Guy St-Julien

[Drinking Water, February 26th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, Abitibi has the best tasting water in Canada.

In an international water tasting competition that brought together participants from six countries and 18 U.S. states in Berkeley Springs, West Virginia, from February 20 to 24, the Canadian municipalities of Barraute and Senneterre came in first and second place, respectively, in the category for municipalities with the best tasting water.

In Saint-Mathieu d'Harricana, Parmalat is currently building an ultramodern water export plant for Eaux Vives, which represents an investment of $52 million.

[Government of Quebec, February 18th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, Quebec Premier Bernard Landry is describing the coming Quebec legislation on lobbyists as the “most advanced in the world”. Alas, the reality is not so grand.

This Quebec bill, which has been hurriedly cobbled together, does not in any way respond to the concerns raised by the Landry government's sleight of hand with funding. The real problem is not with the lobbyists, but with the politicians. The real problem is the system put in place by the former finance minister, that is Bernard Landry, to channel funding through eight not-for-profit organizations.

Thanks to this system, the PQ government has been able to keep some $700 million away from the scrutiny of Quebec's elected representatives and its public; not only are these funds out of reach of the access to information legislation, but they are being administered by representatives of the funded organizations themselves, and by members of the PQ buddy system.

[Budget Implementation Act, 2001, February 7th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, I mentioned the list earlier. The hon. member for Stoney Creek should know one thing: on the left are the 20 airports already targeted in the bill dealing with the ways and means motion, a bill that was tabled on January 29, if memory serves. It is about 125 pages long and this information is on page 80.

We have just received the list of the 45 airports that should be considered to be located in remote regions. This is what is important. We have the list and I read it all earlier. This is what we must find a solution for. Transport Canada knows the airports located in remote regions. When we say remote, it means north of the 49th parallel, or perhaps the 45th in Quebec. We should not talk about the 49th parallel in Vancouver. Let us talk about the 49th parallel in Quebec, above the 50th parallel. This is where it is important to eliminate the charges. This includes the Magdalen Islands, Rouyn-Noranda in the Abitibi, Nunavik and the Lac-Saint-Jean region. We must find a solution to eliminate these charges.

[Budget Implementation Act, 2001, February 7th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, as we know, the government is active in a number of areas. The hon. member for Outremont was involved with the regions. He has now taken up other duties as Minister of Justice.

We know that remote areas such as ours are adversely affected not only in the transportation sector, but also in mining, forestry and raw materials.

But today, the purpose of my speech was to tell the government a solution must be found for airports in remote regions. This may be a minor issue, but it is an important one for me.

I will always support my government regarding the budget as a whole. This is a given. I will never vote against my government. However, I will not refrain from saying what I think of a bill. This is what I am doing.

It is not a matter of saying “Will you vote for this or for that?” The Bloc Quebecois could often vote with us, but does not because we have proposed good measures. This happens half of the time.

As I was saying earlier in my speech, I truly hope that this government will find a way to eliminate air security charges for airports located in remote regions.

[Budget Implementation Act, 2001, February 7th, 2002]

I understand the members opposite, but I speak up to defend my constituents.

[Budget Implementation Act, 2001, February 7th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, the member knows that I will never join the Bloc Quebecois. I understand that even though we may be friends outside the House of Commons, we are adversaries here.

I will mention what is important in this bill. There are some good things. I mentioned to members one aspect of the bill that is penalizing people. I believe the government can make changes. We have a good finance minister. If he understands what is happening, he can move some amendments.

It is important to find solutions. As the Liberal member for Stoney Creek was saying earlier, there could be changes over the next year. However, I would like these changes to be made immediately and to see airport taxes abolished. We will keep on fighting.

But that does not mean that I am ready to vote against my government. I will not vote against my government because we are working very hard. However, I am certainly allowed to speak to Bill C-49 and to state my opinion publicly with regard to this bill. That is what is important.

[Budget Implementation Act, 2001, February 7th, 2002]

One of my colleagues mentioned Air Alma. Air Alma as well. Whether Propair of Rouyn-Noranda, Aviation Boréal of Val-d'Or, all these small companies, because they are currently paying high landing fees.

This is serious. We are talking on behalf of the people living in remote areas. We are being penalized with the cost of food. Do you know how much a loaf of bread costs now? Here, a loaf of bread costs $1.10. I checked in Ivujivik, where it costs $3.42. People have cut down on hunting activities because of the price of gas. Everybody talks about 50 or 60 cents a liter here, but it is $1.20 a liter in remote areas.

I will not say “in the name of the law”, but in the name of all our Inuit friends, of the people living in these areas, in all parts of Quebec and Canada, the government should have a little more gratitude and eliminate this tax when it comes to small, remote airports. Such charges should be eliminated entirely.

[Budget Implementation Act, 2001, February 7th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, thank you for your intervention, but I knew that the members opposite were agreeing with me because this is an important issue. It is important from a family point of view.

