Denis Lebel

[Ethics, April 14th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member just said that the parliamentary budget officer was not telling the truth. That is unbelievable.

The parliamentary budget officer said that he did not have all of the information, but my colleague is saying that his government gave it all to him.

We should not be surprised, since, yesterday, when we asked the Prime Minister about his four companies, he did not want to give us any details. He was very evasive about the whole thing.

What does the Prime Minister have to hide in that regard?

[The Budget, April 14th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, for the past few days, the Prime Minister has wrapped himself in the immaculate cloak of transparency, stating that his government is transparent and comparing our former government to his.

Let us hear from a third party, an independent party. With respect to transparency, the parliamentary budget officer said that he was unable to provide all the data because the government did not give him all the data. He is an independent person.

How can the Prime Minister claim to be transparent?

[The Budget, April 13th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I certainly would not agree with the Prime Minister. Unlike the Liberals, who promised a $10-billion deficit and then presented a $30-billion deficit, we made massive investments while balancing the budget.

It is unfortunate, but we now know that the Liberal's job plan was just an illusion. The number of jobs to be created by their reckless spending was greatly exaggerated in their budget. Canadians are right not to trust this government.

Why did the Prime Minister inflate the number of jobs that the Liberals' spending would supposedly create in Canada's economy?

[The Budget, April 13th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister can talk about the past all he wants, but this week the government announced a $70-billion cut in investments in oil development. He can talk about the past at length, but these people are living in insecurity today.

Many questions were raised after the budget was brought down. The parliamentary budget officer found that the Liberal budget was based on unrealistic assumptions when it comes to growth and that the Minister of Finance omitted crucial data for evaluating Canada's long-term economic growth. The Liberals still keep talking about transparency.

What is going on?

[Infrastructure, April 12th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, we delivered the largest infrastructure plan in Canadian history on two separate occasions. We increased and doubled investments while still balancing the budget, not borrowing from the future.

The money that will be invested this year is money from the program we put in place, because we respect provincial jurisdictions. As for the funding announced for public transit and social housing, I will come back to that later. However, those are exclusively under provincial jurisdiction. The parliamentary budget officer said that he was missing some information that prevented him from completing and having accurate figures on the economy.

How can the Prime Minister claim that he is being transparent, when he is not providing all the information—

[Infrastructure, April 12th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, we now know that the Liberal government is going to borrow $30 billion, money that will be paid back by Canadians who are not yet born.

During the last election campaign, at a photo op in a crane, the Prime Minister promised a lot of money for infrastructure. In this budget, very little money will go to roads, highways, or public transit.

How can the Prime Minister say that he will run a $30-billion deficit on infrastructure, when there is only $2.9 billion in new money for infrastructure in this budget?

[Infrastructure, April 11th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, that is money we already had in our plan. The former government already had a plan for $75 billion. The Liberals promised a lot, but they do not deliver. That will be delivered after 2019. They do not respect what they said in the campaign.

Furthermore, they are going to borrow $100 billion over four years. How does this government plan on returning to a balanced budget?

[Infrastructure, April 11th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals are going to borrow $30 billion we do not have to invest in what they claim to be infrastructure projects.

However, very little of this money will be invested in roads, public transit, or the promises they made during the election campaign. In their latest budget, the Liberals spend this money on other things, on expenses that will become recurring. Canadians are now realizing that they cannot trust this government.

How can the Prime Minister justify a $30-billion deficit while claiming to invest in infrastructure, when that is not what he is spending it on? How does he explain that?

[Jean Lapierre, April 11th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, on March 29, a terrible tragedy took place in the Magdalen Islands. It claimed the life of my friend. Many of us lost a friend or former colleague. Quebeckers lost a man who listened to them, and Canadians lost an exceptional human being.

Jean Lapierre was passionate about politics and cared deeply about people. Elected to Canada's Parliament at 23 years of age, he began to pursue his passion and ambition early in life. Over the course of his career, Canadians came to know him as an outstanding communicator who made politics accessible and certainly made our world more accessible and easier to understand.

On a personal level, I appreciated his energy and honesty. Although I did not always like the comments he shared with me, I appreciated them because he always said what he was thinking, and he did so sincerely and with conviction.

We all know that Jean Lapierre was a great Magdalen Islander. Throughout his entire life, he did his work with dignity and dedication. His sole purpose was to serve the people well.

On behalf of all members of the official opposition, I humbly offer my most sincere condolences to the families of the seven who lost their lives. Of course, our thoughts, prayers, and sympathy go out to Jean Lapierre's mother in particular. Until we meet again, Jean.

[The Budget, April 11th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals are bragging about how the former Liberal government supposedly left behind a surplus. At the time, they had taken nearly $60 billion from the employment insurance fund and put it into government operations.

Furthermore, they had made massive cuts to provincial health and education transfers to balance their budget.

Would the leader of the official opposition talk about whether these kinds of practices were used when she was in government? Did we cut provincial transfers to balance our budget, or did we take other measures?