House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2015, with 33% of the vote.
Intergovernmental Relations September 18th, 2014
Mr. Speaker, federal transfers to the provinces have reached record levels since we formed the government. Equalization continues to significantly support the entire country, including, of course, the province of Quebec. We will continue to work with the province.
We have worked hard to reduce federal government spending, and that work has been recognized everywhere. We will continue to be excellent partners for the province of Quebec.
Champlain Bridge September 18th, 2014
Mr. Speaker, as we have always said, the studies carried out on the construction of the new bridge over the St. Lawrence will be made public once we have awarded the contract and the bidding process has ended.
Similarly, in the case of Highway 15 and Highway 30, when my colleague was in the Quebec government, some developments, reports, and plans were released subsequently.
We have absolutely nothing to hide, but we will not do anything that will cause an increase in construction costs.
Champlain Bridge September 18th, 2014
Mr. Speaker, the construction of the new bridge will create 30,000 new jobs. That is big for Montreal's economy. Not building a new bridge would have been the worst thing that could have happened to Montreal. We are going to build a bridge that will improve traffic flow and make people proud.
Champlain Bridge September 18th, 2014
Mr. Speaker, the tendering process is under way.
Right now, three consortiums are working on proposals that they will submit to us this spring. The process for building a new bridge over the St. Lawrence is on track. As we announced at the outset, there have been no surprises in the process to date. We intend to have the bridge built on time and even three years earlier than we originally announced.
Infrastructure June 17th, 2014
Mr. Speaker, our Building Canada plan includes several components, which my colleague prefers to forget. There is the community improvement fund, which includes background on the gas tax and the GST credit, amounting to $32 billion. There is the Building Canada fund, which includes $4 billion to support projects of national importance, and $10 billion is reserved for the provinces and territories. We have no lessons to learn from them.
Infrastructure June 17th, 2014
Mr. Speaker, once again, this member is misleading the House. He is not talking about the overall program of the Building Canada fund and the Building Canada plan. We have signed agreements with almost all the provinces to renew the excise tax on gasoline. On Friday of last week, the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans signed the agreement with Minister Vessey in Prince Edward Island.
There are investments across the country and we will continue with the longest and most significant Building Canada plan in the country's history.
Questions on the Order Paper June 12th, 2014
Mr. Speaker, the new Building Canada fund, the NBCF, was officially launched on March 28, 2014. The NBCF consists of the national infrastructure component and the provincial-territorial infrastructure component, which have different application processes.
The $4-billion national infrastructure component, the NIC, provides funding for projects of national significance that have broad public benefits and that contribute to long-term economic growth and prosperity. To apply for funding, proponents must submit a detailed business case to Infrastructure Canada that demonstrates how the project meets the program's objectives and that presents category-specific outcomes and criteria.
The $10 billion provincial-territorial infrastructure component, the PTIC, provides funding to support infrastructure projects of national, regional, and local significance that contribute to objectives related to economic growth, a clean environment, and stronger communities. To support a wide range of infrastructure needs, the PTIC is divided into two sub-components, national and regional projects and the small communities fund.
National and regional projects, or PTIC–NRP, provides $9 billion for projects that are nationally and regionally significant and are predominantly medium- and large-scale in nature. Projects under the NRP component will be jointly identified between Canada and provincial or territorial partners.
The small communities fund, or PTIC–SCF, provides $1 billion for projects in communities with fewer than 100,000 residents. This will ensure that small communities have access to significant funding to support economic prosperity. Provinces and territories will be responsible for identifying and proposing projects for consideration.
In processing parliamentary returns, the government applies the principles set out in the Access to Information Act. Information received in respect of provincial, territorial, or municipal projects that have not been funded cannot be provided, on the grounds that such information was obtained in confidence from the government of a province, territory, or municipality. Likewise, information received from the private sector, including non-governmental organizations, in respect of projects that have not been funded cannot be provided, since such information was obtained in confidence from a third party.
As a result, Infrastructure Canada is not in a position to release information received from potential proponents in respect of projects that are in the process of being considered and have not yet had funding committed.
Members may note that on May 26, 2014, following a successful review of the City of Edmonton’s application, the Government of Canada, partnering with the Government of Alberta and the City of Edmonton, announced that it had set aside up to $150 million for the Valley Line stage 1 light rail transit expansion project in Edmonton under the new Building Canada fund through the provincial-territorial infrastructure component. This marks the first funding announcement since the launch of the new Building Canada fund and brings the total federal contribution to the project to up to $400 million.
Infrastructure June 9th, 2014
Mr. Speaker, we have not broken anything.
I do not know whether the member travels by car much or whether he has seen how much construction is already happening on our roads. There is still $6 billion from the old program being used this year. The excise tax on gasoline is available. We are already open for doing business with the provinces. He is also forgetting that there are jurisdictions to contend with when the provincial and federal governments work together. We are here to support the program and we will deliver.
Infrastructure June 9th, 2014
Mr. Speaker, we have taken the temporary program of the former government and made the gas tax fund permanent. We have made it permanent and we have doubled it. We have indexed it, and the municipalities already know that $32 billion is available for the next 10 years. The member does not speak about this part of the program.
Ethics June 4th, 2014
Mr. Speaker, yes, the RCMP is investigating. We did not wait for the NDP to tell us about it. The letter Z is associated with rental cars in Quebec, however, so maybe this has something to do with renting satellite offices.
That said, I will not comment on RCMP operations. However, we are taking this matter very seriously.