Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I would like to share my discomfort with the way things are going at the committee right now. For the past few weeks, we have been parading port representatives like a line of ballerinas, making them sing along to the Liberal song sheet to maintain the narrative that all the countries of the world will suddenly be fighting over goods produced here and exports will explode thanks to the “Carney effect”. Ports are not stupid: They cozy up to the government to get money to meet their needs. I can understand them.
What bothers me a little more is that the Port of Montreal is being portrayed as if it were soon about to be overwhelmed, when, in fact, that is far from the case. Actually, volumes at the port have been stagnating for 10 years. They have pretty much stalled. Recently, there has even been a downward trend. Therefore, what I'm wondering is this: Is the expansion of the Port of Montreal necessarily a national emergency? I'm not yet convinced of that.
What we're hearing is that Mark Carney the magician is going to change everything. We must not ask any questions, only trust him. We are told that everything will be fine. I get the feeling that, at the end of the day, what we're being asked to do is take a leap of faith. In Quebec, we've played that game before with people like Pierre Fitzgibbon, who gambled at the casino with public funds. They say they have a host of colossal projects, such as the Port of Montreal and the Alto HSR. Soon, it will be the turn of the pipelines. However, in the meantime, we have no figures and we have a government that is using creative accounting to hide its astronomical deficit.
The worst part is that, last week, I had the good fortune, so to speak, of seeing Mr. Carney and his gang show up in my riding without warning to announce an investment of $1.16 billion for the Contrecœur terminal. However, a few weeks ago, I warned MinisterMacKinnon that there were a lot of problems to solve: shoreline erosion, the abandonment of the Verchères wharf, the redevelopment of the rail line, which is a challenge for the people of Boucherville, and concerns about increased rail traffic. At the time, Mr. MacKinnon seemed to be acting in good faith by telling me that he would follow up and work with me to resolve these issues. Unfortunately, there was absolutely no follow-up. Instead, he showed up without warning. Let's say that things are off to a bad start in terms of co‑operation.
I have no illusions: I know that the Liberals intend to do whatever they want. Anyway, it's only a matter of time before they patch together a majority. However, I would still like to see the government act in good faith, and I think there's absolutely nothing preventing it from doing so. Before we blindly invest billions of dollars, can we at least have the assumptions and figures they are using to spend these public funds so that we can ask questions and verify them? At the end of the day, we just need to know what we're getting into. It seems to me that this is not too much to ask and that it is entirely reasonable.
What is even more worrisome is that we are plowing ahead with this project when we do not even know if we really need it. Maybe we do, maybe we don't, but I am not yet convinced. Meanwhile, there were three rather intriguing departures from the Port of Montreal management team. In March, the head of the Contrecœur terminal, Paul Bird, left his position. In April, just a week and a half ago, the CEO, Julie Gascon, seems to have resigned. We have no idea why she is no longer in her position. This morning, we learned that the chief financial officer, Alban Fournier, had left his position at the port. We have no idea what happened. That said, it seems to me that, when the pilot and his two co-pilots leave the plane in mid-flight, there is cause for concern. Personally, it worries me, and I think it should worry committee members as well. We should all be wondering what's going on at the port. I feel like there's a bit of a crisis.
Therefore, I have two motions to introduce today, and I would like to present them to committee members. The first motion reads as follows:
That the Canada Infrastructure Bank, or CIB, and the Montreal Port Authority, or MPA, provide the committee, within 30 days, with a copy of the financing agreement related to the $1.16 billion loan granted for the construction of the Contrecoeur terminal; that the CIB submit its risk analyses and financial assessments that led to the granting of the loan; and that the MPA table with the committee its calculation assumptions supporting the project's profitability, as well as a copy of its agreement with DP World once it has been finalized.
The second motion reads as follows:
That the committee invite the former head of the Contrecoeur terminal, Mr. Paul Bird, the former president and chief executive officer of the Port of Montreal, Ms. Julie Gascon, as well as the former director of finance of the Port of Montreal, Mr. Alban Fournier, to appear as part of the study entitled Supporting, Diversifying, and Modernizing Quebec and Canada's Ports.
I would now like us to deal with these motions.