Mr. Speaker, I am sure you are familiar with the saying that hope springs eternal, which is why I have an announcement to make. Despite the quality of the answers I have been getting for the past five years, I have not lost hope, so I am sure to live a long time.
The issue I want to talk about today is, once again, a human and financial catastrophe unlike any this country has ever seen. There is ample evidence that this was the worst construction fiasco ever seen in Canada, and people would like to be able to turn the page on it.
Last year, the Liberal government said it would give pyrrhotite victims $30 million, $10 million per year. I want to make it clear that $10 million per year will help about 70 lucky homeowners. There are hundreds of victims, though, so it is something of a lottery. The government is loosening the purse strings just enough to let $10 million trickle out per year, all the while being very careful not to acknowledge any responsibility for what happened, which is a tragedy in itself.
We are stuck with this construction flaw problem which, I remind hon. members, could happen anywhere in Canada. This could happen anywhere in the world, but that is not what we are talking about. I can say that just last week, the Coalition d'aide aux victimes de la pyrrhotite of Trois-Rivières was in Connecticut, where the situation is exactly the same, with families who are overwhelmed by the problem and the lack of solutions.
Last year, two or three months of the construction season went by before the government opened its wallet. We know that in country with a winter like ours the time for construction work is somewhat limited. The construction season had started, but the funding was not there. Thank goodness the situation has changed since then.
I would like to ask my first question. Bear in mind that this $30 million from the Liberals' program was a one-off. They said that this sum would fix the pyrrhotite problem, but we are a long way from that. Do we have any assurances today that for the second and third years of the program the money will be there at the start of the construction season?
I would like to raise another issue. I am in favour of helping pyrrhotite victims. As I was saying earlier, it is almost like a lottery. Some people will get lucky, while hundreds of others will not get any support. How is the government determining who is a pyrrhotite victim? Under the program managed by the provincial government, homes must have a pyrrhotite content of at least 0.3% for families or owners to be eligible for assistance. In the decision handed down, the judge said that a pyrrhotite content of 0.23% would certainly cause problems in the short or medium term. There is therefore a grey area between 0% pyrrhotite and the two benchmarks that I just mentioned, which are not really scientifically proven standards.
The federal government's primary responsibility is to ensure that the federal quality standard for aggregates used in concrete clearly indicates that concrete must not contain a certain percentage of pyrrhotite that has yet to be determined. Right now, the standard is unclear and does not come with any obligations. The Conservatives and the Liberals keep telling us that this was a prerogative of the provincial government. However, I would like to remind members that the standard is a federal standard included in the provincial building code, which is quite different.
I would therefore like to ask two quick questions. First, will the government finally take action to improve the standard? Second, will the funding be available at the beginning of the construction season?