Transport Committee on March 21st, 2024

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Honoré-Mercier, QC]

I don't think he said that. Again, Mr. Strahl, he was very specifically referring to one project, which we call the troisième lien in the region of Quebec. We don't even know exactly where the actual government is on that, whether it's yes or no. We'll see that in the future, but we said that we would be there if there's public transportation.

We also recognize that Canada's very different. You have opportunities of public transportation in cities like mine or Toronto or other places. In rural regions, you don't have that same opportunity; people have to use their cars, and that's totally normal. We totally understand that reality, Mr. Strahl.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Schiefke]

Thank you very much, Mr. Strahl.

Mr. Iacono, the floor is yours for six minutes.

[Angelo Iacono, Liberal, Alfred-Pellan, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

In keeping with relevance, I want to say that Montrealers—including in my riding of Laval—are extremely happy when it comes to roads.

As you can see, the Samuel De Champlain Bridge was built, and it's toll-free. Also in my riding, the Pie-IX Bridge was just renovated. Furthermore, Autoroute 15 is being enlarged.

That is all thanks to our government, which acted diligently to invest in roads.

It's a pleasure to have you here today, Minister.

You mentioned that the national trade corridors fund was established by your government.

Would you please tell us how important a program such as the national trade corridors fund is and how it helps Canadians?

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Honoré-Mercier, QC]

Thank you for your question, Mr. Iacono.

It's an essential fund. I had the good fortune to be the parliamentary secretary to Amarjeet Sohi, who was Minister of Infrastructure and Communities when the project was brought forward, and I was therefore involved in the creation and introduction of that fund.

The fund plays an essential role with regard to supply chains as it helps facilitate the distribution of goods. We understand how important supply chains are, and we witnessed the consequences of dysfunctional supply chains during the pandemic.

We are investing strategically in ports, roads and level crossings. You have to view the supply chain in a more overall, unified and structured way. It has to be more fluid. One of the program's roles is to fund projects strategically in order to make those corridors much more fluid and resilient. Regardless of what the Conservatives say, climate change is having a real impact on our infrastructure, including road infrastructure. Consequently, we're making strategic investments.

[Angelo Iacono, Liberal, Alfred-Pellan, QC]

Thank you.

The Auditor General recently released a report on the national trade corridors fund, in which she praised the fund and made a few recommendations.

Would you please say a few words about the report's findings concerning the national trade corridors fund and what the government intends to do about the report's findings and recommendations?

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Honoré-Mercier, QC]

Yes, I can definitely tell you about that.

We discussed this last week. I had a chance to give a press conference with my colleagues Mr. LeBlanc and Ms. Hajdu because it touched on three points. So I had a chance to follow up on the report. We obviously thank the Auditor General and her team for their excellent work.

I would note that 213 projects were approved and financed by the fund, which plays a strategic role, and that 42 of those projects involved road infrastructure. So it can't be said that we aren't funding road projects.

The Auditor General essentially told us that the fund is working well, and she had two recommendations.

Projects are normally submitted to the group of experts or officials who work on the fund. They analyze them and approve some. They prepare a list and submit it to another committee. What the Auditor General said was that insufficient information had been provided when the projects were ranked. For example, no one knew why a particular project was rated 7.2 out of 10 while another was rated 7. Why the discrepancy? Projects should have been supported by more documentation, and we absolutely agree on that point. And that will be done.

The second recommendation was that there be better mechanisms for assessing results. Action had largely been taken to do this within the department at the time the Auditor General presented her recommendations. We wanted to ensure we were better equipped to assess the impact of those projects.

[Angelo Iacono, Liberal, Alfred-Pellan, QC]

Thank you.

The opposition party has told us that Canada is broken, but I can't say that's true since we're talking about 213 projects here.

How do those 213 projects affect the lives of Canadians?

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Honoré-Mercier, QC]

They affect their lives every day because they make for a more fluid corridor.