Let us talk about airlines which have been hurt by Bill C-49, such as First Air or Air Inuit, which create many jobs in Montreal and elsewhere, such as Val-d'Or. Transportation of perishable food to the north under Northern Airstage Services to Northern Communities is funded in part by the sale of postage stamps, the Department of Indian Affairs and Canada Post, but mostly by the government and taxpayers.

When I spoke to these people, they said “For remote regions, it is important that this tax be abolished”. There can be an emphasis on security in Montreal, because the transportation volume is high there, but when one looks at the small cities in the north, whether in James Bay in Nunavik, or in medium size cities like Rouyn-Noranda and Val-d'Or, it is not the same thing. The inhabitants of the Magdalen Islands will have to pay $24.

It is inconceivable that these people should be required to pay charges. Let us not forget what Transport Canada and the Government of Canada are now imposing on airlines such as First Air and Air Inuit. An individual leaving from Ivujivik does not pay the $12. Once they get to Kuujjuaq, they wait inside the airplane, like one does when one lands in Boston en route to Miami. One is not permitted to leave the airplane.

With the new tax, this person will have to get out of the airplane in Kuujuaq, go and wait in the terminal and, upon reboarding, will be required to pay $12. They will have to pay $24 for a return trip. This means that, by imposing these charges, Transport Canada is forcing someone sitting in an airplane, or worse, someone who is seven and a half months pregnant, to get out of the airplane, walk over to the terminal in temperatures approaching minus 40 and pay $12 before being allowed to reboard.

On behalf of the women of Nunavik, we need to find a solution. We cannot choose people, and tell them “You will save $12”. It is everyone, white people as much as our Inuit friends, who is affected. There must not be a $24 fee. If someone travels once a month, at the end of the year, it will add up to nearly $300 return to get medical care in the south because there are no specialists in the north.

It is important to make changes and correct this for people who live in remote regions. This Liberal government bill is quite voluminous, some 110 pages long. The government is requiring that we vote on the bill as a whole. However, I would like to state publicly that changes are in order.

I would like to come back to another aspect of this bill: strategic infrastructure. With respect to strategic infrastructure, it is clear that in remote regions, which some people refer to as the far reaches of Quebec—that is what some people in Quebec City have said, but we prefer the expression remote regions—the issue of this $2 billion is an important one. This $2 billion for all of Canada is destined for large-scale strategic projects, according to the bill. The bill mentions “highway or rail infrastructure”.

The railway system does not reach Kuujjuaq, Radisson or any of the 14 Inuit villages and nine Cree communities of James Bay. This means that we are penalized at the outset and we will not receive any money for this. When it comes to local transportation infrastructure, that is a different story.

In this bill, the government will have to make a breakdown by percentage for the resource regions of Quebec and of Canada. Out of the $2 billion, the major urban centres could receive $1 billion or $1.5 billion, and the other $1 billion could be for the regions. If there are $2 billion for all of Canada, let it be split 50-50; I will explain why.

In the Abitibi—Témiscamingue region, whether Val-d'Or or Rouyn-Noranda, our raw materials go to Montreal. For example, in the forestry sector, 68% of the raw materials end up in Montreal for secondary, tertiary or quaternary processing. The resource regions create employment in Montreal. The same goes for the mining sector. We create close to 75% of the jobs in the processing and shipping sector in Quebec City and Montreal. The resource regions are being penalized because there are no set percentages for the $2 billion in strategic infrastructure funding.

There should be a breakdown, as there is in the November 2000 Canada-Quebec agreement. The two governments consulted each other and set out the division for the infrastructure projects in Quebec. In the Canada-Quebec agreement, Quebec is the overseer. When a project is carried out, the city or municipality invoices Quebec, which then sends the bill to the federal government for its share. That is the way it works, as many people are aware.

A percentage of strategic infrastructure funds must be spent based on regions, not only based on population.

When public officials figure a percentage for resource regions, they need to take into consideration the geography. My riding is over 802,000 square kilometers and the whole province of Quebec is 1.4 million square kilometers. In my riding, there are 65 mayors for approximately 100,000 people; there are four provincial MNAs to do the work that I do alone at the federal level; there are four salaries, four expense accounts, four travel accounts.

Remote regions may well be neglected, but I am asking the government to find a solution to eliminate this air transport tax.

Have you ever heard of a summit held up north? There have been summits held in Quebec City and in other big cities. Right now, the best place to organize a summit would be in Kuujjuaq in the winter. There would not be any protesters because there are no roads. It is the best place in terms of security, and we would save millions of dollars if we held a summit in Kuujjuaq.

Especially since a conference centre is being built in Kuujjuaq, with money from the governments of Quebec and Canada, under the Canada-Quebec infrastructure agreement. A summit in Kuujjuaq would save millions of dollars, but this money would have to be transferred to resource regions. If there was $300 million saved, then it would have to be divided up.

To come back to serious business, I want to say that we are being penalized. We have no roads, we are far away. If the government starts taxing people who go south with skidoos or snowshoes, I will have a field day. A solution should be found for people who travel with Air Inuit, First Air and the other airline companies—

[Budget Implementation Act, 2001, February 7th, 2002]

I am looking at the list of airports on page 70, for the information of the members of this and of the taxpayers of Nunavik.

