Jean Lapierre

[Air Transportation Security, December 6th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, I must tell the hon. member that as soon as we were advised that these items were missing, security was tightened. I asked the president of the agency to tighten security even further.

However, the reality is that ID cards are proof of identity and allow airport access. These ID cards are issued by Transport Canada. ID cards are checked when employees enter the airport and again at various times during their shift, to ensure the cards are properly displayed.

Consequently, airport access depends on the ID card, not just the uniform. Consequently, security was not at risk, but we will—

[Air Transportation Security, December 6th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, security has not been breached. There are 4,000 people working for CATSA. One of them, for example, had a fire in his house. He lost some items obviously. We do not have any report that a full uniform, except the burned one, disappeared.

It happens to every police force. They do not have control over 100% of their shirts, sock, belts or pants. Obviously, CATSA reported that it did not have them anymore and it asked for more because its workers are allowed to have 20 items--

[Air Transportation Security, December 6th, 2004]

Well, Mr. Speaker, I read the reports on the weekend. I called in the president of CATSA immediately. He sent me a report this morning. We must realize that most of the items are pants and shirts. When badges are talked about, we are not talking about badges but logos. I cannot show it here.

However, we will ensure that there is more control of the inventory in the future. We are also ensuring that access to airports is double-checked when employees arrive.

[Agriculture and Agri-Food, December 6th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, the member should know that the interpretation to be given to my remarks is that the federal government is prepared to do everything to improve the situation for all in the mad cow issue.

But we have already accomplished a lot. We will continue to cooperate with the province. Whenever I was asked, I obviously answered that Ottawa was prepared to cooperate, but I never said that an agreement had been signed. The agreement with the slaughterhouse has not even been signed. Therefore, we cannot be negotiating $18 million in compensation without even knowing what the purchase price is for the slaughter house. Seriously.

[Agriculture and Agri-Food, December 6th, 2004]

You know, Mr. Speaker, that, where federal-provincial relations are concerned, a new tone was adopted in this place, and denouncement is the Bloc Québécois's thing, not ours.

What I did was that, anytime I was asked, I told the journalists that we were very open to a request and that we would consider it. I never said anything, however, about giving assurances about a cheque in this amount. Everyone knows that is plain common sense. Obviously, nothing was negotiated in a minute and a half conversation. Besides, the minister herself does not have the entire agreement. We were talking about possible future negotiations, naturally.

[Agriculture and Agri-Food, December 6th, 2004]

Not at all, Mr. Speaker. What I told the agriculture minister is that we are prepared to cooperate with them. Indeed, talks will take place in the coming weeks. Of course, the agreement is not even finalized. Obviously, we did not have time, in a minute and a half of conversation, to discuss or negotiate a matter involving an amount of $18 million. We are much more responsible than that.

[Agriculture and Agri-Food, December 6th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, my conversation with the agriculture minister lasted exactly one minute and a half. She told me that she had her own program, that she was in the middle of negotiations, and she asked me whether we might be considering the 60-40 agreement that the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food had told her about, for a shorter period of time. However, no formal commitment was made.

What we have is the will to look together at this agreement, which has yet to be finalized. While there is some goodwill, there is definitely no cheque written yet. People have to talk to each other and, of course, this is what the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and his provincial counterpart will do.

[Air Transportation Security, December 6th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, I had asked for a report and it was given to me this morning. First, it does not talk about 1,127 uniforms, but parts of uniforms ranging from belts to pants and shirts. Strictly speaking, 226 items have the CATSA logo on them including 91 badges, 78 shirts, 32 windbreakers and 25 sweaters. Nothing had been reported stolen. There are 4,000 employees and each has 20 items of equipment. So employees across the country have at total of 75,000 items of equipment in their homes—

[Mirabel Airport, December 2nd, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, I know that the hon. member is aware of the existence of a contract between ADM and the Government of Canada. That contract was signed by the Conservative government in 1992 and runs for 60 years. We are going to respect that document signed by the Government of Canada.

We must also point out that we too believe in the future of Mirabel. We do not want to dismantle Mirabel. We believe it will be the site of considerable development, not only with projects like Bombardier's, but others that have been proposed. As a result, we do not wish to reduce the size of Mirabel, but rather to develop it and thus create thousands of jobs.

[Transportation, December 2nd, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, I welcome the hon. member's question. We are fully engaged in a consultation process, thanks, in particular, to the cooperation of the Teamsters and to the spirit of the 2001 agreement. I am convinced that, over the next few weeks, we will reach an agreement that will ensure the safety of truck drivers and other highway users. This is precisely our priority. I hope that we can limit, as is our intention, the number of hours of driving to 13, over a 14-hour period of service. This would ensure that everyone is safe. I hope that the spirit of the 2001 agreement will be renewed in the coming days.