James Moore

[Committees of the House, June 14th, 2006]

He may be a registered lobbyist, but he has not lobbied the federal government with regard to this file. My colleague from Gatineau says that somehow this is some conspiracy.

With regard to the principle of the motion at stake, my colleague, who replaced Françoise Boivin as the member of Parliament for Gatineau, says that he is here to defend the interests of Gatineau. The hon. member should know about the Zellers building in his own constituency, which was leased by the federal government. The property was purchased by the Crown for $3 million. It was done so at more than 30% below its assessed value of $4.3 million. It was done so through an unsolicited proposal, the very thing my colleague is saying that the federal government should back out of doing.

If he is here to defend his constituents in Gatineau, why is he condemning the very process that brought jobs, opportunity and investment to his riding? Members of Parliament should not be in the business of supporting ideas that would limit opportunities for their own constituency.

I would urge my colleague opposite to sit down and chat with the member for Wascana, the member for Kings—Hants, the member for Sudbury, all former public works ministers from--

[Committees of the House, June 14th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the speech of my colleague from Gatineau, but unfortunately he does not have the faintest idea what he is talking about. He condemns a JDS Uniphase-Minto deal with the federal government that has not been finalized. He has not read it and he knows nothing about it, yet he condemns it.

He mentioned the name Fred Doucet, the deal and one newspaper story. The Minister of Public Works has never met Fred Doucet on this file. I have never met this man in my life. Yet somehow my colleague from Gatineau claims that this man is a mastermind behind this deal. What absolute absurdity.

[Committees of the House, June 14th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, with regard to the unsolicited proposals and this issue, of course we believe in public tendering and having an open competition on bids. That is the natural and default position of any government that truly believes in getting value for taxpayer dollars

The member for Wascana, who is a former public works minister himself, understands that to eliminate the opportunity for people to come to the federal government with an unsolicited proposal for an asset that is unique and may suit the needs of the government in whatever capacity, is not an option that should be taken away from the government.

The Liberals did this, as I said, with regard to the Food Inspection Agency, the Department of Foreign Affairs and dozens of other buildings and it received value for taxpayer dollars. It would be a mistake to take that opportunity off the table. With regard to the member from Timmins, that is precisely what I am talking about. I am talking about having more options on the table and allowing the professionals at the Department of Public Works, through the minister, to do their jobs and to get value for taxpayer dollars.

We cannot do that if we eliminate their options. We need to expand the options, leave them on the table and at the end of the day everything is transparent and people can decide where we are going.

With regard to Minister Fortier, the Prime Minister made the determination after the election campaign that the city of Montreal, the second largest city in Canada, should have representation at the cabinet table. If the member opposite does not agree that Montreal should have representation, he should say so, but I do not think he will.

Once the determination was made, the Prime Minister felt that Mr. Fortier should be available for questions in the Senate. If the member does not think that the 70-plus Liberals sitting in the Senate can hold the Minister of Public Works accountable, then he should have said that this morning in their caucus meeting and told them all to resign.

The Minister of Public Works is available every day for question period over at the Senate and is available for accountability. He is also available to the public. He has done more in his Department of Public Works in the four months that he has been there than the Liberals did in the past 13 years.

[Committees of the House, June 14th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, I agree with my colleague. I did my undergraduate studies in Prince George, British Columbia, which is a little bigger than Timmins. With a population of about 85,000 or 90,000, the federal government's presence in Prince George was profound in terms of economic development. I therefore understand what he is saying with regard to his own constituency. However, when we talk about the 25%:75% role, we are specifically dealing with the national capital region. It is not a nationwide principle.

I would say to my colleague from Timmins--James Bay that the argument he just made about the impact the federal government's presence and its buildings can have on communities is an important one, which is why his party should be supporting this government's position and opposing the motion.

The motion calls for the government to abandon the principle of unsolicited proposals. It is through unsolicited proposals from communities that allows the government the diversity to invest in the economic development of communities like his, which may need the support of the federal government and its presence to be an economic anchor.

