François Choquette

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, March 24th, 2014]

With regard to Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions, specifically the Drummondville regional office: (a) what are the existing standards and procedures to be followed by employees and directors of the regional office to respond to funding requests; (b) what changes have been made to the standards and procedures to be followed by employees and directors of the regional office to respond to funding requests in the past 10 years; (c) in which months of which years were the changes to the standards and procedures to be followed by employees and directors of the regional office to respond to funding requests implemented; (d) what are the existing standards and procedures to be followed by employees and directors of the regional office to respond to meeting requests from MPs’ offices; (e) what changes have been made to the standards and procedures to be followed by employees and directors of the regional office to respond to meeting requests from MPs’ offices in the past 10 years; (f) in which months of which years were the changes to the standards and procedures to be followed by employees and directors of the regional office to respond to meeting requests from MPs’ offices implemented; (g) what is the complete list of meetings between MPs and employees and directors of the regional office in the past 10 years, broken down by year and political affiliation of MPs; (h) what is the complete list of meetings between representatives of MPs and employees and directors of the regional office in the past 10 years, broken down by year and political affiliation of MPs’ representatives; (i) what is the complete list of meetings between former MPs and employees and directors of the regional office on a subject other than a former MP’s business, in the past 10 years, broken down by year; (j) what are the existing standards and procedures to be followed by employees and directors of the regional office to respond to requests for information by phone from MPs’ offices; (k) what changes have been made to the standards and procedures to be followed by employees and directors of the regional office to respond to requests for information by phone from MPs’ offices in the past 10 years; (l) in which month of which years were the changes to the standards and procedures to be followed by employees and directors of the regional office to respond to requests for information by phone from MPs’ offices implemented; (m) what is the complete list of phone communications between MPs and employees and directors of the regional office in the past 10 years, broken down by year and political affiliation of MPs; (n) what is the complete list of phone communications between representatives of MPs and employees and directors of the regional office in the past 10 years, broken down by year and political affiliation of MPs’ representatives; (o) what is the complete list of phone communications between former MPs and employees and directors of the regional office on a subject other than a former MP’s business, in the past 10 years, broken down by year; (p) what are the existing standards and procedures to be followed by employees and directors of the regional office to respond to requests for information by email from MPs’ offices; (q) what changes have been made to the standards and procedures to be followed by employees and directors of the regional office to respond to requests for information by email from MPs’ offices in the past 10 years; (r) in which month of which years were the changes to the standards and procedures to be followed by employees and directors of the regional office to respond to requests for information by email from MPs’ offices implemented; (s) what is the complete list of email communications between MPs and employees and directors of the regional office in the past 10 years, broken down by year and political affiliation of MPs; (t) what is the complete list of email communications between representatives of MPs and employees and directors of the regional office in the past 10 years, broken down by year and political affiliation of MPs’ representatives; and (u) what is the complete list of email communications between former MPs and employees and directors of the regional office on a subject other than a former MP’s business, in the past 10 years, broken down by year?

[Privilege, March 3rd, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I have been listening to the debate and the speeches on this issue for a little while now, and I am stunned by the subject we are discussing.

I think we need to start by saying that what happened and what the member did, what we are talking about right now, is absolutely unacceptable. No one can deliberately lie to the House, then say it was an error in judgment and just apologize. No, this is very serious. We need to understand how something like this can happen in the House of Commons.

It all goes back to the Conservative government's ill intentions. This electoral “deformation” bill, a bill that is very hard to justify, an indefensible bill, is causing problems because the government is using false arguments in an attempt to convince people.

That is the comment I wanted to direct to my hon. colleague about the issue that was raised today.

[Petitions, March 3rd, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, my last petition is from dozens of my constituents who are very upset about the changes coming to Canada Post. Canada will be the only OECD country that will no longer have home mail delivery. Dozens of my constituents are speaking out against that.

[Petitions, March 3rd, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I have another petition signed by people who are opposed to the cancellation of VIA Rail's daily service between Montreal and Halifax.

[Petitions, March 3rd, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I have three petitions to present today.

The first is from my constituents in Drummond who oppose the fact that Drummondville's station was automated. The service is poor as a result, and there are dozens upon dozens of people who are opposed to it.

[The Environment, February 27th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, for many years the Conservatives have been fighting climate change with half measures. We are now beginning to reap the serious consequences of their inaction: the acidification of our oceans is increasing at an alarming rate and our marine ecosystems are dying.

