François Choquette

[Financial Literacy Leader Act, November 8th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I want to congratulate and thank the hon. member for Chambly—Borduas for his excellent speech. Financial literacy is not easy to explain. His concrete examples and the excellent work he did in his riding allowed him to explain to us in detail the importance of this bill.

I have a background in education. It is indeed very important to educate and inform people and to ensure that information is distributed, present and available to them so that they can make better decisions, whether we are talking about seniors or young people, as my colleague rightly said. As far as young people are concerned, this is important in terms of their retirement and the fact that they have a higher debt load because of their maxed-out credit cards that charge exorbitant fees, for example.

The hon. member also mentioned the excellent work done by the committee. This work is not always easy. For example, in the case of Bill C-45, we should have had independent studies in various committees of the profound changes being made to various laws, instead of depending on the power of the Standing Committee on Finance.

I want to congratulate my colleague and ask him the following question. Does he think the bill will help improve Canadians' financial knowledge?

[Questions on the Order Paper, November 7th, 2012]

With regard to VIA Rail passengers with reduced mobility: (a) how many anchoring mechanisms are currently installed per railway car to accommodate persons with reduced mobility; (b) does VIA Rail have a policy on accommodating people with reduced mobility and, if so, what is it; (c) does VIA Rail keep a file concerning accessibility requests for persons with reduced mobility and, if so, how many requests does it receive on average per (i) day, (ii) week, (iii) month, (iv) year; (d) how many accessibility requests for persons with reduced mobility have been received over the past five years; (e) how many complaints has VIA Rail received concerning accessibility for persons with reduced mobility over the past five years; (f) what were the grounds for the complaints to VIA Rail concerning persons with reduced mobility, did VIA Rail take concrete measures to correct the situation and, if so, what were they; (g) what changes does VIA Rail plan to make to its facilities to accommodate groups with more than two travellers with reduced mobility; (h) what is the estimated cost of modifying a railway car to accommodate more than one person with reduced mobility; and (i) are data available on the accessibility of VIA Rail trains for people with reduced mobility compared to other passenger trains elsewhere in the world and, if the data show differences in accessibility, why hasn’t something been done to address these differences?

[World Kindness Day, November 6th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, Tuesday November 13, 2012, is world kindness day. The Drummond branch of the Association québécoise de défense des droits des personnes retraitées et préretraitées, or AQDR, is inviting everyone to use this as an opportunity to take a stand against violence and bullying. We must condemn and fight all forms of bullying—against seniors and young people alike. As a father myself, I have a personal interest in this complex phenomenon.

In my riding, several organizations and stakeholders in the education field have decided to join forces. In fact, the people of Drummond were invited to an event for the prevention of bullying and cyberbullying on October 1, 2012, at the Maison des arts Desjardins Drummondville. I would like to personally congratulate the stakeholders in our community for their incredible contribution, which made the event a resounding success.

As the member of Parliament for Drummond, I am especially proud of this groundswell of solidarity. Thank you to all of the stakeholders and the AQDR Centre-du-Québec. Let us all show just how kind we can be.

[Committees of the House, November 5th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for her speech. These matters are not easy and certainly not very sexy, but they are fundamental to the democratic functioning of our country.

During the study, we examined the question of the Parliamentary Budget Officer, for instance, which had not been examined in earlier studies because the position did not exist.

In my colleague's opinion, would the Parliamentary Budget Officer's resources best be used as a possible avenue for improving our understanding of the estimates?

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, November 5th, 2012]

With regard to the study underway by Environment Canada and the study by the Council of Canadian Economies entitled “Harnessing Science and Technology to Understand the Environmental Impacts of Shale Gas Extraction”: (a) what are the mandates for these studies; (b) what are the deadlines for these studies; (c) will these studies be made public and, if so, what process will be followed to make them public; (d) will the two studies include public consultations and, if so, (i) with what groups, (ii) where, (iii) when; (e) will the two studies include case studies and, if so, (i) what cases will be studied, (ii) will the case studies include affected sites; (f) will the studies consider the role of the federal government under (i) the Indian Act, (ii) the Fisheries Act, (iii) the Navigable Waters Protection Act, (iv) the Migratory Birds Convention Act, (v) the Species at Risk Act, (vi) the Canada National Parks Act, (vii) the Canada National Marine Conservation Areas Act, (viii) the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999; (g) will the studies consider the link between the national conservation plan and shale gas; (h) will the studies examine the impact of shale gas extraction on the greenhouse gas emission targets for 2020; (i) who will receive the results of the study; (j) what parties will be consulted, including (i) groups, (ii) departments, (iii) organizations, (iv) scientists, (v) regions, (vi) associations, (vii) cities, (viii) municipalities, (ix) provinces and territories; (k) will the emissions from the following sources be studied, (i) industrial furnaces, (ii) home furnaces, (iii) stored liquids, (iv) wellhead leaks, (v) ground leaks, (vi) connection equipment; (l) will the studies include (i) direct, (ii) indirect, (iii) cumulative shale gas emissions in their greenhouse gas emissions calculations; (m) which shale gas wells will be studied; (n) will the following incidents related to hydraulic fracturing be studied, (i) the leak at the St-Hyacinthe well, (ii) the well blowout in Alberta, (iii) the earthquake in Ohio, (iv) the wells in Louisiana, (v) the wells in Texas; (o) will the studies consider the impact of shale gas, salt water and injected liquids on (i) surface water, (ii) well water, (iii), groundwater, (iv) waterways (v) air, (vi) the atmosphere; (p) what impacts will be studied in the areas of (i) water quantity, (ii) water quality, (iii) impact on municipalities (iv) impact on communities, (v) impact on Aboriginal peoples, (vi) human health, (vii) animal health, (viii) aquatic flora, (ix) aquatic fauna, (x) terrestrial flora, (xi) terrestrial fauna; (q) what actions have been taken since environmental petition 307 was received by the department on January 12, 2011; and (r) what are the titles of the research projects undertaken by Natural Resources Canada regarding shale gas between 2006 and 2011?

