Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to rise on an issue so important for Quebec and the Laurentides-Québec area.
I am honoured to speak in the House after the prestigious performances of the hon. members for Trois-Rivières, for Lévis, for Québec, for Rimouski, and for Châteauguay, whom I wished to quote earlier because I intended to use the document he introduced
in the House, concerning this bill. I think he read a few paragraphs and I will insist on using the same document later on to support his argument which was so pertinent and which he presented in such an eloquent and elegant way.
As regards this bill and above all the group of motions we are studying, Group No. 11, the Liberal Party is proposing amendments which will change neither the content nor the intent of the law. The member opposite who has just arrived, the hon. member from New Brunswick, is said to take an interest in this bill only because he will vote along the party line.
I am disappointed and surprised-although I am not surprised to see Bloc members do their work, because they always do it well, with passion and accuracy-to realize that, in such an important debate, the Liberal Party did not manage to recruit even one member to present its position. They are ashamed of its position and it shows.
I understand why they look so sheepish over there. This bill is clearly indefensible. They are not taking part in the debate; their minister failed to get a single Liberal member to speak tonight in defense of their position, particularly on the motions in GroupNo. 11. This is rather surprising.
Liberal members are very disappointed. Especially those from Quebec, those who are directly concerned by the problem of harbours, the problem we have shown to be serious, for example with regard to navigational aids.
Now, these members know that this legislation lacks openness, like their party, like their leader. Also, every time we remind them of their promises, every time we point out they are not taking part in a debate as important as this one, they think of their red book, that they held up all the time on the campaign trail and that they are now trying to hide under their feet, because none of their promises has been kept.
Be it on the GST, on the transfer of copyright management from the Department of Industry to the heritage department, on their commitment to job creation programs, on the day care program, everything has been forgotten: the election is over. This is what Liberals always do, so this should come as a surprise to nobody.
However, we see in that party some sincere members who are frank enough to tell us outside the House how ashamed and disappointed this policy we are discussing today makes them.
Just imagine. It is impossible to foresee the economic impact of this bill on users. No assessment of the impact has been made. The bill has nevertheless been introduced in the House, and they said: We will just wait and see what happens. But everything the Liberals propose, whether constitutional or economic, always go wrong. What is to be blamed for the present deficit if not the Liberal policies of the past, more particularly from 1981 to 1984? Who has drawn us into this constant constitutional quagmire? The Liberal Party. And now, the Liberals are transferring the coast guard to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans without knowing for sure whether there will be an internal reform or whether the services of the coast guard are those users need, and without consultation of the users on the services they would like to have. It is quite surprising.
They made a presentation during the committee hearings the Bloc Quebecois called for, and witnesses said in so many words that the study made by IBI was a sham, a totally irrelevant exercise, as if they had studied the mating rites of the dodo bird instead of the problem of heavy cargo ships. Nothing in this bill is relevant to the services users really need.
These consultations were decried by all the participants. The government should have asked itself: "Why ask a private firm to consult the people, when we could do it ourselves, through a parliamentary committee that would be able, in a matter of just a few days, to meet with all the stakeholders, who could certainly make suggestions in the best interests of the people and the government, because of the savings they would entail, and in the interests of the users who, without having to face a fees increase, would be in a better position to compete against the port of Halifax and also the ports in the United States, and in particular, the port of Philadelphia, known for its very aggressive approach to recruiting new clients?"
We have a government that does not listen to anyone-as we can see on the constitutional issue in Quebec-in all the bills it has introduced, but this bill beats all.
We were told: "You can rely on us". In fact, they introduced a bill in which they said: "We transfer the Coast Guard to Fisheries and Oceans Canada. But wait until you see this, we will try to charge some new fees. Will it be 10 cents or a dollar? We do not know exactly, we will try something and take it from there". But if the whole economy collapses and we muddle the issue, what will happen? Will we be able to react? And what about the small businesses in my area, close to the port of Sorel, Fagen, for example, and the bigger companies, in the Bécancour industrial park, the largest industrial park in Canada, that all need adequate and modern services?
The Coast Guard really needs to evaluate its own services, especially when it comes to administrative costs. I am not talking here of boat crews but of administrative costs. This should be reviewed before any transfer is made, if it is ever made. There must be valid reasons to do this, like helping the users, who will in
turn better serve the people and save money while maintaining the competitiveness of the St. Lawrence ports.
These were the questions raised a little while ago by the hon. member for Trois-Rivières and the hon. member for Châteauguay, who quoted a letter released by the Quebec minister representing the views of not only the Quebec government but also the chairperson of the executive committee of the Conseil régional de développement de l'île de Montréal and Mr. Patrice Simard, who is the chairman of the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal. They all agree on the great threat this can be for the economy of Montreal. This is what these people who represent the economic interests of Greater Montreal are saying to the government and the government turns a deaf ear. There should be a limit to that kind of insults.
Why does the government not listen and not take the time to read the amendments proposed by the Bloc Quebecois? Why does it not postpone passage of this bill until the fall in order to hold quick consultations on these fees that will apparently have devastating effects? Actually, we will receive the first billing for signalling at the beginning of July. As for icebreaking and dredging, the fees could be astronomical, but the users will not have their say in selecting the services they wish.
The users are certainly willing to assume their share with regard to icebreaking, dredging and the setting up of the signals, but they want to do it at the lowest possible cost. And there is no guarantee for that. They know strictly nothing about the supplementary fees that will be charged. They have to take the risk without knowing the economic consequences. Consultation is lacking. Clearly, there is a self-examination to make regarding the methods used by the Coast Guard to manage the services and revise them in order to make them more efficient, modern and well suited to the present needs of the users.
Mr. Speaker, do I have the unanimous consent of the House to exceed the ten minutes at my disposal?