Mr. Speaker, before I continue, I would like to thank members of the opposition for their helpful interventions here today.
As I said, in 2010, the Port of Québec received $1.8 million from the infrastructure stimulus fund for sufficient pump capacity in case of fire and a distribution network to pump water from the liquid cargo storage terminals located in the Beauport area of the port. This accounted for 50% of the total cost of the approximately $3.8 million project. Federal programs are already in place, and the Canadian port authorities can submit their projects for approval in the areas of sustainability, safety and infrastructure.
What our NDP colleagues are asking for, therefore, is already in place. What is unfortunate is that each time we have made these investments, the New Democrats have opposed them. Why are they rising now in the House and calling for bigger grants when they opposed these investments in the past?
Why are the New Democrats doing this? Because regardless of how much the government spends, their socialist ideological bent is such that the New Democrats think that it is never enough. In fact, the workers at the Port of Québec and across Quebec and Canada would not be able to pay the taxes required to fund all the spending demands made by the New Democrats on a daily basis.
What the NDP needs to understand in all of its demands for more spending and more government in every single area is that the government cannot give anything without first taking it away. Every day that NDP members stand in the House of Commons and demand more spending on every single varied priority, they would first have to take that money out of the pockets of the hard-working Canadians who earned it.
Our view is that a dollar in the hands of the person who earned it is always better spent and invested than a dollar in the hands of the politician who taxed it.
Therein lies the distinction between the far left represented by the NDP and the centrist position that we take, which favours Canadian taxpayers. We will continue to take that strong position.
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak about this extremely important subject.