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, November 2nd, 2012]

With regard to specified risk material (SRM): (a) what are the average additional costs assumed by companies subject to SRM requirements; (b) what are the rules for foreign companies, including those in the United States, with regard to SRM; (c) why do rules for imports differ from those for Canadian companies; and (d) does the government have mitigation strategies in place to create a more equitable market for Canadian companies in relation to their international counterparts?

[Petitions, November 1st, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I rise here today to present another petition concerning the use of fracking, better known as hydraulic fracturing, to extract shale gas. That said, there are some other elements involved.

As we know, hydraulic fracturing requires a great deal of water mixed with a lot of chemicals. In fact, one shale gas well can use up to 600 Olympic-size swimming pools of water mixed with one and a half pools of chemicals. That is very troubling.

That is why I am presenting a petition here today on behalf of the Council of Canadians calling on the federal government to take more concrete action on this matter.

[Fisheries and Oceans, October 31st, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I would simply like to remind the hon. member that the Conservatives collected fossil awards at the Rio+20 conference. The Minister of the Environment's shelf holds a collection of environmental fossil awards. It is thus difficult to say that the Conservatives have done what is necessary for the environment.

The most recent budget cuts found in the two mammoth budget bills, Bill C-38 and Bill C-45, show that they have not. These bills make radical cuts to the environment and there is nothing in these bills to protect our marine areas. On the contrary, the Navigable Waters Protection Act has been completely gutted. Canada has also take a major step backward in terms of environmental science. As I mentioned, the Conservatives are making serious cuts in this area. This will do nothing to help protect our oceans. Oceans cover a large portion of our planet. They are the very essence of life. Water is the essence of life, and that is why we must protect it.

According to the hon. member, if the government has done everything it can, why was it given so many fossil awards?

[Fisheries and Oceans, October 31st, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to have this opportunity to talk about a question that I asked on June 19 about the Rio+20 conference and the Conservatives' catastrophic record.

May 22 was the International Day for Biological Diversity, and the United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, issued this appeal: “Rio+20 must galvanize action to improve the management and conservation of oceans.”

Rio+20 was held in June 2012, the 20th anniversary of the Earth Summit. Two very important environmental proposals were on the table, but unfortunately, the Conservatives fiercely opposed them, which angered Canadians and the people in my riding of Drummond.

The first environmental proposal on the table at Rio+20 was to eliminate over $1 billion in subsidies that the Conservatives give every year to fossil fuel companies—both oil and gas companies. The people in my riding are sick and tired of seeing their tax dollars subsidize billion-dollar oil and gas companies. Unfortunately, at Rio+20, the Conservatives opposed that proposal.

The second environmental proposal was to better protect marine biodiversity in extraterritorial waters, as called for by Ban Ki-moon. Instead of protecting our environment and our health, the Conservatives have another agenda. They are continuing the destruction that they began with Bill C-38. Let me remind the House what that bill included: the Conservatives withdrew Canada from the Kyoto protocol; they eliminated the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy; and they abolished the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act.

With Bill C-45, they can do more of the same by attacking the Navigable Waters Protection Act this time. For instance, only 97 lakes and 62 rivers in all of Canada will now be protected. That is unbelievable. This means that 99.7% of lakes and 99.9% of rivers in Canada will not have any protection whatsoever. On top of all that, of the only 97 protected lakes, 89% are located in Conservative ridings, which is even more shocking. Of the remaining rivers, the one that runs through Drummond, the Saint-François River, is not protected. People from Drummond are calling me and asking me what the repercussions of this will be. They are shocked to learn that the river will no longer be protected.

Furthermore, I would like to come back to Fisheries and Oceans Canada and more specifically the Maurice Lamontagne Institute, located in Mont-Joli in the Lower St. Lawrence, which has experienced some cuts. This is another example of the vague budget cuts imposed on Fisheries and Oceans Canada. Near Rimouski, more than 120 scientist jobs are affected, including about 30 that will be eliminated altogether. This important institute is one of the main francophone marine science research centres in the world. As I was saying, it plays a very important role, not only here in Canada, but also around the world.

My question is the following: how can the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans claim that the federal government oversees the sustainable development of the oceans, when it is shamelessly cutting anything to do with the environment, whether it is with Bill C-38 or Bill C-45? Can he show us that he truly cares about protecting the oceans?

[Petitions, October 29th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I have another petition from constituents in my riding and the surrounding areas. It has to do with Environment Canada's chemicals management plan. Currently, we do not know how toxic the chemicals we are using to extract shale gas are. We do not yet know what their impact will be on the environment and on our health.

It will take a long time for the chemicals management plan to work. According to some estimates, we will have to wait until 2020 before we know the hazards of all the chemicals currently being used. In addition, cuts to this plan have been announced in the budget, which will hinder efforts to determine the toxicity of the chemicals. That is why I am presenting this petition.