Annick Papillon

[Canadian Heritage, May 12th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, that was in the budget, but Quebec City is still waiting to see whether the 2017 Tall Ships Regatta will finally get the money they were promised. The mayor of Quebec City is getting impatient. An agreement was to be signed before February. That was pushed back to the end of April. Now we find out that it has been pushed back even further. This is a mess, all because the government has not determined the amount of its contribution.

This is the eleventh hour. Will the government pick up the phone and reassure the organizers so that they can finally move forward with their plans?

[Ethics, May 7th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, where I come from, when someone does not answer the question, we say it is because they have something to hide.

The Prime Minister's Office received the Deloitte report on the inappropriate expenses of several senators, according to Mr. O'Brien, but this report was confidential, which means that it is intended for a limited number of people.

Who in the Prime Minister's Office had access to the report before it was officially tabled in the Senate committee?

[Ethics, May 7th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, on this side of the House we focus on government affairs. The Prime Minister's Office seemed much more concerned about Senate affairs than government affairs.

Corporal Jolette revealed that the Prime Minister's Office communicated frequently with a number of senators involved in Senate committees. It just so happens that these senators were discussing the content of the Deloitte report on the expenses of three senators.

Can the Prime Minister explain why his office was so interested in the Deloitte report?

[Tourism Industry, May 5th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives sat on their hands when American tourists started deserting Canada. The Minister of State for Small Business and Tourism even boasted about cutting the budget of the Canadian Tourism Commission, an agency that helps promote our industry abroad.

This morning I moved a motion at the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology to point out that in Quebec City alone, tourism employs 15,000 people. It employs 600,000 people throughout Canada.

We want a number. Can the Conservatives tell us how much they will invest in order to repair the damage they have done?

[Quebec Bridge, May 4th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, that is nonsense. This government, and that member in particular, have no credible arguments.

They have no credible arguments regarding the bridge. Even though they announced that they were allocating money, they are hiding behind CN. They are not taking action. That is money that we will never see in Quebec City.

They are hiding behind CN, saying that their hands are tied because CN is the owner. Get real. Has the government become so bad that it cannot take action when someone else is the owner? I guess it cannot create legislation to protect infrastructure. After all, it is just the Canadian government. It could not possibly get involved in the affairs of multinationals.

I deplore what was said and I am very disappointed in my Canada.

[Quebec Bridge, May 4th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise in the House on behalf of Québec, the most beautiful riding, which I am fortunate enough to represent.

As members know, I have brought up a number of topics in the House. Everyone will certainly recall the Quebec City marine rescue sub-centre, which I saved after two and a half years of hard work. I pressed the Conservatives and forced them to take action because it did not make any sense to hang the sword of Damocles over the only officially bilingual centre in the country. That is what we must remember. This was obviously a success for me, and getting the Conservatives to reconsider their decision was a success for the NDP. We can now trust that the Quebec City marine rescue sub-centre will be there to save lives. That is a big deal.

Of course, I have worked on other files. For example, there is the Quebec City armoury, which I am pleased to know will finally be getting off the ground. This is no easy task, since it burned down in April 2008. It is now May 2015 and we are waiting for the backhoe loader to show up. We know it is coming. The tendering process has started. Little by little the Conservatives are starting to budge, but they keep turning this into a campaign issue, saying that they will take care of it. It has been a long time. We really need to push this.

I would also like to comment on the Quebec Bridge. In the Conservatives' latest budget, there is nothing at all about the Quebec Bridge. About 60% of the bridge is covered with rust. Its integrity is compromised. It is Quebec City's trademark. It is an incredible architectural feat and an icon of our heritage, a symbol of our beautiful city. Unfortunately, the government is slow and is hiding behind CN and the courts. It is doing nothing to protect this infrastructure. People in Quebec City are very worried, of course. They hope the government will respond. People were very sad to see that, unfortunately, there is nothing about it in the budget and nothing for the Port of Québec either. As everyone knows, the Port of Québec has some issues related to health concerns. These concerns have not been addressed. There have been several dust incidents. Nobody knows if the port will be able to upgrade its infrastructure given the needs.

Quebec City is a sort of peninsula jutting out into the St. Lawrence River. Windy weather hits Quebec City hard. We have unbelievable winds. We also have very high tides. As a result of all of these factors, the episodes of dust can cause pollution in my colleague's riding of Limoilou, but also in Old Quebec and even Lévis, on the south shore, which is our Conservative opponents' territory. We must do something about this. Unfortunately, once again, there was nothing in this budget regarding the Port of Québec.

The only thing there was in the most recent budget—and I am going to take credit for it—has to do with the Quebec City tall ships. I hounded the Conservatives non-stop and we finally managed to get something in the budget, an investment. Unfortunately, we are still waiting for the details and so I am asking the Conservatives to give us some more information.

[Consumer Protection, April 30th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, I want to set the record straight. Under the Conservatives, Canadians are working more, but a majority of them are living from paycheque to paycheque and are not in a position to save.

Although Canadian banks are earning record profits in the billions of dollars, they are not satisfied and always want more. Now, customers will be charged fees to pay their mortgage, and transactions are costing all Canadians more and more. Enough is enough.

Will the Conservatives finally stand up for the middle class and hold their banker friends accountable?

[Consumer Protection, April 29th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, under the Conservatives, Canadians are working more and more, but still cannot manage to save any money.

Despite record profits in the billions of dollars, Canadian banks are now going to charge new bank fees. After making customers pay for paper statements, they are going to be double-dipping on their customers' mortgage payments.

Are the Conservatives going to give in again to pressure from their banker friends, or will they finally stand up for the middle class?

[Status of Women, April 23rd, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, it is with great pride that I rise in the House of Commons today to mark the 75th anniversary of women's right to vote in Quebec.

The NDP would like to pay tribute to all of those women who, through their courage, tenacity and conviction, managed to beat down the misogyny and conservatism that prevailed at the time. We also want to pay tribute to the courageous men with vision who supported them in their efforts.

Currently, only one political party has managed to achieve the level of equality that was so desired. In the last election, 40% of those elected to the NDP were women. Many of them are young women, who have forever changed the image of this Parliament, proving that balancing work and family is possible, even at the most senior levels.

Although the Prime Minister has abolished the Thérèse Casgrain Volunteer Award, only to replace it with his own award, the NDP promises to restore this amazing woman's sterling reputation.

Happy anniversary to the women of Quebec.

[Canadian Heritage, April 20th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, Quebec City's files clearly do not move quickly when they are on Conservative ministers' desks. The clock is ticking for the organizers of the 2017 Tall Ships Regatta in Quebec City. If federal funding is not confirmed by the end of the week, this project will sink. There is no way to improvise and extend the deadline once again, as they did for the armoury.

Will the Conservatives finally listen to the demands of the people of Quebec City? Will Quebec City finally see funding for the Tall Ships Regatta in tomorrow's budget?