Paul Mercier

[Rail Transportation, June 14th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Transport is proclaiming the end of the great Canadian national dream. His intent is clear. Rather than make our national rail system more efficient, the Minister has decided to pull out of the rail transportation sector, arguing that it is more important for Canadians and Quebecers to keep their social programs.

Can the Minister of Transport confirm if the planned abandonment of rail lines is part of his own department's expenditure reduction plan and will he concede that his desire to rationalize the rail system is fundamentally tied to his goal of eliminating nearly 15,000 jobs at Transport Canada?

[Bankruptcy Act, June 9th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, our current legislation on bankruptcy and insolvency does not fit the social philosophy of our time. One could say it has lagged far behind.

It provides that in the case of bankruptcy, hypothecary creditors take precedence over wage earners, or to put it bluntly, it provides that money takes precedence over human beings. I do not think you have to be a socialist, as the hon. member for the Reform Party said, to get upset about this kind of situation. It is intolerable that in 1994, we should still let money take precedence over human beings, and I certainly do not think Socialists have a monopoly on the indignation this kind of situation arouses.

In fact, our so-called capitalist society is concerned about the problem, and it has been since 1919. The hon. member for Portneuf recalled what has been done about this problem over the past 75 years, but so far, all attempts to bring divergent interests together have failed. I would like to mention three particularly significant developments that occurred during that time.

First of all, in 1975 we had the Liberal Bill C-60, which I believe mentioned for the first time the possibility of superpriority for wage earners.

This admittedly generous and fair legislation met with objections from the Senate Committee on Banking, Trade and Commerce which would have preferred to see a wage protection fund administered by the State. Understandably, there were bankers

and businessmen who preferred to let taxpayers pay the cost of administering this fund.

In any case, nothing happened, and later on-this is the second development I wanted to mention-we had the Landry Commission, which pointed out, and it was probably right, another drawback to this protection fund. To a certain extent, the fund might have been an incentive for unscrupulous employers not to do everything in their power, in case of bankruptcy, to pay their employees, since a fund would do it for them.

The third and most recent development was in 1992, when the Conservatives appointed a joint committee to examine these issues, but unfortunately it too failed in the attempt.

My point is that the hon. member for Portneuf is to be commended for resurrecting a problem that is certainly not recent and which so far has remained unsolved. His solution is realistic and humane, and here it is in a nutshell: it gives absolute priority to the payment of wages and salaries owed, and it raises the limit of such payments.

This bill, like any bill designed to resolve differences and overcome opposition, is certainly not perfect. There is, of course, no solution that can satisfy everyone. Claimants may argue that the bill weakens their position. We must, however, admit that the employees are the people closest to the business and the most affected by its closing. Therefore, there is no doubt that, from a moral and social perspective, they must have priority.

Finally, I think this bill is quite timely because it fits in with a new school of thought, a new trend we are happy to see emerging between the unions and the employers. Of course, their interests being at odds with each other, there are still tensions, but we must admit that unions look harder now than 20 years ago for opportunities to co-operate with business. In the current recessionary climate, this co-operation often takes the form of major concessions from the employees in the new collective agreements.

This effort to bring employees and employers together to try to solve the problems-and we know that our society now faces many problems-is very much in line with today's spirit of understanding and employee co-operation that the unions are displaying more and more these days. It should not be a one-way street. In return, legislators should ensure that the employees receive what is owed to them.

[Transportation, June 7th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, whatever the term, does the minister realize that a substantial withdrawal of government financing from the transportation sector would seriously affect all ports on the St. Lawrence as a result of the commercialization of the Coast Guard, and would affect all consumers through increases in the price of goods, and all remote regions, which stand to suffer most as a result of price increases?

[Transportation, June 7th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, my question is directed to the Minister of Transport. The government plans to massively privatize services offered by Transport Canada. By doing so, the government will be released from its commitment to support Canada's transportation system.

Before he embarks on a substantial privatization of Transport Canada's activities, does the minister have any guarantees as to the impact privatization would have on economic development and inflation, as a result of increased transportation costs?

[Battle Of Normandy, June 6th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, I was living in Belgium during the last war. In fact, I was born there, and I want to take this opportunity to express the gratitude of my former compatriots to the Canadian, American and English troops who crossed the seas 50 years ago to free Europe from tyranny.

I remember as if it were yesterday, that morning on June 6, 1944, when the radio announced that the tremendous news of the invasion in Normandy, which was the first step towards our liberation.

Three months later, a deliriously happy Brussels welcomed those allied troops, covered with dust and glory, and I decided to join them for the last part of the war.

I remember that among our liberators, the first two soldiers to whom I spoke were two Quebecers from the 22nd Regiment. Of course, I did not know then that one day I would become their compatriot, but today, I am happy and proud that is the case.