As I said earlier, you have to view these supply chains as being continuous. Since Canada is an enormous country, everything has to work well; everything has to circulate well. We have ports on Canada's east and west coasts. Air, rail and marine transport also play an extremely important role in transporting containers.

We have to make sure that funding for these projects is more fluid and resilient and makes it possible to transport those goods as fast as possible in order to cut costs as far as possible.

[Angelo Iacono, Liberal, Alfred-Pellan, QC]

So Canada isn't broken.

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Honoré-Mercier, QC]

Canada is absolutely not broken. We're very proud of our country.

[Angelo Iacono, Liberal, Alfred-Pellan, QC]

Thank you, Minister.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Schiefke]

Thank you, Mr. Iacono.

I now turn the floor over to Mr. Barsalou‑Duval.

Mr. Barsalou‑Duval, the floor is yours for six minutes.

[Xavier Barsalou-Duval, Bloc, Pierre-Boucher—Les Patriotes—Verchères, QC]

After the guy who says Canada isn't broken comes the guy who wants to break it.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[Xavier Barsalou‑Duval]

Minister, at the Trajectoire Québec conference on February 12, your colleague said, "…the analysis that we have done is that the network is perfectly adequate to respond to the needs we have."

I'd like to know if that analysis could be submitted to the committee so we can examine it too. I'm very curious to see what's in it.

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Honoré-Mercier, QC]

He'll be here. You can ask him.

[Xavier Barsalou-Duval, Bloc, Pierre-Boucher—Les Patriotes—Verchères, QC]

You haven't seen the analysis?

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Honoré-Mercier, QC]

I checked but don't have it here.

No, I haven't seen it.

[Xavier Barsalou-Duval, Bloc, Pierre-Boucher—Les Patriotes—Verchères, QC]

You haven't seen it. Do you know if it exists?

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Honoré-Mercier, QC]

You should ask him.

You're obviously referring to Mr. Guilbeault, who clearly stated that I was talking about the third link. So he was referring to a very specific project in that case.

[Xavier Barsalou-Duval, Bloc, Pierre-Boucher—Les Patriotes—Verchères, QC]

All right.

So you don't know whether it exists either.

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Honoré-Mercier, QC]

He'll be here.

[Xavier Barsalou-Duval, Bloc, Pierre-Boucher—Les Patriotes—Verchères, QC]

Yes, that's it. He'll be able to tell us.

Minister, we're discussing road projects, but we're also talking about funding alternatives to roads. Sometimes people say that there's little to choose from in those solutions and that we'll have to nudge people if we want them to switch from driving to public transit.

I'll tell you a little secret: I drove here this morning in an electric car. It's better.

There's unfortunately a lot of traffic when you drive to Ottawa from Quebec. I bet you're beginning to understand where I'm headed here.

There's a major project that's being supported by the people of Gatineau, Hull, Aylmer and all across the Outaouais who would like to see a light rail service built out to their door.

In August 2023, your colleague Greg Fergus said that an announcement was imminent and would be made in September of that year. It's now March, nearly six months later.

In November 2023, you yourself said that an announcement would be made "in a few weeks" and that "good news" was on the way. You said that good news would shortly be announced "regarding funding for studies and the rest of the project".

I'd like to know if you can announce that good news today for the continuation of the project, which everyone would like to see implemented to reduce traffic in the Outaouais region.

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Honoré-Mercier, QC]

My government and I hope so too.

As you know, Mr. Barsalou‑Duval, public transit is an absolute priority for us. We've made record investments. From what I understand, this is an equally important project for the Quebec government.

Yes, there's going to be good news. I may have gotten ahead of myself when I said "in a few weeks". I should have said it would take a little more time. However, talks are ongoing. I've discussed it face to face with Mr. Bibeau because preliminary studies will have to be conducted on the matter. We'll be there to fund those studies.

[Xavier Barsalou-Duval, Bloc, Pierre-Boucher—Les Patriotes—Verchères, QC]

So today you're announcing that there will be federal money for that project.