David Collenette

[Airport Security, April 10th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, I answered the particular question at the Senate committee the other day when it was posed to me.

There are instances across the country where there have been exceptions made, especially in the north, and those people are not paying the charge; but where anomalies exist they will be addressed.

[Highway Infrastructure, April 9th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, as I have already explained, discussions have taken place with my counterpart, Mr. Ménard, regarding highway 30. As I have said publicly, this is a priority for the federal government. We will continue to work with the Government of Quebec to find a solution. Our party supports this highway.

[National Security, March 22nd, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, I categorically reject the arguments of the hon. member.

If he reads the budget bill and looks at the new agency, he will know that all of the operations of the new agency will be fully analyzed by the auditor general. The auditor general will be able to call for every aspect of accounting. Obviously not all of the agency's activities can be revealed for security reasons, but the agency will be responsible to the Minister of Transport. I am accountable in the House of Commons.

This is just another case of the hon. member not really doing his homework and not really understanding what is in the budget bill.

[National Security, March 22nd, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, on the contrary. The hon. member would know that we announced a number of measures in response to the events of September 11. They include $60 million for ports. We are spending $100 million on new explosive detection equipment for the airports, policing on planes and all of that. Much of that will be covered by the new charge which will be introduced as of April 1.

I do not think there is any inconsistency in what the hon. member has read in the estimates and the commitment of the government and Transport Canada to safety.

[Highway Infrastructure, March 22nd, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is talking about the promises made by my colleagues from Quebec during the last election campaign.

As I already explained, we presented a new infrastructure program in the last budget.

What worries me is that we do indeed support building highways in the province of Quebec and throughout the country, but it would appear as though the hon. member does not, since she voted against the budget this week.

[Highway Infrastructure, March 22nd, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, as I have already explained, we have three programs for highways, including the new infrastructure program.

There is enough money for a great many projects across the country and in the province of Quebec. We are prepared to continue the discussions with the Government of Quebec on all of these projects.

[Highway Infrastructure, March 20th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, I already answered that yesterday. We are prepared to discuss any highway improvements anywhere in the country, Quebec included.

[Highway Infrastructure, March 19th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, it is obvious that the Bloc Quebecois is against the infrastructure program, including the highways, because yesterday it voted against the budget.

[Highway Infrastructure, March 19th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, as I have already explained, I met with my counterpart, Mr. Ménard, and we discussed all the highways in the province of Quebec.

I emphasized that we had infrastructure money in this budget and in the Minister of Finance's 2000 budget. We also have a strategic program for highways. We have many programs and we are going to discuss this issue.

I noted, however, that the Bloc Quebecois voted against the budget yesterday and is therefore not in a position to criticize our government.

[Airport Security, March 18th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, I cannot believe the hon. member is thrashing the old debate about the ports police. The ports police were there to defend the bylaws of the ports and deal with basic security. That is now done by security companies, but always the RCMP was there for the various criminal aspects of prosecution, as well as local police, of course.

The fact of the matter is that we announced $60 million in the budget explicitly for ports security, and other enhancements have been made. Much of the focus has been on airlines and airports since September 11, but we have done quite a lot for ports.