[High-Speed Train, May 24th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, I welcome the opportunity afforded by the motion standing in the name of the hon. member for Joliette to repeat what I said in this House on March 22. To emerge from its economic doldrums, our country needs a large-scale collective project, one that will generate our enthusiasm and mobilize us.

Such a project exists. I am referring to the HST, the high-speed train between Quebec City and Windsor, which could also be run on a loop connecting Mirabel and Dorval. Several studies have already concluded that this project would be economically viable.

A high-speed train running through a densely populated corridor with high ridership potential answers a need. The train, as other countries have already realized, is not a relic of the past. In its modern version, when certain distances must be covered and the ridership is there, it is the way of the future.

According to a study conducted by Bombardier, HST per capita transportation costs will be competitive with those of other competing modes. Furthermore, the benefits of control and speed are obvious.

I may add that the HST would be a welcome solution to the problem of transportation to and from Mirabel and Dorval. It would be necessary to add to the main line a loop where the train would run only at certain times. It would take 18 minutes to get from airport to airport, and in the airports would also be linked directly by rail to Quebec and Ontario.

Another point is that trains are more environmentally friendly than any other means of transportation. Running at a speed of 300 kilometres per hour, the HST uses half as much energy per passenger as a car and one-quarter as much as a plane. Pollution has a price, a financial cost which we tend to forget in our calculations and which should be added when comparing various transportation modes with highway and air transportation.

Electrification, which is the rule in Europe, would have the double advantage of being environmentally acceptable, since there would be no emissions into the atmosphere, and of consuming energy that is abundant in Ontario as well as Quebec, a province that is trying to export surplus energy.

And now for the burning issue of unemployment. Construction on the HST would create 80,000 jobs annually. In addition, 40,000 jobs would be created in sectors related to the project, plus 1,250 permanent jobs in maintenance and management of the network. The HST would ideally take up the slack and hire workers who might be laid off following the merger between CN and CP.

Yes, but look at the cost! According to the proposed investment strategy, and if we take the average strategy of 300 kilometres per hour, it would cost $7.1 billion in 1990 dollars. According to this hypothesis, during the construction period tax revenues would be generated totalling $1.8 billion. For the government, the HST is an investment rather than an expenditure.

However, these advantages are better understood abroad than in this country. Several of the most developed countries in the world now have one or more HSTs in service. Canada is lagging behind.

Bombardier, a domestic company, has more customers abroad for its railway products than it does here. In this area as in so many others, the government's lack of vision is overwhelming.

Does our low population density preclude this kind of project? That would be a poor argument. Some of the countries that already have HSTs or are planning to put one into service are not more densely populated than the Quebec City-Windsor corridor.

In this high-tech sector, we could be leaders instead of followers and be the first ones to develop an exportable expertise that could help improve our balance of payments. Yet, while our competition is taking action, we are examining the umpteenth report on the subject.

If our governments act now, we still have a chance to find our opportunity window on the high speed train market. The time lost so far can be caught up, we are told, but we must act now.

The late lamented Jean de La Fontaine wrote a delightful little story our minister of transport may find useful and inspiring to read every day. You guessed right, I am referring to the tale of "The Tortoise and the Hare".

In closing, Mr. Speaker, tomorrow, in their history books, will our children be taught that in terms of collective achievements commanding their admiration, the last decade of the 20th century was marked in their country by the so-called infrastructure project, that is to say a plan to fill in wholes with asphalt from the West coast to the East coast?

Is our ambition limited to leaving our children-apart from a huge debt of course-roads with fewer wholes in them and sewers with fewer leaks? Certainly not. Such a vision is not worthy of Canadians and Quebecers.

Our children-I hope and it depends on this government-will be able to say proudly that besides carrying out this infrastructure work, we, their parents, made sure, as the 21st century drew nearer, that we remained leaders among innovative nations.

So, with the HST, we will prove to them that our creative potential and capacity of having daring ideas is intact; in a word, we are not in a decline and want to provide them, to face the challenges of the 3rd millennium, a new building tool that reflects our ambitions for their future as well as our own past achievements.

[Pearson International Airport Agreements Act, May 9th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, Bill C-22 is part of the pendulum process which has become a tradition with successive governments. The Conservatives privatize, and the Liberals deprivatize. Each step costs the Treasury money and provides goodies for a few friends. The bill before the House today says that the Minister of Transport will play Santa Claus, but it does not offer any information on the

kind of management the government is planning for Pearson airport. Will it be a local authority? A crown corporation? The Department of Transport? Who knows!

Without wishing to take sides, I can say that the management of Montreal Airport by a local authority has proved satisfactory. Aéroports de Montréal is the name of the corporation which has been responsible for the management of Dorval and Mirabel since 1989.

