
Mr. Speaker, we knew this government was refusing to provide answers; now we know that it is trying to censor the questions.
This summer, the Minister of Industry went around his riding bragging about how he lobbied to steal Service Canada jobs for his riding. A successful centre from Rimouski is being transferred to Thetford Mines, in the minister's riding; what a coincidence. When one of my colleagues asks legitimate questions about the minister's role in all this, he files a formal demand against my colleague.
Let us be clear: the Conservatives will never succeed in muzzling the NDP. The minister will never succeed in preventing us from asking questions that show the extent to which patronage and Duplessis-style politics are poisoning that party. The Minister of Industry is going to have to stop hiding behind his lawyers and start telling the truth to Quebeckers, who find his actions to be unacceptable.
Financial Literacy Leader Act March 2nd, 2012
Mr. Speaker, I wish to congratulate my hon. colleague on her speech on such an important topic.
In my speech yesterday on the same topic, I spoke at length about the government's reprehensible abandonment, which Bill C-28 will definitely not resolve. What really troubles me is that, because of this abandonment, and because of the complexity of the financial products coming on the market more and more, many people have become victims of their own lack of knowledge and inability to face the music.
Is the government not trying to heap blame on the very people who are likely to lose out here, who will become victims of abuse of these products?
Financial Literacy Leader Act March 1st, 2012
Mr. Speaker, I congratulate my colleague from Vaudreuil-Soulanges for making his speech very relevant. I would also like to reassure him right away. Although he had an unfortunate experience with his RESP, he is not less intelligent than the average person. Mr. Rousseau, the former CEO of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec and a former CEO of the Laurentian Bank, also admitted that he does not understand the ultra-sophisticated savings products that led to the 2008 crisis.
Now the government is introducing a defined contribution pension plan, which also has pitfalls similar to those of the product central to my colleague's unfortunate experience. What does he think of the government's ability to assess financial literacy? Is it qualified to do so?
Financial Literacy Leader Act March 1st, 2012
Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague from Nickel Belt, because that is a very pertinent question. He would not believe how pertinent it is.
In addition to creating a somewhat phoney position—perhaps my interpretation is a bit harsh; I will let God be the judge of that—I think the main objective of this bill is to serve the government's fondness for self-promotion. The bill is so devoid of any substance that, apart from forming the foundation of a marketing ploy, like other monumental projects the government has developed for its own self-glorification, I really do not see how this could help ordinary Canadians in any way. That is what is utterly shameful. The government is going to waste public money not only to create the position, but also, no doubt, to launch a multi-million dollar ad campaign to tell us how wonderful the government is for creating this position, which will basically be useless.