Nunavik is a vast remote area, some 2,000 kilometres due north of my home town, Val-d'Or. The Inuit of Nunavik pay taxes. In fact, they pay so much tax that a litre of regular gas, which costs 50.8 cents in Ottawa today, or 62.5 cents in Hull, this morning, costs $1.20 this afternoon in Nunavik. In the north, food costs three times as much as in the south.

This is to tell you that, if people are penalized with a $12 or $24 tax, the issue is serious. We are already penalized with the landing fees. There is the issue of plane tickets. If you go from Ottawa to Kuujjuaq City—it is not in the same category as Kansas City; the fare to go there is $400 perhaps—it will cost $2,400 for a round trip.

People from this area called me. They said “Guy, this is nonsense”. I have received the list prepared by Transport Canada, where one can see on the left what is planned for airports with security measures. But when one looks on the right side of the form I received, one sees the name of the following airports. Out of the 45 airports mentioned by Transport Canada, there are 24 in my riding alone, and 12 are not listed. This means that in my riding of Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik, there are 24 airports listed in the document of Transport Canada; but there are 36 airports in all. I will not talk about the others.

I could give the list because this is important. I have 20 minutes, with 15 minutes remaining. I did not prepare any speech, but I can say that the government will directly affect our Inuit friends, our Cree friends and the people living in areas such as Abitibi, Témiscamingue, the Gaspé Peninsula, Îles-de-la-Madeleine, in remote areas that have airports.

I will start by naming the airports listed by alphabetical order. When I have finished, I will be able to say “all aboard”; we will get on board to pay the fees; we will not get on the train to go south, because the railway system does not go to this area.

Here are the names listed: Akulivik, Aupaluk, Chisasibi, East Main, Inukjuak, Ivujivik, Kangiqsualujjuaq, Kangiqsujuaq, Kangirsuk, Kuujjuaq, Kuujjuarapik, La Grande-2, La Grande-3, La Grande-4, Némiscau, Povungnituk, Quaqtaq, Salluit, Tasiujaq, Tête-à-la-Baleine, Umiujaq, Val-d'Or, Waskaganish and Wemindji.

Ours is one of the remote areas, but there are others where it would be crucial that this charge not be applied: Alma, Bagotville, Baie-Comeau, Blanc-Sablon, Bonaventure, Chevery, Chibougamau, Gaspé, Gethsemani, Havre-Saint-Pierre, Îles-de-la-Madeleine, La Tabatière, Mont-Joli, Natashquan, Pakuashipi, Port-Meunier, Rimouski, Roberval, Rouyn-Noranda, Schefferville, and Sept-Îles.

It is important to name all those airports. Otherwise, people will wonder which ones we were referring to.

That is the list. Taxpayers in those areas will be charged an extra $12 each way, or $24 for a round trip. People from northern regions, especially Nunavik, who are also taxpayers, travel a lot. They have to come down south to see the doctor because, as we know, there are no specialists in Nunavik.

As far as hospitals are concerned, the Quebec government did a good job in Kuujjuaq, Povungnituk and Grande-Baleine, where they have good hospitals. Also, there must be a local community health center, a CLSC, in each of these communities.

However, if a family or a person goes south for medical treatment, not only will the individuals have to pay for their airfare, which is very expensive, but they will also have to pay an extra $24. There is worse yet. If a father is in the hospital in Montreal or Quebec City and members of his family want to go and see him, they will each have to pay $24, and we know that Inuit families have seven or eight children.

Section D-11 of today's edition of La Presse contained an article entitled “Air travel penalized in small towns”. This is about small towns. The reporter wrote “The increase announced in December may discourage some travellers who may decide that other means of transport would be more appropriate”. He also wrote “Ottawa will collect a tax in the amount of $12 on a one-way plane ticket, and $24 on a return ticket”. It was also mentioned in the article that this would convince many travellers to choose the car over the plane.

But the problem is that there are no roads to travel from Kuujjuaq or Ivujivik to Montreal. Transport Canada is making a mistake in imposing such a hurtful tax.

We know that $24 is a lot of money for a family living in a remote area like Rouyn-Noranda or Val-d'Or. We are not talking about civil servants travelling on behalf of the Government of Quebec or the Government of Canada, because their plane tickets are paid for by all taxpayers.

Let us take a closer look at the family situation. Earlier I mentioned a person who had to go south to see a medical specialist. Let us talk about a woman who goes to Montreal or Quebec City to give birth. We know that all deliveries do not always go smoothly. Sometimes there are complications. Some women need cesareans, and so on. I must say that it hurts to see family members having to pay $24 more to go visit their mother in Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto or Quebec City. From a social standpoint, this $24 tax makes no sense for a large family.

Let us go back to what the member for Stoney Creek said earlier. This Liberal member mentioned that there would be a review each year. However, for remote areas, following the finance minister's response, this review should take place immediately.

[Budget Implementation Act, 2001, February 7th, 2002]

As my Liberal friend just said, this is an excellent answer.

But if members look at the bill tabled on February 5, things are different.