Originally, we had the Société de promotion des aéroports de Montréal, also known as SOPRAM. This advisory body, created in 1987, consists of 21 members belonging to seven organizations in the community, including municipalities and chambers of commerce. Each organization delegates one elected representative, one permanent member and one person from the business community. The seven members of the business community constitute the Board of Directors.

For instance, among the seven organizations that are represented, we find the Corporation de promotion à Mirabelle, also known as COPAM, which represents the interests of the region north of the Rivière des Milles-Îles, where my riding is located. COPAM consists of representatives of development corporations, chambers of commerce, municipal counsellors, and so forth. Thus, the "Aéroports de Montréal" corporation, the ADM, is the leader, at the top of a pyramid where the base is largely made up of all decision-makers and development officers of the sector. That original structure ensures perfect representativeness of the board of directors and the integration of regional development issues into the organisation's objectives.

There is also a local airport authority in Vancouver and Calgary. Some good minds think that the same formula could apply to ports, the port of Montreal among others.

ADM must however deal with the major problem of the two Montreal airports, Dorval and Mirabel. There is no rapid link between the two that would ensure quick transit for passengers and freight. Quebec freeway 13 which was supposed to be the main link was never completed; it is still 13 kilometres short.

In March 1988, Quebec and Ottawa had agreed to share the costs of completing the freeway, which came to a total of $78 million at that time. With a bit of nostalgia I read yesterday an article which appeared during those days in the Voix des Mille-Îles , a regional paper.

It said:

All the members of Parliament of our region were thrilled at things moving again on that project because the completion of the freeway will no doubt have positive impacts on the regional economy.

I stop here the reference to that 1988 article. In any case, since then, nothing has happened, Mr. Speaker, absolutely nothing. It still takes 40 minutes to go from Dorval to Mirabel on four different highways and freeways. This is what humorists call cost-effective federalism.

In spite of this handicap, last year, ADM made an estimated net profit of around $25 million. The company accounts for 43,000 direct and indirect jobs. The economic spin-offs are $2.73 billion.

Spurred on by this example, and in spite of the recession, regional dynamism has led to the creation of new industries and new jobs. Given the present sad state of the economy, this is nothing short of remarkable. One of these new industries is a fencing company, Bolar Inc.; its president, Mr. Lazare, listed Mirabel International Airport as one of the factors which weighed in favour of locating in the Blainville industrial park, just a few minutes from Mirabel.

Of course, industries involved with air transportation are well advised to locate near a major airport. Cases in point are Aerospace Welding, a specialist in the production of engine parts and exhaust systems, and the well-known Air Transat, which are both situated in my riding, near Mirabel.

Light industries, such as high-tech firms, which are the leading edge of the economy, also seek to locate near well-managed airports. For instance, Dowty Aerospace manufactures electronic equipment in Mirabel. DLGL, which recently moved to Blainville, specializes in human resource management software. Teknor manufactures computer components in Boisbriand. Multimeg, also in Boisbriand, produces electronic controls. In Saint-Eustache, Électromed manufactures X-ray generators for hospitals in Paris and Strasbourg. Triton, a firm which produces electronic equipment, is also located in Saint-Eustache.

Other industries, which export most of their production, have moved there recently. For example, Lumec from Boisbriand which assembles lighting systems sells abroad most of its production. We could go on and on naming the companies which, with the help of development corporations, industry commissions and municipalities, have chosen to locate in our area because of its exceptional qualities, most notably the airports of Mirabel and Dorval.

However, an international airport is also dependent on other things, and its development, and the development of the surrounding area, is tied to the air route policy of the government. In this regard we are not much favoured.

Can we expect that once the government has dealt with the Conservative legacy, it will move to give the country an air transport policy?

The other countries did not stay idle. Well aware of the growing importance of the quality of the airline network for the competitiveness of a country, the United States began to build super-airports. In Europe, just to give you an example, the Dutch airport of Schipol is going to undergo a remarkable structure development project which will enable it to become one of the most important transportation hubs in the world. Meanwhile, we are quietly debating deprivatization.

That incredible lack of vision of the government, its stubborn determination to remain down-to-earth in the development of policies can be felt in the railroad sector. These days, England and France are celebrating, in euphoria, the opening of the railway tunnel linking them together. England and Belgium are starting to build the high-speed trains that will link them to that tunnel. In the United States, Amtrak is getting new equipment and four HSTs are under review or under construction. And what are we doing meanwhile?

Our government is reviewing with solicitude the umpteenth study on the implementation of a HST in the Quebec-Windsor corridor that might create 120 000 jobs for many years. One can measure its high level of creativity by looking at its infrastructure program which is necessary, of course, but which is not likely to make Canada one of the most outstanding and innovative countries in the world at the end of this century.

Bill C-22 is perfectly in line with the wheeling and dealing policy which lacks grandeur and vision and which is the earmark of this government. I will vote against this bill.

