Madam Speaker, it is a great honour for me to speak about this issue, which is important to the people of greater Montreal and Quebec and all Canadians.
As the hon. member knows, our Conservative government has taken action on this file.
On October 5 of this year, the Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities, who sits in the seat in front of me, took leadership and announced in Montreal that our government would proceed with the construction of a new bridge across the St. Lawrence to replace the existing Champlain Bridge.
The Champlain Bridge is the busiest bridge in Canada, with over 100,000 people using it twice a day. It is also an important economic enabler for the Montreal region and, indeed, for all of Canada.
As an estimated $20 billion in goods cross the bridge each year, it is also a gateway and a major economic component of the continental gateway. It is a very important piece of infrastructure and we intend to see it replaced with a new plan.
The Champlain Bridge is safe at present but requires maintenance work. To that end, our Conservative government has invested $380 million in work to ensure the continued safety of the bridge. This money was allocated in the 2009, 2010 and 2011 budgets. I would like to remind the House that my colleague and his party voted against these measures. They opposed investments to maintain this bridge and now they are complaining about the poor condition of the bridge. It cannot be said, as the NDP is trying to say, that the bridge should have been better maintained, because the NDP has opposed all investments for that purpose.
It is important to understand that, with our government's continuing investments, the Champlain Bridge is safe and will remain safe until the end of its useful life.
That being said, it is clear that we need a plan to replace the bridge as it cannot be repaired and repaired in perpetuity. This infrastructure project will be one of the most important of the decade ahead. We are working to have the new bridge built as soon as possible, but as the hon. member knows, with a project of this magnitude, it is essential to ensure it is done correctly.
Our objective is to build the new bridge at no cost to taxpayers. Details will be studied, but our government clearly prefers a public-private partnership and implementing a toll to cover the cost of building the new bridge. The Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities and his team have been working on this file since their first day on the job. The minister has already initiated consultations in Montreal and on the south shore about this important project. We will continue to work on behalf of Montrealers, Quebeckers and all Canadians.