In British Columbia, 10 million scallops died before reaching maturity. I love scallops. A producer in the region has had to scale back production and cut jobs.

Do the Conservatives realize that their inaction is starting to get expensive for the environment and the economy?

[The Environment, February 25th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, first, I would like to say that the only thing historic about what the Conservatives are doing is that environmental groups had to take the Government of Canada to court to say that it was not complying with its own laws. That is historic. Only then did the government finally decide to say that it lost the case and that it should comply with its own laws and protect the sage grouse. That is historic.

Another historic thing is that the government has planned on implementing a national conservation plan for the past two or three years. What are the Conservatives waiting for? The 2015 election? Come on. Let us get going with the national conservation plan. Why wait? They announced it years ago. We did our job at the Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development. Let us get going on this.

As for the money he mentioned, sure there is a lot, but there is very little for protecting endangered species. That is what we are talking about today. Unfortunately there are still more than 500 endangered species for which there is no protection plan. Only seven species currently have a plan. Unfortunately, other environmentalists and citizens will have to take the government to court to get it to fulfill its commitments. That is what I am realizing today.

[The Environment, February 25th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise today on a question I asked in the House quite a while ago. I would like to talk about an important environmental issue: endangered species.

I asked the Minister of the Environment about this several weeks ago, but the minister, who is supposed to make wise decisions about environmental issues, unfortunately did not make good decisions about endangered species. Right now, our ecosystems, our biodiversity and our endangered species are not adequately protected.

According to the minister's answer to my question, the Conservative government is very interested in protecting and preserving our rich biodiversity. She also said that she planned to take urgent measures to protect the sage grouse. This bird has been endangered for a long time. Environmental groups had to pester the government, wearing it down until it agreed to protect this endangered species. That is just a drop in the ocean when it comes to the Conservatives' problems. In Canada, there are 518 endangered species. Fewer than 10 of them are protected. That means there is still a lot of work to do.

Back home, if we get less than 10 correct answers out of 500, that is not good. I have an anecdote. My daughter Ariane is very diligent. She always has to have high marks and sometimes when she gets 56 out of 60, she gets worried because she thinks that mark is not good enough. I tell her not to worry, that it is very good. However, less than 10 out of 518 is not very good. In fact, it is bad.

Unfortunately, this government is not taking a leadership role on the environment. As I was saying earlier, according to the report of Canada's Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development, the Conservative government is currently protecting only 7 out of the 518 species on the list. That is not good. It is a failure.

I will quote a worrisome statement the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development made. Quite recently, he wrote a report on the matter and came to present it to us at the Standing Committee on the Environment and Sustainable Development. The Commissioner mentioned that, to deal with the challenges and meet the government's obligations under the Species at Risk Act, “it will take Environment Canada approximately 10 years to complete its backlog”.

That does not include all the other species that could eventually be put on the list in accordance with the Species at Risk Act, because of everything that is happening, such as climate change. A deputy minister criticized the minister by stating that she is not doing enough. Unfortunately, things seem to go in one ear and out the other.

I will now ask the government my question. I am pleased about the person who will be answering and I hope to have a good answer. In light of the long delays, and the fact that new measures are required in order to meet the obligations of the Species at Risk Act, what new measures will be introduced in the next few days? Why are there no measures in the current budget?

[Michel Gouin, February 13th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to rise in the House to commend the invaluable work of one of my constituents, Michel Gouin. He is the director of the organization Parrainage civique and has put his heart and soul into improving the quality of life of people with intellectual disabilities. His social involvement speaks volumes about how important it is to him that each and every person is fully integrated and involved in our society.

In addition, Michel Gouin is a source of inspiration for our young people. Through his foundation, Fondation Michel Gouin, he promotes healthy living. Last November, he ran more than 320 kilometres, from one capital to another, Ottawa to Drummondville. Yes, Drummondville is considered a capital, although the hon. members likely already knew that.

There is no doubt about it, your projects will help our community grow, Mr. Gouin. Thank you for raising the profile of the greater Drummond area.

[Petitions, February 12th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present a petition from dozens and dozens of people who are opposed to cuts to services at Canada Post.

If Canada Post and the Conservatives move forward with this, Canada will be the only G7 country without home mail delivery. The dozens and hundreds of petitioners are opposed to that, and I support them.