If the member agrees with that principle, which I am sure he does as he is a well-spoken member who speaks forcefully and thoughtfully in this House, he should have a chat with his colleague from Parkdale--High Park who at the government operations committee voted against allowing unsolicited proposals which would have allowed the kind of economic development that he has described. The member for Parkdale-High Park voted for this motion which would take away the government's opportunity to purchase or lease buildings in different economic regions in order to get value for communities and for taxpayer dollars.

If he agrees with this principle, I encourage him to convince his party to support it because the member for Parkdale--High Park, the spokesperson of public works, does not agree with him.

[Committees of the House, June 14th, 2006]

I will deal with the second part first. We are open to opportunities to buy or lease buildings so that some departments could be moved to different regions of our country. If my colleague has some ideas in this regard, he can provide them to us. Minister Fortier and myself are prepared to discuss this and to have meetings with the member.

The first point of my colleague refers to Place Victoria, in Montreal. Yes, chapter 7 of the document mentioned shows that what happened is awful. Indeed, there was no public tendering in regard to this space. Sometimes, there are really some disasters, but there are also opportunities, real opportunities to get good value for taxpayers. This is what we will do.

We are not in favour of this motion, which would take away from the government a tool to manage taxpayers' money well in order to find spaces for the federal government in any part of the country. Sometimes, buildings are offered to the federal government. We can then negotiate a price that is reasonable to Canadian taxpayers. Sometimes, we get real value. Taking this tool away from the government is not in the interests of Quebeckers and Canadians.

[Committees of the House, June 14th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, before beginning my speech, I wanted to comment on what my hon. colleague from Hull—Aylmer had to say.

In regard to the point he just made, our government, like the Liberal government before it, recognizes the 75%:25% principle. When the federal government shows leadership, it shows Quebeckers that they should remain part of our country. When we share federal government responsibilities on both sides of the river, we will show Quebeckers in the hon. member’s riding of Gatineau that Quebec really has a place in our government and in our country.

We want to show through buildings and responsibilities that Quebec has a place within our federal government. Through a 75%:25% sharing of the square footage and employees on the two sides of the river, we will show that we agree with this principle and that our government has embraced it. It is really a Canadian principle.

My colleague from Hull—Aylmer raised three points which I would like to address. First, he discussed the issue of the JDS Uniphase building and its future. Second, he mentioned the 75%:25% issue on both sides of the river in usage of office space. Third, was the specific language of the motion and where we go from here.

With regard to the JDS Uniphase agreement in principle that has been signed, as I have said a number of times in the House and as the Minister of Public Works has said a number of times, both in the Senate and in public, the deal has not been finalized. It has not received Treasury Board approval and has not been given the go ahead as of yet. Should it receive that status, we will have an opportunity to have a full and open debate on that project.

On the issue of the 75%:25%, we are completely in favour of that as a principle of this government in sharing federal government responsibilities in the national capital region, 75% on the Ottawa side and 25% on the Quebec side. With regard to real estate going forward, there are real opportunities to re-balance this number. I believe the number currently is 78% on the Ottawa side, so we are pretty close to the 75% number. However, to actually get precisely to a 75%:25% Ottawa-Quebec ratio, it would require moving tens of thousands of jobs to the Quebec side. That is something that can be done in the future. It is not something to rush into and it is not something we would do just to say we have achieved the 75%:25% principle.

Canadians, Quebeckers and Ontarians want us to achieve that ratio but they also want us to do it in a way that is fiscally responsible and prudent going forward. We believe in the principle. We take that into consideration with any potential leases or purchases of federal government office space going forward. We will adhere to that principle going forward but we will do so in a way that is fiscally responsible.

