François Lapointe

[Regional Economic Development, November 8th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, mourning will take time, but the very courageous people of Lac-Mégantic are ready to rebuild.

Business people will be part of the solution, but many of them are struggling right now because the town's commercial core was decimated by the tragedy.

Will the Minister of the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec listen to the chamber of commerce and business people in the Mégantic region and set up a special funding program to help businesses get back on their feet, in addition to the decontamination and reconstruction budget that has already been announced?

[Business of Supply, November 7th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, just as my colleague was concluding his inspired, well-structured and well-argued speech, the first comment I heard from the other side of the House was “same old crap”. We are talking about a complicated issue here. We are talking about non-renewable resources. We need to examine the environmental regulatory framework and the matter of value added because we are talking about a non-renewable resource. It is not “crappy”, it is crucial.

In fact, it is so crucial that I would like to ask my colleague a question.

Does he have more of what is being called “crap” by the other side?

[Business of Supply, November 7th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, one question comes to mind following my hon. colleague's remarks. What people need to understand is that there is no longer any difference between the Liberal and Conservative positions—absolutely no difference, zero. The Liberals are simply saying that the Conservatives inadvertently made a couple of statements that did not come out the right way when they were in the United States. That is the only argument they have left.

Let us be clear: all complex questions in relation to the environmental framework have gone out the window. Now the Liberals are on their side. That is why there can be no progress on the natural resources file. No one trusts this black-and-white thinking when it comes to resource development.

[Business of Supply, November 7th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I found the Liberal leader's remarks in Washington last December quite disturbing.

Not long ago, the Obama administration clearly stated that before even beginning to consider the project, it would have to ensure that environmental parameters were in place. Right after that, the Liberal leader expressed his unequivocal support for the project and made some pretty harsh comments about the positions environmental groups have taken on the issue. That was a major misstep for a leader who claims to care about the environment. How can he possibly justify such statements?

To top it all, the next day, the Liberals asked a question in the House about the need for a better environmental framework. I would suggest that next time, the Liberals think before they act, especially when they are in other countries.

[Canadian Museum of History Act, October 30th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I will be quick. I will share my time with a colleague if this debate comes up again in the coming weeks or months.

I am honoured to rise and speak to Bill C-7, especially since I recently had the pleasure of being appointed to the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage. It will be my pleasure to contribute to the excellent work already done by my colleague from Longueuil—Pierre-Boucher, who is the official opposition's heritage critic.

Bill C-7 amends the Museums Act in order to establish the Canadian museum of history and makes consequential amendments to other acts. We will oppose this bill at third reading for several reasons. I will have time to speak about a few of those reasons today.

The Canadian Museum of Civilization, as it stands now with its current mandate, is the most popular museum in Canada based on number of visitors. Its temporary exhibits on world cultures make it a huge tourist draw in the Ottawa-Gatineau region.

I will quickly go over the change in the museum's mandate because I have very little time. The current mandate dates back to 1990. The mandate of the British Museum in England must be 140 years old. It is completely ridiculous to claim that the museum needs a new mandate because museum mandates apparently expire.

In 1990, the museum was given the mandate to increase, throughout Canada and internationally, interest in, knowledge and critical understanding of and appreciation and respect for human cultural achievements and human behaviour.

The new mandate is an impoverished one. It does not include the idea of critical understanding. No longer is there the idea of increasing knowledge throughout Canada and internationally. This idea has been replaced by enhancing Canadians' understanding and appreciation of events, experiences, people and objects.

The whole notion of knowledge and critical understanding, based on better knowledge of events, is gone. The government has gotten rid of the notions of knowledge and the context of global knowledge. That is it. We are moving on to something else, Canadians only. The government is caught up in the Conservative vision of Canadian history, all heroes and major events. The social aspect is completely gone.

What do the Conservatives have against scientific facts and knowledge?

For example, we saw that the Conservatives laid off 80% of Parks Canada's archaeologists. They are shutting down the Maurice Lamontagne Institute, a marine science research centre located in Mont-Joli, in my riding. The purpose of the centre was to provide the government with scientific information in order to help preserve marine life.

It is important to remind the House that this decision goes against the recommendations made by the Commissioner of Official Languages, but that the government will go forward with it all the same.

The Conservatives did away with the national archival development program, which slowed down the work of the archives in communities such as Rivière-du-Loup. These community archives take care of collecting, classifying and conserving the records of all sorts of organizations, businesses, families and associations, thereby building a collective memory and an identity in the regions.

