House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2015, with 33% of the vote.
Champlain Bridge November 5th, 2014
Mr. Speaker, the premise of that question is false. The current Champlain Bridge is being properly maintained in partnership with The Jacques Cartier and Champlain Bridges Incorporated. The NDP voted against the hundreds of millions of dollars we are putting into maintaining the bridge, and then they say that Champlain is important to them. They have stood back and done nothing but complain. We will continue our work on the new bridge over the St. Lawrence.
Champlain Bridge November 5th, 2014
Mr. Speaker, our government would never jeopardize anyone's historical recognition. It is wrong to pit historical figures against each other, and our government would never do that.
That being said, what we will do is build a bridge, a bridge that was not maintained while the Liberals were in power. We made that announcement on October 5, 2011. We will have the bridge built on time and it will be ready for the greater Montreal area in 2018.
Champlain Bridge November 4th, 2014
Mr. Speaker, of course we are aware of the concerns about the name of the bridge to be built across the St. Lawrence.
No decision has been made yet, and I think it is a shame that anyone would attempt to pit two great historical figures, Samuel de Champlain and Maurice Richard, against each other.
If the member were really so proud of the Champlain Bridge, he would have maintained it when he was responsible for it.
Infrastructure October 28th, 2014
Mr. Speaker, I am a former mayor. I do not need a lecture from the member about how things work in a city. I know that before our government there was very little money available for cities and for infrastructure in this country. Since we came to power, we have significantly increased support for our municipalities, and we will continue to do so. Announcements are happening all across the country. I am proud of our government and of our Prime Minister.
Infrastructure October 28th, 2014
Mr. Speaker, first I have to congratulate the people who have been elected yesterday in the municipal elections. We are happy to work with them and we will continue to work with them.
We have tripled federal infrastructure investments since we took office. For the next 10 years, that is $53 billion that municipalities can count on.
In respect of jurisdiction, we will not manage everything in Ottawa. We will work with provinces and municipalities.
Infrastructure October 10th, 2014
Mr. Speaker, the solution for the NDP is to centralize everything in Ottawa. That is its solution.
I have a list. The Evergreen Line in Vancouver was $350 million. The Surrey maintenance facility was $2.5 million. The Kamloops transit maintenance facility was $4 million. Kelowna transit maintenance was $2 million. SkyTrain security was $30 million. That is a long list, which has never been done before.
Infrastructure October 10th, 2014
Mr. Speaker, with the transfer of the excise tax on gasoline alone, the federal government has transferred $600 million to the Province of Quebec to be divvied up among the public transit organizations. The figure the hon. member gave is therefore incorrect.
What is more, CUTA, a public transit organization, acknowledged that no government has ever done as much for the country as ours.
Infrastructure October 10th, 2014
Mr. Speaker, never before has a government in Canada invested more in public transit. We are investing in partnership with the provinces and municipalities, while respecting their respective jurisdictions. Meanwhile, the NDP wants to centralize everything in Ottawa.
Another interesting thing that came out of this poll, is that the users prefer to pay a toll. The NDP members have never understood how that works.
Infrastructure October 9th, 2014
Mr. Speaker, never has a government before ours invested so much in public transit.
The NDP wants to manage everything in Ottawa. It wants to centralize everything in Ottawa.
We want to respect jurisdiction. We want to respect provinces and municipal entities that are managing their own issues. We will continue to support them.
Infrastructure September 30th, 2014
Mr. Speaker, obviously our priority is to build the new bridge over the St. Lawrence, as we said. We will deliver a new bridge in 2018. We said there would be a toll on the bridge.
Enough with the speculation and theories. We always said that we would be transparent, and that is what we will do. The tendering process is under way, and three consortiums will submit a proposal to build the new bridge. It did not take our government 13 years to do this. We are getting the new bridge built.