House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2011, with 49% of the vote.
The Environment May 13th, 2009
Mr. Speaker, that is rather ironic. Others stand there and criticize, as my colleague has done for so long. But on this side we have taken action.
In the 2009 budget, $1 billion was allocated to a green infrastructure fund in order to finance tangible projects that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
But what happened once again? The Bloc voted against it. That is shameful.
The Environment May 13th, 2009
Mr. Speaker, our government has a realistic and clear plan with achievable targets. This is what it is working toward, within an international, continental and national approach.
I would remind our colleagues that Quebec obtained $350 million through a trust, when it had asked for only $325 million. We sat down with Quebec and asked ourselves how that goal could be achieved. Their approach is territorial, and their objectives are ambitious. We salute them for it.
To say that we are hindering Quebec is an untruth. What we are doing is giving it a boost.
Goods and Services Tax April 28th, 2009
Mr. Speaker, it is terrible to say such things. Since we came to power, there has been open federalism. Who corrected the fiscal imbalance? This Minister of Finance did, in budget 2007. Who gave Quebec a seat at UNESCO? The Conservative government. Promises made; promises kept.
That being said, we committed to negotiating in good faith, and that is what we will do. I wish they would stop exaggerating all kinds of problems in an attempt to destroy the federation. That is not what people want. Most Quebeckers want Quebec to remain within Canada.
Goods and Services Tax April 28th, 2009
Mr. Speaker, my colleague was talking about the harmonization issue. Let us be clear. Quebec sent signals that it was open to complete harmonization. As we have said, we will negotiate in good faith. This is not about disagreement; it is about commitment in good faith.
Goods and Services Tax April 28th, 2009
Mr. Speaker, that is not it at all. The federal government and Quebec already have an agreement whereby Quebec collects the federal tax. That is why Quebec has received nearly $2 billion—$1.77 billion, to be exact.
Quebec sent signals that it was prepared to fully harmonize its tax. Since then, our position has not changed: we are prepared to negotiate in good faith.
Business of Supply April 28th, 2009
Mr. Speaker, as I already mentioned, the Quebec government manages the collection of both the QST and the GST. The federal government paid Quebec $130 million every year, for a total close to $2 billion.
This debate is proceeding in good faith. We also want to negotiate in good faith. If Bloc Québecois members only hear what they want to hear, if they are looking for all negative aspects of this file in order to advance their own agenda, that is unfortunate because this does not lead to a meaningful debate. As for accusing Quebec colleagues or one party of acting in bad faith, the voters should start asking questions. This is what makes people cynical.
Business of Supply April 28th, 2009
Mr. Speaker, frankly, such assertions simply have no appeal. We will not have it said that people here are working in bad faith. My colleague should take that back. I invite him to show respect for the voters. That is democracy. We have heard enough of that. Can he not get it into his head, along with his party, that not all Quebeckers think like the Bloc Québécois? At some point, enough is enough.
Debates take place here. First of all, the member is practically asking us to negotiate with him here, but he is not the Government of Quebec. He is a member of a sovereignist party that does not want to see Canada work. The avowed goal of these people is to diminish the federal government to the point where it will cease to exist. Moreover, they bring forward all the matters that cause problems because they do not want a strong Quebec in a united Canada, with a blossoming Quebec. Therefore they look for all kinds of excuses, going so far as to accuse their colleagues of bad faith. That does not make any kind of sense.
That said, there is a fiscal framework in Quebec. The province collects its own tax, and it also collects the GST. Since 1992, the federal government has paid $130 million to Quebec, and that is a special framework. At present, the taxes are not fully harmonized.
If Quebec signifies that it wants to fully harmonize taxes, we are committed to negotiating in good faith. Just because we do not share the political ideology of the member opposite, it is not impossible. Let him stop spouting such nonsense and let him engage in intelligent debate here in the House.
Business of Supply April 28th, 2009
Mr. Speaker, many different points of view have been expressed during this debate. Some say the tax has been harmonized from the beginning, while others think it must be completely harmonized. We have been wrongfully accused of not recognizing the harmonization, while in Quebec, the then finance minister, Mrs. Jérôme-Forget, said that it may indeed not have been completely harmonized.
As I said earlier, we are committed to starting from there and negotiating in good faith. If everything was settled, there would be no negotiation because there would not be any problem. So we say that there are indeed things to look at. My colleague identified a few. From there, the finance ministers have a responsibility to examine the situation, to find the right way to address this issue and to negotiate in good faith.
Our government has always said that we want things to work and we are ready to negotiate in good faith.
Business of Supply April 28th, 2009
Mr. Speaker, I would encourage my colleague to listen more closely because I did talk about harmonization. I have been talking about it from the outset. As my colleague, the member for Charlesbourg just said, the motion also refers to negotiating in good faith. That is exactly what I am explaining and it is exactly what I reiterated at the outset: we will negotiate in good faith when Quebec has completely harmonized its tax. The negotiations are not being conducted here in the House with the Bloc Québécois, they are being conducted with the National Assembly of Quebec.
I come back to this because it is important. The Premier of Quebec recently said himself, in the National Assembly of Quebec, this kind of issue is not something to be negotiated in the public arena.
Not all Quebeckers think like the Bloc Québécois or like my colleague. The Bloc can raise all the points of order they like, but they cannot stand up every time they do not like something and try to sabotage a speech or an argument coming from an opposing party. That shows a lack of respect, and I hope my colleagues will beware. They want to introduce a motion in the House to be debated, so let them allow people to debate it.
Returning to my speech, I said that the Bloc is a sovereignist party. The Bloc does not want Canada to succeed. The Bloc does not want things to work in Canada. The Bloc starts from the premise that they want Canada to fail.
We in the Conservative party want Canada to serve the Quebec nation well, as it serves the other regions of Canada. We want Canada to work. We start from that premise. We are not the only ones who want a federal government that respects Quebec. We are not the only ones who want constructive dialogue between Quebec and Ottawa. A majority of Quebeckers want that. There is a federalist government in Quebec that wants to see the country work.
I know that does not make my colleagues in the Bloc happy and it frustrates them, because if the Parti Québécois were in government in Quebec it would be very difficult to find common ground on a host of issues. But that is not the situation at present.
The Bloc wants to have a partner in Quebec so it can try to show Quebeckers that it is not possible to have a strong Quebec in a united Canada that works for everyone, that it is not possible to have a federal government that respects the powers of the provinces.
As I said, and I will repeat, there is a federalist government in Quebec that says, as we do, that it will not negotiate this issue in the public arena.
The Bloc is frustrated because they are not getting what they want. In Quebec, there is a government that wants it to work.
As I said, we in the Conservative government share that ambition. We are acting on that basis. That is why I am going to repeat what I have said several times regarding harmonization: we are going to act in good faith in this matter.
Unlike my Liberal colleagues, who are always trying to centralize everything and say no to Quebec even before discussing anything, and unlike my colleagues in the Bloc who fight like the devil to try, wrongly, to show that the country is not working, we in the Conservative government want it to work. We act in good faith and we are entering talks with Quebec on that basis.
Business of Supply April 28th, 2009
Mr. Speaker, I encourage my colleague to pay more attention. I talked about harmonization.