Denis Lebel

[Infrastructure, May 27th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, as a former mayor, I know that with the former Liberal government, there were no shovels in the ground. There are shovels in the ground. Here we are in power, and we will continue to work on that.

That is completely false. Completely false. I can tell members that there will be shovels in the ground this summer, because the former plan will continue to roll, and we have a new plan ready for business.

We already announced yesterday, in Edmonton, an LRT project, a really good one. We will continue to do so.

[Infrastructure, May 26th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, the new Building Canada fund is open for business. I am pleased our Conservative government has announced today that we are supporting a fantastic new transit project in Edmonton, the Valley Line LRT expansion.

I would like to thank the mayor of Edmonton, Don Iveson, for his strong partnership and collaboration.

Our government has been a strong partner of communities across Canada, and we will continue to be.

[Champlain Bridge, May 14th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, as we announced on October 5, 2011, we are moving ahead with our plan to build the new bridge over the St. Lawrence, and we will keep up maintenance on the existing bridge. I want to point out that this member and his party voted against a $380-million investment in maintaining the existing bridge.

The request for qualification period finished on May 7. We are committed to moving forward with the requests for proposals. We are going to build a bridge while they try to play politics.

[Infrastructure, May 13th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, 71% of the funds of the new program go directly to municipalities in our country. That is more than what FCM was asking for at the beginning of the process.

For sure, we will continue to work with the provinces, territories, and municipalities. We do not prioritize the projects; they do that. We will continue to support them. There is $53 billion, $70 billion in 10 years, including the federal investment in our organization in our own buildings, and we will continue to support the municipalities and provinces all across the country.

[Infrastructure, May 13th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, this year, there is still $6 billion of the former program that will flow all across the country this summer. That is already done, and the new program is on its way. We are working with the provinces and territories. FCM was at all the round tables that were held during the process to set up the new program. It knows everything that is going on in the project, and all the information is available on the Infrastructure Canada website.

[Infrastructure, May 13th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, this is incredible. Never in the history of this country has a government done more for infrastructure in Canada than ours. Never.

After the billions and billions of dollars in investments, which the NDP has always voted against, not only does the NDP not understand the programs, it votes against them and then tries to take credit for them. That is the height of irony.

Municipalities and the provinces know full well that the program is working. The money for the Building Canada fund has been available since April 1, and only a few provinces have yet to sign on for the gas tax.

[Infrastructure, May 13th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, the only confusion is in the minds of the NDP. That has been clear from the outset.

Cities know full well that in Quebec, every municipality must first submit its projects to the province. For provinces to receive money from the gas tax fund, they have to sign an agreement. It is simple.

The new government in Quebec is working on the agreement that was provided last November 5. As soon as it is signed, no construction season will be lost. Everyone in Quebec knows that the work will be done--everyone, that is, except the NDP.

[Infrastructure, May 12th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, as we have said before, we do not invest in professional sport infrastructure of any kind. That is clear.

There was some money left over from the old program. The former Government of Quebec had identified the ice oval as a priority in a budget. Priorities are always set by the province. We merely followed the province’s lead. Under the new Building Canada plan, sporting, recreational, and cultural infrastructure projects continue to be eligible for funding, but financial support will now be provided under the gas tax fund. It is up to the City of Laval to make choices and do the work.

[Infrastructure, May 12th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, that is wrong. We have specifically allocated nearly $11 billion under the new Building Canada plan for job-creating infrastructure in Ontario. We will continue to support the provinces and municipalities. However, the provinces make their own priorities.

If it is so serious for the member, I invite him to support this and to vote for it for once.

[Infrastructure, May 12th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, this information is completely false. With the new Building Canada plan, just as the previous one, the provinces prioritize the projects. All of the information required to apply is available online already. The process does not deviate from the previous program that municipalities across Canada know and have used over the past seven years. It is exactly the same.