[Regional Development, April 28th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, that is what you get for trying too hard.

Will the Prime Minister recognize that the HST project, considering the type of equipment required and the type of jobs created, fits perfectly in a strategy for the reconversion of the military industry, which is a commitment made by the Liberal Party in its red book and that is yet to be fulfilled?

[Regional Development, April 28th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, I will address my question to the Minister of Finance and Minister responsible for the Federal Office of Regional Development-Quebec on the off-chance that he will have something to say today.

The government, which told us yesterday that it has already spent $6 million on studies regarding the high-speed train, is hiding behind some future study to avoid taking position on the HST project, or even approving it in principle. The government showed its lack of interest in VIA Rail's proposal.

How can the government, which claims to make job creation a priority, show so little interest in a major project that could create some 120,000 jobs in a high technology sector?

[Pearson International Airport Agreements Act, April 27th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, with clause 10 of Bill C-22, the government is in fact inviting the friends of the system-Conservatives and Liberals united as brothers this time and drooling in anticipation-to grab a piece of Pearson, a particularly juicy pie. Not only is the bill conveniently unclear about the way this pie is to be shared, but it does not explain how Pearson Airport is to be managed and what its place will be in the Canadian network. It is this latter

and no doubt less scandalous, but nevertheless important aspect of the bill that I would like to address today.

It may be a good idea to show this airport's importance with regard to air transport, and in particular in relation to Montreal's two airports.

Pearson and Mirabel-Dorval play a major function in air transportation in Canada. Competition between them can be beneficial, provided they compete on equal terms, which is not the case. The Mirabel-Dorval airport complex has a major handicap. If I wanted to make a case against the government based on assumptions and not facts, I would suspect it of, if not keeping an old wound open, at least painstakingly not helping it heal. Its persistent failure to act on this issue is really incomprehensible. I am referring to the lack of a high-speed link between Mirabel and Dorval as well as the totally inappropriate linkage of the airport complex with the road and railway system. First, a few facts.

Dorval is the point of origin of all regular flights within Canada and to the United States, while Mirabel is the boarding point for all other destinations. A passenger travelling from Quebec City to Paris will have to transfer. That is normal, but what is not quite as normal is the fact that this person has to ride, from Dorval to Mirabel, in a shuttle travelling on Highways 15, 640, and 13 and then on Mirabel Blvd. Commuting time: 40 minutes, plus waiting time. It is absolutely absurd.

To remedy the problem, it was suggested that Mirabel be closed down and all flights shifted to Dorval. What a brilliant idea! You eliminate one of the airports, thereby eliminating the need to connect them. Rather than curing the disease, it would be simpler to get rid of the patient!

A simple solution would be to extend Highway 13 another 25 kilometres to the north. It was agreed a long time ago that the costs-that is to say $78 million in 1988 dollars-were to be shared equally by Ottawa and Quebec, but nothing has been done since. Of course, for a long time, the two governments accused one another of refusing to co-operate, stating that a cheque could be made the following morning if only the other side would stop dragging its feet. I guess that is what you call profitable federalism!

Mr. Speaker, the sad thing is that, since then, cost estimates have risen by $50 million because of the procrastination. This will certainly not help break the impasse. The fact remains that there is a serious need to extend Highway 13 from Boisbriand to Mirabel Airport.

However, what Mirabel needs to become a world class airport is a rail link.

This unacceptable oversight could be corrected while at the same time another problem which is somewhat less frustrating could be solved. As everyone knows, most developed countries already have a high-speed train, an ultramodern means of transportation. In this as in so many other areas, Canada is lagging behind for lack of vision. The Minister of Transport is waiting for another in an endless series of reports on the Quebec City-Windsor HST project before giving consideration to eventually setting up this network. Studies already completed have concluded that an east-west rail link through Quebec and Ontario is feasible, necessary and cost-effective. A total of 120,000 jobs would be created during the construction phase of the project.

All that would need to be done is to add a loop to the main line to connect Montreal's two airports.

Connections between the two airports could thus be made in 18 minutes, instead of the current forty. Furthermore, the two provinces would be linked to Mirabel-Dorval by a high-speed, comfortable rail system, one which would leave foreign passengers with the impression this time of a country in the forefront of new technologies.

In conclusion, Mr. Speaker, to ensure that the Toronto and Mirabel-Dorval airports can continue to complement one another and to provide services commensurate with the capital invested, steps must be taken to provide Mirabel with the tools mentioned. Failing this, neither Mirabel nor Dorval, for that matter, will be able to ensure appropriate levels of user services. I am talking about extending Highway 13 from Boisbriand to Mirabel and developing a high-speed train in the Quebec City-Windsor corridor, along with a loop to provide service to Mirabel and Dorval.