Pauline Picard

[Regional Economic Development, June 20th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, Montreal municipal councillor Alan DeSousa, who is responsible for economic development, said:

We stand behind Minister Bachand. More appropriate measures must be taken to support the economic development of the region. A number of our successes, particularly in the aerospace sector, were achieved with and thanks to these agencies.

Does the “scorched earth” minister realize that he is dangerously compromising sectors as successful as aerospace? Will he reverse his decision?

[Regional Economic Development, June 20th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, the people of Montreal are speaking out against the Conservatives' policies in Ottawa that are compromising our economic model. The Montreal metropolitan community or CMM, Montreal city council, the Montreal agglomeration council, which is an umbrella council for a hundred or so cities, as well as Quebec City, have all asked the Conservatives to reinstate funding for the economic development agencies.

What is the “scorched earth” minister waiting for to reverse his decision?

[Points of Order, June 19th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the Bloc Québécois, I would also like to join the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons in thanking the pages, clerks and all those who help ensure the House runs smoothly. I would also like to wish you, Mr. Speaker, a good summer.

[Drummond Association for the Disabled, June 19th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, in 1986, people with reduced mobility wanted to appear before the Drummondville city council to oppose a development project, but they had to turn back, because city hall was not accessible for them. This turn of events led to the creation of the Association des personnes handicapées de Drummond 20 years ago.

To mark this anniversary, the association is launching its website “Drummond accessible”, which lists some 3,000 businesses, buildings and public areas in Drummondville, and identifies each location's level of accessibility and any specific problems that might be encountered. Each location has been visited and the facilities assessed, providing an opportunity to speak directly with business owners about accessibility.

I would like to congratulate Daniel Mailhot, the association's director, as well as everyone who works to integrate persons with disabilities into all of society's spheres of activity.

[Economic Development, June 6th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, he failed to mention that 19,000 jobs were lost.

The minister has no respect for the organizations that have built modern day Quebec. Even his counterpart in Quebec City, who described him as an ideologue and Machiavellian, accused him of attacking the very structure of economic development in Quebec. The minister has absolutely no respect for the Quebec model.

Will he transfer money to Quebec, where competent people will know very well how to manage it without resorting to favouritism?

[Economic Development, June 6th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, in Quebec, everyone is criticizing the way Economic Development Canada is treating not for profit organizations and the minister's inability to get the necessary budgetary envelope. Furthermore, the minister responsible for EDC justified his fiasco by saying, “the decision that sparked all of this was made by the [Conservative] government cabinet”.

Are we to gather from this alarming confession that the minister has no weight in cabinet, or is he knowingly attacking the economic structure of Quebec?

[Foreign Affairs, May 30th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, we know she had a spouse's pin.

We now know that the documents Julie Couillard had in her possession for several weeks contained notes on foreign NATO diplomats. These documents that were deemed classified and very important by the Prime Minister himself were left in the hands of a woman with a shady past.

Now that the news is in the headlines around the world, how are they going to explain that Julie Couillard had access to highly sensitive information on foreign diplomats? How are they going to explain that—

[Foreign Affairs, May 30th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, the evasive responses from the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons lead us to believe that the former girlfriend of the hon. member for Beauce did indeed have a diplomatic or special passport. An investigation is required to obtain this type of passport and the government is the guarantor for the passport holder.

Since there was necessarily an investigation, will the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons admit that the government has been hiding the truth by saying that it did not know about Julie Couillard's shady past and that it is still trying to fool everyone?

[Twenty-four Hour Bike Ride for Leucan, May 30th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to commend the efforts of Drummondville's TrioMax club, which, in partnership with other clubs such as Cycliste Drummond, Cyclophiles and VéloCité, has organized a 24-hour bike ride to be held May 31 and June 1, with all proceeds going to Leucan.

The public is invited to sponsor the kilometres that will be covered by any one of the 200 expected participants. In addition, three members of the TrioMax club, Suzanne and Jacinthe Lavallée and Alain Croteau, became the honorary champions of this year's shaved head challenge.

I would also like to say hello to young Annabelle Lizotte-Gauthier from Kingsey Falls, who, at only 12 years old, has agreed to be Leucan's spokesperson for the region of Centre-du-Québec. Annabelle suffered a brain tumour at age three and became very familiar with hospitals very early in life. She is an inspiring young girl who knows the importance of chasing your dreams, despite illness.

[Minister of Foreign Affairs, May 16th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, we have also learned that Ms. Couillard and her former partner, Robert Pépin, approached a federal organization in 2004 to offer security screening services.

Does the Minister of Foreign Affairs recognize that these troubling revelations demonstrate that his links to such people constitute a significant security risk for the nation and that he is acting irresponsibly?