House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2004, with 41% of the vote.
Mirabel Airport December 8th, 2004
Mr. Speaker, I must say that the Bloc policy with regard to the return of Mirabel property, as expressed by the hon. member for Argenteuil—Papineau—Mirabel, is that the lands must be returned and if needed, could be re-expropriated. I find this totally irresponsible and it is not the kind of argument we will accept. The Bloc wants to return the land only to re-expropriate it again later. That is totally irresponsible.
Mirabel Airport December 8th, 2004
Mr. Speaker, I think the hon. member skipped a few paragraphs of what the president of ADM said yesterday. Obviously, if the Government of Canada ordered it to return the land, ADM would receive financial compensation and all the rest. We decided that we would not break the lease. We are going to respect the Conservatives' signature, and I stand by what the director of ADM said in his November 25 press release. This man who spoke on November 25 is, I hope, the same man who appeared before the committee yesterday.
Mirabel Airport December 8th, 2004
Mr. Speaker, a lease was signed. The fact of the matter is that the Conservatives signed a 60 year lease with ADM. We are going to respect their signature. I trust what ADM's president said, which is, of course, that it would be an error with serious consequences for both Aéroports de Montréal and the Mirabel area. That is what he said; it was in his press release, and we have to take his word. He is the expert, and the lessee until 2052. I trust his word.
Mirabel Airport December 8th, 2004
Mr. Speaker, I trust the word of ADM's president, who said, “By maintaining our property reserve of 11,000 acres, we are safeguarding the future of the Montréal Mirabel facility. To sell back the land at this time would be an error with serious consequences for both Aéroports de Montréal and the Mirabel area”. That is what Mr. Cherry said and, I believe him, until proven wrong.
Air Transportation Security December 8th, 2004
Mr. Speaker, of course. Moreover, all recognized employees in these airports must pass a security test. The previous five years of their lives are investigated to ensure they have nothing questionable in their past and that passenger and airport security are not endangered.
As a result, the system is in place, but we will be going further, for we intend to make greater use of biometrics to recognize our employees. The technology that will be used is currently being tested in four airports in Canada. Obviously, we intend to increase the level of security at every opportunity.
Air Transportation Security December 8th, 2004
Mr. Speaker, I have had a look, a brief look to be sure, at the Senate committee report. It is a very useful report. Over the years, various departments have drawn on it. When we have reviewed all the recommendations, I will ask my department to prepare a clause by clause answer to this report, because I take it very seriously.
My first meeting as Minister of Transport was with Senator Colin Kenny, because I believe his work is essential to the country's security.
Air Transportation Security December 7th, 2004
Mr. Speaker, I think the hon. member is exaggerating when he says 1,100 security items. There are 689 tags with just first names on them. We are talking about pants, belts and shoes. Each uniform comprises 20 separate items. Someone lost a full uniform in a residential fire, so should we dismiss him for that?
Air Transportation Security December 7th, 2004
Mr. Speaker, I want to tell the hon. member that I took my responsibility because the day after I saw the report, the next morning, I called in the president of CATSA. We had a report by yesterday that was made public. Now we are sure that all the items are going to be accounted for. There was never any security breach under that program.
I must say to the hon. member that there was no security problem and no robbery reported and, thus, the RCMP does not need to get involved.
Points of Order December 6th, 2004
Mr. Speaker, I want to reassure the House. I do not want travellers to be worried about these missing uniforms. This is why I made it very clear that this incident will have no effect at all on passengers and airport security. We have one of the world's safest system. People must recognize that, under our system, every passenger and his or her luggage is checked. Therefore, I am very proud of the security system.
I do not want to attribute any motives to the hon. member. We all have the right to discuss this issue here. However, I want to reassure travellers and Canadians. Our airport security system is one of the world's safest.
Air Transportation Security December 6th, 2004
Mr. Speaker, I must say that if we could give an answer like this, it is because they kept track of all the items.
What everyone has to realize is that CATSA is doing a very good job. As a matter of fact, a lot of people are complaining that it is doing too good a job because it is at every airport. It is checking every piece of luggage and every passenger that goes through all 89 airports in the country.
CATSA is doing a great job. I do not want the member to undermine the security of Canadians because we have the most secure transportation system that we can have.