Alexandre Boulerice

[President of the Treasury Board, December 7th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, just because the minister is wearing a Christmas tie, that does not mean that he could play Santa Claus in his riding with $50 million of taxpayers' money. The minister said that the city decided to remove the project. The same city sent two emails indicating that it was the minister who advised it to remove the project. Those are the facts.

Why did the President of the Treasury Board testify in committee if he was going to say things that he knew were false? He has lost all credibility. He no longer has the moral authority to make $4 billion in cuts to our public services. How can Canadians still trust him?

[President of the Treasury Board, December 7th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, that is just another way of avoiding answering questions.

Conservatives deal with many scandals by denying the facts and hoping everyone will just forget. For example, the President of the Treasury Board testified at committee that the G8 port project was removed at the request of the municipality, but we have evidence this is simply not true. It was the Muskoka minister himself who had the project removed from the list.

Could he explain why he came to the committee and then misrepresented such a basic fact?

[Port of Montreal, December 6th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, unfortunately the story of arm twisting and influence peddling continues. The Conservatives are not helping to shed light on the matter.

Here is another conversation between Mr. Poulin and Mr. Accurso:

Mr. Poulin: “...We'll get the information. Now, Soudas, if he can do something, well...”

Mr. Accurso: “What would you see him, Soudas, doing?”

Mr. Poulin: “Because Soudas is the boss in Quebec, the real boss in Quebec.”

What role was played by the Prime Minister's former communications director in the Montreal Port Authority appointments? We want to know.

[Port of Montreal, December 6th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, unfortunately there are many more questions than answers about corruption at the Montreal Port Authority.

This is what Bernard Poulin had to say to Tony Accurso about Leo Housakos: “Leo Housakos is coming to see me...Leo is good not because of his association with Cannon, but with Soudas...If you want, I'll start talking to him if he's ready to get his buddy Soudas involved. His buddy Soudas can twist arms better than anyone else.”

The question is simple: what role did the Conservative party's friend, Leo Housakos, now a senator, play in the Montreal Port Authority appointments?

[Service Canada, December 2nd, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, if there are no national directives, there is a very clear Quebec directive in any case.

It is not just the employees who are deprived of the magic of Christmas in their workplace. The Conservatives also want to deprive hundreds of members of the public of these annual festivities.

By banning any decorations in public areas and in workspaces accessible to clientele”, they are taking away the little joy that sometimes accompanies the too long hours spent waiting in Service Canada offices because there is not enough staff.

One question is bothering me. Did the Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development ask the Minister of Justice to include last-minute amendments in Bill C-10 to impose minimum sentences on everyone who dares to celebrate the Christmas holiday?

[Service Canada, December 2nd, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, unfortunately, that is still quite a bad answer.

Today is December 2. It is snowing. It is beautiful. Children are happy. Walking through the corridors of Parliament this morning, I saw a lot of fir trees. There were little ones, medium-sized ones, big ones, with balls and lights and the whole thing. But my problem this morning is not that there are so many little trees here, it is that in Quebec, in the offices of Service Canada, there are none. They cannot have them thanks to a brilliant directive they have received.

Why do the Conservatives want to rob Service Canada employees of the magic of Christmas? What do they have against celebrating Christmas?

[Safe Streets and Communities Act, November 30th, 2011]

Madam Speaker, I thank the Conservative member for her speech.

I am particularly touched by the fact that she is concerned about the exploitation of workers. Since I have over 10 years of experience working in human rights and the union movement, the topics of abuse and harsh treatment by employers worry me and worry the entire NDP caucus. We are very sensitive to these issues.

This also highlights one of the problems with the omnibus Bill C-10. This omnibus bill has become a sort of an indigestible mess, because it tries to address too many issues and topics that are not at all related. We are forced to take it all and swallow it whole. That is one of our problems with this bill.

I would like my colleague to explain why the Conservatives are saying that we need more prisons, when it has no studies to support this claim and when serious crime is on the decline.

[Government Appointments, November 24th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, it is hard to be convincing when you are not convinced. I would also remind the House that the Prime Minister promised not to appoint any new unelected senators. Yet one of the first things he did after the election was to appoint not one, not two, but three defeated Conservatives to the Senate. By appointing their friends to various positions, the Conservatives are doing exactly the opposite of what they promised Canadians.

Will the Conservatives stop giving their defeated candidates promotions, or will they simply continue this culture of entitlement and giving gifts to their friends?

[Government Appointments, November 24th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, every day Canadians learn of more pork patronage from that out-of-touch government. Today, its defeated Conservative minister, Jean-Pierre Blackburn, could soon be jetting off to UNESCO in Paris thanks to his buddies.

Appointing Conservative friends to important posts undermines all appointments. Why is the government using the Alfonso Gagliano approach to rewarding failed ministers? When will the government clean up appointments and establish a public appointments commission like it promised?

[Copyright Modernization Act, November 24th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for the question. We do not want to leave any stone unturned, because many of the issues regarding Bill C-11 are very important.

The Conservative government would benefit from broader consultation, a broader public discussion. But that does not appear to be what this government wants. Instead, it prefers to steamroll everything and suppress debate. It refuses to discuss things or listen to anyone else. It is unfortunate, because this affects a lot of people in many sectors and many areas of activity in our society. This will be a fundamental issue in the years to come.

We must therefore take the time to conduct a thorough study, look at what is being done in other parts of the world, assess the interests of everyone involved, including creators, consumers and people in academia—both educators and students—and ensure that we have the best, most comprehensive bill possible, one that takes everyone's suggestions into account.