I cannot help but question whether the government's decision to change the Canadian Museum of Civilization into a national history museum is sound. The government's decisions have been very hard on the entire network that works to preserve a national memory.

I do not have much time left, so I will get right to the reasons why we oppose this bill.

The proposed mandate puts an end to the museum's social approach to history. The decision was made without consulting the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage when it was examining Canada's 150th anniversary celebrations and without consulting stakeholders in the Outaouais region, historians or the first nations. No one was consulted.

The few consultations that were held were very tightly controlled and did not allow Canadians to question the decision to change the museum's mandate.

The $25 million for renovations was taken directly from the Canadian Heritage budget. The minister refused to explain where the money in question was coming from. It is very worrisome.

Canadians have reason to fear that the history museum will present a monolithic view of Canadian history that is not representative of Canada's diversity and the diversity of societies throughout the world, which we have had the chance to see at the museum for 20 years now.

For all of these reasons and a number of others that I do not have time to list today, we will oppose Bill C-7 and, until the end of this unfortunate process, we will continue to ask that the Museum of Civilization's current mandate be maintained.

[Transport, October 25th, 2013]

Give me a break, Mr. Speaker. Is it possible to have an even more vacuous reply next time and to be given even less information?

We need a commitment now. Too many families have lost loved ones on Highway 185. Instead of sitting back and putting the ball in Quebec's court, the federal government has an opportunity to show leadership. The minister can be proactive and sign a federal-provincial funding agreement right now. She can confirm the federal government's participation and be prepared when the province is ready to move forward.

Accordingly, can the minister guarantee right now that the federal government will participate in this phase, just as it did in the first two phases of upgrades to this stretch of highway, which, need I remind members, is part of the Trans-Canada Highway?

[Klaus Hochheim, Daniel Dubé, and Marc Thibault, October 25th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, on Monday, September 9, 2013, three Canadians who had a passion for the Far North were the victims of a helicopter accident.

Today in the House, I would like to pay tribute to Klaus Hochheim, researcher; Daniel Dubé, helicopter pilot; and Marc Thibault, commander of the Amundsen, the Coast Guard icebreaker.

Commander Thibault was from the municipality of L'Islet-sur-Mer, in the riding I am privileged to represent. Commander Thibault provided support to scientists, rescued shipwrecked individuals and created trade routes. He did a great deal to ensure our country had a physical presence in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the sometimes hostile environments of Canada's North.

The remarkable skills of Coast Guard pilots and commanders make it easy for us to forget, in the comfort of our own homes, the heroic risks they sometimes take and their key role in building our national security and our country.

On behalf of all my constituents and the elected members of the House, I would like to extend our condolences to the grieving families and say how grateful to and proud we are of Marc Thibault, this son of the South Shore.

[Rail Transportation, October 18th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, practical measures must be taken to improve railway safety.

Broad principles in a throne speech without any positive changes to support them do not provide any protection for people who live near railway lines. Here is a practical measure: CN must ensure that its freight trains slow down from 100 km/h to 64 km/h when passing through urban areas. Everyone in Montmagny and many other cities agrees with this measure.

Here is a very specific question about a targeted measure. Will the Conservatives require trains transporting hazardous materials to slow down when they pass through urban areas or not?

[Tourism Industry, June 14th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, Tourism Week in Canada is coming to a close. The Tourism Industry Association used this opportunity to make elected officials aware of public policies that are preventing Canada from capitalizing on the economic opportunities in the tourism sector.

The industry is worried. Two major issues are a threat to the future of our industry. The budget to promote Canada abroad does not allow us to compete against other international destinations. Furthermore, our airport charges are among the highest in the world, which puts us at a disadvantage compared to other North American destinations. The industry really does have good reason to be concerned.

The Minister of Transport considers questions about airport charges as an attack on the user-pay principle, and the Minister for Tourism publicly boasts about having reduced the Canadian Tourism Commission's budget by $14 million, which is more than what he was asked to cut according to the minister.

The NDP will continue to fight the government's inaction because an industry that injects $84 billion into our economy deserves to have its problems addressed.

[Tackling Contraband Tobacco Act, June 13th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, indeed, there has been some poor judgment in the choice of a number of senators. Everyone knows that now.

This illustrates the current government's lack of judgment, but also the official opposition's good faith. This is the second time we are compromising our principles, which are clear. To us, people who are not elected should not be legislating. We also set aside our convictions for the bill on prize fights, which also originated in the Senate.

We are demonstrating incredible good faith for the well-being of the Canadian public.