House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2011, with 49% of the vote.
Infrastructure October 22nd, 2009
Mr. Speaker, the contracting out for the Champlain Bridge repairs is handled by a company that is independent of this government. It is an independent crown corporation, namely, Jacques Cartier and Champlain Bridges Incorporated. The process was fair, open and transparent. If there are any legitimate accusations, I invite members to bring them forward outside of this House. However, no one will, because they are all talk.
Infrastructure October 22nd, 2009
Mr. Speaker, we have been listening to baseless accusations here since the beginning of the week. I repeat: if they have any serious accusations, they should make them outside the House. An independent crown corporation awards the contracts in a fair, open, transparent process.
Infrastructure October 22nd, 2009
Mr. Speaker, the contracts for repairs to the Champlain Bridge are awarded by an independent crown corporation, Jacques Cartier and Champlain Bridges Incorporated.
The process was fair, open and transparent, and there was no involvement by any minister's office. If my colleague wants to make accusations outside the House, he is free to do so.
Government Spending October 21st, 2009
Mr. Speaker, we are going through an unprecedented economic crisis. We made a commitment to stimulate the economy, and that is what we are doing. We have an economic action plan that will be in effect for the next two years, until March 31, 2011. That is good news.
The municipalities and the provincial governments are all happy about that. I was in Bromont again recently, in the riding of Brome—Missisquoi, an opposition riding, to announce a major knowledge infrastructure project. Do you know what? If we took the logic of the member for that riding to the extreme, there never would have been any announcement, because they voted against these investments.
Justice October 21st, 2009
Mr. Speaker, the opposition could explain why it is only offering half measures to victims of crime. We will be looking after the victims of crime. We announced some good news yesterday: a bill with minimum sentences of two years imprisonment for fraud in excess of $1 million no matter the number of victims. It will include aggravating factors and prohibition orders. We will introduce reforms with respect to release after serving one-sixth of a sentence, reforms that will be much more comprehensive than those presented by the Bloc. We listen to the victims, we listen to the people and we take action.
Infrastructure October 21st, 2009
Mr. Speaker, that is unbelievable. Finally there is a government showing some political leadership with respect to the Champlain bridge. The government rolled up its sleeves and said it would take care of things. The opposition is trying to undermine our work with all kinds of baseless accusations. Once again, I dare the opposition to raise these accusations outside of the House.
Infrastructure October 21st, 2009
If the opposition members find that so funny, they should level their accusations outside of the House.
Infrastructure October 21st, 2009
Mr. Speaker, I would like to remind the member that in our budget—which she herself supported—we allocated $212 million to the Champlain bridge. An independent corporation—The Jacques Cartier and Champlain Bridges Incorporated—took it from there and issued a fair, open and transparent call for tenders. There was no political interference, and no minister's office was involved.
Justice October 21st, 2009
Mr. Speaker, I can say that we announced good news yesterday. There were victims present. The public in general is very pleased with what was announced: minimum sentences of two years for fraud over $1 million, no matter the number of victims. I challenge the opposition members to look the victims in the eyes and tell them that they will oppose the bill because it goes against their narrow ideology to impose minimum sentences. That is shameful. It gives inappropriate and undesirable results, as we have just seen.
Justice October 21st, 2009
Mr. Speaker, we are aware of the extent and the seriousness of this situation. We know that the Bloc members went out one morning, checked which way the wind was blowing and decided to come back with an ad hoc and ill-considered measure.
There is nothing new about wanting to change the one-sixth of the sentence provision. Our government has always said that it is an aberration and we are working on it.
Reform will be introduced shortly but we will not be proposing measures based on magical thinking, as our colleagues opposite have just done.