Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise in the House in the middle of the night to address a subject that is extremely important to the people of Limoilou. In fact, this Sunday, June 2, many concerned citizens will be taking part in a demonstration on the streets of Limoilou to show their concern about this problem and their desire to come up with a solution. I will be joining them.
Before going any further and asking the Minister of Transport my question, I want to provide some context. On March 7, 2012, in the House, the Minister of Transport and his Conservative colleagues voted against a motion calling on the federal government to actively support the Port of Québec so that it could go ahead with renovations and upgrades of obsolete equipment that was falling into disrepair.
Unfortunately, as I mentioned, the Minister of Transport and his colleagues voted against the motion, which echoed CEO Mario Girard's heartfelt appeal. It is rather ironic that in his last reply to the question that I asked him in the House, the Minister of Transport said, unfortunately for Mr. Girard, that he had absolute confidence in the CEO of the Port of Québec and also in the chair of the board of directors, Mr. Éric Dupont.
The Minister of Transport is all talk and has done nothing tangible to support the port authorities and help them face the challenges posed by the decrepit state of the Port of Québec and the renovations required.
There is a clear, logical progression between the motion I moved in the House nearly two years ago in support of the Port of Quebec and the problem that surfaced last fall regarding nickel dust contamination. The Minister of Transport, after mocking the elected representative of the people of Beauport—Limoilou, who brought proof of this highly unusual situation to the House of Commons, scoffed at this legitimate issue.
Since then, Quebec's minister for sustainable development, the environment and parks has clearly established that it was the Port of Quebec that caused the contamination, and the public health director clearly stated that it was a serious health issue that affected nearly 20% of the people in Limoilou.
How can the Minister of Transport show such disrespect for the people of Beauport—Limoilou and disregard their concerns?