Madam Speaker, I must agree with the member for Outremont about the future of the Quebec Bridge as well as with the motion from my Bloc Québécois colleague, the member for Louis-Hébert.
The Quebec Bridge has become a major issue for the latter member's riding, given what it represents. It is a recognized historic monument because of its engineering and construction. It is a cantilever bridge. It is also recognized as a main artery between the south and north shores.
When the Liberals were in power, the rust that is damaging the bridge was not taken care of. It was painted, but not with the right products. That has led to more rust and catastrophic deterioration. Not only is a historic monument being neglected, so is a main artery between the north and south shores.
The Conservatives are doing the same thing the Liberals did—hiding behind a legal battle between CN and the government.
For example, the bridge could be taken back and the restoration work done immediately and then an agreement could be reached with CN. It does not matter whose responsibility it would be; we just need action. The Liberals did not act. And no one is acting now.
We are talking about the Quebec Bridge. I do not want the member for Lévis to come to me saying that they had built a monument or that they had put money into the Quebec City airport. That is not what we are talking about. This is something else. We are talking about the Quebec Bridge. We will do our best to keep them from changing the subject tonight. The Conservatives have nothing to say right now and that is why they are trying to dazzle people with talk about the other investments they have made.
Yesterday morning we learned that the lead in the bridge's paint is running into the river and that the runoff beneath the bridge contains up to 76 times more lead than standards allow. That is a consequence of allowing so much rust to accumulate on the bridge. I find it ironic that a federal law forbids dumping any harmful substances into the river, yet the Conservatives are the ones responsible for doing just that.
Instead, they should take the bull by the horns and agree to repair it. Then when the time comes to negotiate with CN, they can try to recover the funds from CN, which is an irresponsible owner. We have known that for some time. The bridge has been left to deteriorate and everyone is hiding behind legal procedures.
They did the same thing regarding Shannon. They even wanted to challenge the class action suit in the case of Shannon, because they do not want to pay the price or assume their responsibilities. Yet that, too, is a question of pollution. The Department of National Defence polluted the waters of Shannon.
In the past, maintenance was done on the bridge every five years. That is no longer the case. The member for Lévis—Bellechasse was saying earlier that we are being told that the bridge is safe, that it poses no problem and there is no danger. As the member for Outremont was saying earlier, we believe CN, but considering the promises it made regarding maintenance for the bridge, we now see that it has been an irresponsible owner.
If not for the motion put forward by my colleague from Louis-Hébert, we would not be talking about the Quebec Bridge here today. The Quebec Bridge would continue to be ignored.
One might have expected to see some funds allocated to restoring the bridge in the last budget. As we saw, funds were given to other provinces and to Montreal for the maintenance of certain bridges. I am not saying that money should not have been invested. There are five Conservative members in the region and even they were not able to get any money or to lock in the funding that would immediately correct the situation.
I do not know if the member for Lévis—Bellechasse will speak to this issue, but I would really like to hear from him regarding the future of the Quebec Bridge.
How much money will the Conservative government invest? What will it decide regarding its position on the bridge?
It is before the courts, and we are waiting. I have been in this House since 1993 and for at least 15 years I have been hearing about problems with the Quebec Bridge. Neither the Liberals nor the Conservatives have been able to find the right solution for the Quebec Bridge. Meanwhile, the bridge is deteriorating. It is a historic monument and has been recognized by experts as an extraordinary example of this type of bridge.
The Conservative government has greatly disappointed us in a number of files in the region. I also remember the plans to locate public servants in D'Estimauville, in the Beauport—Limoilou sector.
The entire Quebec City region, including the Chamber of Commerce and all leaders in the area, was mobilized. The Conservatives did not want to take action and the member for Beauport—Limoilou was not even at the press conference. She had to be pushed hard. In addition, there were three calls for tenders, and a great deal of time and money was wasted to finally get a “yes” out of the Conservatives.
When you want the Conservatives to take action, you have to put pressure on them. However, when they make a decision, they make three or four announcements. They organize press conferences to announce the same amount of money that had been announced one or three months before, but with delays of several years.
If a decision is not made immediately, it will cost a great deal more. And not just because of inflation. There is more and more rust on the bridge. Experts have examined the bridge and found that it is so highly corroded that it is going to be much more expensive to restore the bridge.
The member for Lévis—Bellechasse may be the last to speak and I would like him to speak about the Quebec Bridge. I do not want him to speak about anything but the Quebec Bridge. The motion is on the Quebec Bridge. I want him to stop listing the investments made in the Quebec City region and to stop saying that the Bloc does not want the region to grow. On the contrary, file by file, we are monitoring the future of the Quebec City region.
The member for Lévis—Bellechasse is laughing his head off, but I think he should be serious and show that the Quebec Bridge is important to him. I would like him to announce that the government is prepared to invest in restoring the Quebec Bridge. I urge him to look at the deterioration of the bridge. When the Conservatives were in opposition, they said they wanted to do better.
It does not look as if they are doing better for the Quebec Bridge. Or the Quebec City armoury, for that matter. It burned down two years ago. The government promised to rebuild it, but we do not know when that will happen; we have not heard a date. The government held public consultations. During the first consultation, they had to be backed into a corner for us to get information about the future of the armoury. Then a second consultation was held by a building expert, but this report was not made public. The government keeps everything secret and works in a vacuum. Quebec's national capital commission asked to be more involved in the issue, so that it could figure out how to adjust its development work in the area surrounding this historic focal point of Quebec City.
The Conservatives only do things their own way and they operate in a vacuum. We do not know where they are going. Perhaps the member for Lévis—Bellechasse will talk about the building in D'Estimauville. I can say that some mistakes were made, and three calls for tender were needed because no one knew what was going on and the criteria were extremely vague. It was not until two years later that any questions were answered. After the greater Quebec City region starting putting on the pressure, press conferences were even held on the subject.
I hope that the member for Lévis—Bellechasse will give us some good news about the Quebec Bridge. I hope he does not get too lost in his files, since tonight it is the Quebec Bridge we are talking about.