The third and final aspect the member for Hull—Aylmer addressed in his comments was with regard to the specific line of the motion itself. In case anyone has forgotten what we are actually debating, we are debating a motion that came from the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates that reads as follows:

Pursuant to Standing Order 108(2), your Committee has considered the matter of the acquisition of significant property by the Government of Canada. Your Committee recommends that acquisition, by purchase or lease, of any significant property, such as the former JDS Uniphase campus in Ottawa by the Government of Canada for use by its departments and agencies, be the result of a competitive public call for tenders process.

As a Conservative, I believe in competition, in free markets and in fair prices. The Speaker may roll his eyes at that but I certainly do believe in that, as does this government.

On the surface, the motion makes a lot of sense. This is an approach the government should take.

However, with regard to the JDS Uniphase building and a number of other transactions that the federal government has taken over the years, if we were to limit ourselves to the public tendering process it potentially could hurt taxpayers and the federal government's options. This could result in some real missed opportunities for taxpayers and for the federal government.

Again with regard to the JDS Uniphase proposal, this was an unsolicited proposal the government received from JDS Uniphase and the Minto group which is now investing in that property. The government, in this circumstance or any others, has an opportunity to look at the proposal, to consider it and to negotiate the best value for taxpayer dollars. If the proposal is good, then the process moves forward. If it is not, then the government can walk away.

With regard to the JDS Uniphase building itself, as I have said a number of times, no deal has been finalized but we will do all of our due diligence to ensure taxpayer dollars are well spent, are appropriately allocated and that we are getting the best value for taxpayer dollars.

To support the motion would be a real mistake. In fact, it would go against what the Liberals did a number of times while they were in government. The former Liberal government considered and used unsolicited proposals all the time. In fact, the Department of Foreign Affairs has offices in office space that was through an unsolicited proposal. The Food Inspection Agency is in office space that was obtained through an unsolicited proposal, in the same way as the proposed JDS Uniphase building. That was done in a way that actually received good value for taxpayer dollars.

Therefore, to remove options from the table in terms of real estate and asset allocation on behalf of the federal government would limit our opportunities, limit the choices for government and therefore for taxpayers and is not the best way to go forward.

This motion, which we did not support at committee stage, is a real mistake and we certainly would not support it again.

[West Coast Express, June 9th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, West Coast Express is a popular and efficient commuter rail service linking Mission, Port Haney, Maple Ridge, Pitt Meadows, Port Coquitlam, Coquitlam and Port Moody with downtown Vancouver.

Over 18 million riders have used West Coast Express since its opening. My constituents want it supported and expanded.

I have listened to my constituents, and our government is taking action. In our budget we fulfilled our campaign commitment to offer a tax credit for the purchase of monthly public transit passes. This new measure, effective on July 1, will mean real savings for West Coast Express riders.

As an example, riders purchasing the monthly Port Moodie-Waterfront pass will save $283.65 a year and seniors and students will save $157.77 a year. On top of this tax credit, we have also tabled legislation, Bill C-11, that will allow for the expansion and growth of West Coast Express in the future.

Tri-City residents have told me that they like and support West Coast Express, and I and the Conservative government have listened and are delivering for the Tri-Cities.

[Defence Construction Canada, June 7th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 32(2), I wish to table in the House Defence Construction Canada's annual report on compliance with the Access to Information Act and Privacy Act.

[Public Works and Government Services, June 5th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, if the member for Hull—Aylmer does not like the process that has been undertaken, his government in fact initiated the process. It is the same process that was used to get the Department of Foreign Affairs the current residents it is using. It is the same process that was used to get the Food Inspection Agency the office space it is using.

In fact, if the member opposite has any problems with it whatsoever, he can go ahead and look in the mirror. However, if he does believe in accountability, we look forward to his support for the federal accountability act. We look forward to him standing by the RCMP and ensuring it gets the best office possible.

[Public Works and Government Services, June 5th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, I love my colleague’s conspiracy theories. However, as I already told our hon. colleague from the NDP, neither the Minister of Public Works and Government Services—Mr. Fortier—nor I have ever met Mr. Doucet in regard to this project.