Mr. Speaker, that is wrong and he knows it—
House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2015, with 33% of the vote.
Infrastructure April 7th, 2014
Mr. Speaker, that is wrong and he knows it—
Infrastructure April 7th, 2014
Once again, Mr. Speaker, the opposition is misleading the House. Canadian municipalities will have access to over 71% of the building Canada plan. That is a lot of components. The opposition wants to use only one of these components.
Never have we had, for so long, so much money involved in infrastructure than with this government.
Infrastructure April 4th, 2014
Mr. Speaker, the member can make up all the stories he likes, but he is completely mistaken. The infrastructure plan that we just tabled is the longest and biggest in Canadian history.
The gas tax, the GST rebate, the national infrastructure fund, the infrastructure fund projects with the provinces and territories and the part involving public-private partnerships will all help municipalities build infrastructure. The government is investing over $2 billion a year. We did not make cuts to the fund as the member is claiming.
Infrastructure April 4th, 2014
Mr. Speaker, he talks about the building Canada plan. That is the building Canada plan.
Once again, the opposition is misleading the House. Canadian municipalities will have access to over 71% of the new fund in the building Canada plan, and that is $53 billion over 10 years. The largest component of the new plan is the gas tax fund. He is not speaking about that. It is 100% dedicated to municipalities.
Infrastructure April 4th, 2014
Mr. Speaker, what the member said is completely false. The infrastructure plan consists of a number of components. He wants to isolate just one to make himself look good, but what he is saying is incorrect.
Canada's municipalities are already benefiting from the gas tax, which brings in $2 billion a year. We indexed it, we doubled it and we made it permanent. These are unprecedented measures.
Champlain Bridge April 1st, 2014
Mr. Speaker, the preamble to the member's question was incorrect. We had more than 80 meetings with representatives from the Government of Quebec, more than 80 meetings with municipal representatives and just as many meetings with business people. We were extremely proud to see that 400 companies came to the open house for information yesterday. We want the bridge project to come in on time and on budget.
Infrastructure April 1st, 2014
Mr. Speaker, the member knows well that he is talking about one of the four components of the building Canada plan. He knows that very well. He does not talk about the gas tax fund and the GST rebate, which represent $32 billion that are available for municipalities. He does not talk about those things. He does not talk about the national infrastructure component. That is the biggest plan ever for this country.
Infrastructure April 1st, 2014
Mr. Speaker, once again the second opposition party is misleading the House. Canadian municipalities have access to 71% of all the programs. This program is $70 billion for 10 years. They only want to take a part of that. We have to consider the whole plan, and that statement is untrue.
Infrastructure March 31st, 2014
Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my hon. colleague for his work on this issue. We promised that the new building Canada plan would be in place by the end of March. It is. The new fund became effective last Friday.
The provinces, territories and municipalities can submit projects. This marks the end of a long consultation process that began in 2011. Round tables and consultations were held across the country. Our provincial, territorial and municipal partners will be able to take advantage of federal support totalling $53 billion over the next decade for infrastructure priorities. This is unprecedented in our nation's history.
Infrastructure March 31st, 2014
Mr. Speaker, on October 5, 2011, when we made the announcement about the new bridge over the St. Lawrence, we announced that a toll would be charged as part of a public-private partnership and that public transit would use the new bridge.
Nothing has changed. This is certainly no surprise for my colleague. The New Democrats had already said that they would be prepared to consider a toll.