Denis Lebel

[Intergovernmental Relations, April 1st, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to remind my colleague that federal transfers to Quebec have never in Canadian history been higher than they are today.

In fact, the Government of Canada has transferred $19.4 billion to the Government of Quebec, including over $9.3 billion in equalization payments, all while respecting jurisdictions and working on the future.

We also reduced the GST by 2%. Of course, we are allowing the provinces to recover those points, and we continue to work with them. However, never has Quebec had more support from the federal government than under the leadership of this Prime Minister.

[Infrastructure, March 31st, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, the member should perhaps follow what is happening with this file.

Last June 25, the Prime Minister was in my riding together with Premier Couillard to announce the renewal of the historic agreement with the Quebec government on the gas excise tax.

Every municipality knows how much it will be getting for the next 10 years. The amounts for the next five years were announced previously. The money was transferred to the Quebec government last July and November. The municipalities are well aware of that.

As a former mayor, he should perhaps ask the current mayor.

[Infrastructure, March 31st, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, that is wrong. The hon. member knows that is only for the gas tax fund, which is twice a year. The transfer of monies to the provinces and territories was $2 billion last year, in 2014. It will be more than that in 2015, and he knows that.

Our Conservative government has invested a record amount into public transit across Canada. In Toronto that is the extension of the Toronto-York Spadina subway and the Union Station project; 100% of the gas tax fund of Toronto has been invested in transit, and that is its choice.

[Infrastructure, March 31st, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, I am sure the member's former colleague, the mayor of Montreal, is very proud to hear his colleague saying that the mayor is not doing his job when it comes to Montreal's water pipes. I am sure he must be proud of that.

As hon. members know, we are working in partnership with the municipalities and the provinces. Make no mistake: under the Prime Minister's leadership, our government has invested three times more in infrastructure than the previous Liberal government.

[Quebec Bridge, March 30th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, it is indeed my pleasure to visit the Quebec City area regularly, because not much has changed in Quebec City since the last election, apart from the orange construction cones.

That said, we are working hard for the greater Quebec City area and all regions of Quebec and Canada. We will continue to do our job. We believe it is very important to respect the jurisdictions. We are working with our municipal and provincial partners, rather than centralizing everything in Ottawa, as that party likes to do. That is not what we want.

[Quebec Bridge, March 30th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, we are working on this file with the mayor of Quebec City, Mr. Labeaume; the mayor of the City of Lévis, Mr. Lehouillier; and the Government of Quebec.

The bridge belongs to CN. From the start, we have asked the company to come to the table. We kept our promise.

What has that member done for the Quebec Bridge? One thing: he organized a nice photo contest last summer. What a great way to move things forward. Meanwhile, we invested $75 million to repaint it.

[Infrastructure, March 26th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, the member knows very well from when he was in municipal politics some years ago that there was no support from the federal government, and the Liberals either. There are 26 other members of our caucus who are former municipal politicians. When we talk about municipal politics, we know very well what it is on our side.

We met at 13 meetings across the country to prepare the new building Canada plan with the municipalities, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, and all provincial organizations representing municipalities. We are delivering for them and they know it.

[The Economy, March 26th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, we are keeping a close watch on what is happening in the provinces.

As members know, our government's priority continues to be job creation, long-term prosperity and working in partnership with the provinces.

We will have an excellent budget. The Minister of Finance works on it every day.

[Infrastructure, March 25th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, as we have said before, the new building Canada fund is very important. The infrastructure plan is there.

I will explain the gas tax fund. As a former city councillor, he probably already knows, but I will repeat it. Two times a year, in July and November, we transfer to the provinces and territories the money from the gas tax fund. Two billion dollars a year have been transferred to municipalities and provinces.

[Infrastructure, March 25th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, I met with the mayors of Montreal and Toronto. What did they talk to me about? They talked about infrastructure and they congratulated us on our plan, the longest and largest infrastructure plan in Canada's history. That is why I met with them.