Jamie Nicholls

[Fair Rail Freight Service Act, February 8th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, there are many farmers in my region, in the towns of Saint-Clet and Saint-Polycarpe. These people would like to use the railway to ship their goods, if only the rates were reasonable.

Members may not know this, but two rail lines, Canadian National and Canadian Pacific, run through Vaudreuil-Soulanges. We are a hub for the country and the movement of goods.

I can say that farmers were disappointed with what the government did not do, with its lack of action to improve rail fees.

Could the member talk about the challenges facing farmers these days, when the world is facing economic difficulties?

[Ethics, February 8th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, if only it were an isolated incident.

But in the long list of cronies appointed to the Senate by the Prime Minister, cases of abuse are unfortunately too common.

Senator Duffy claims to live in Prince Edward Island, Senator Harb receives an allowance to live in his own house and Senator Wallin may live in Saskatchewan, but no one knows for sure.

That is a lot of wasted money.

How will the Conservatives ensure that taxpayers get this money that was unjustly paid?

[Business of Supply, February 7th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, budget documents are complex things. One of the members mentioned a technical briefing where he did not see many NDP members. I would like to correct the record and say that we were probably in the majority in that room.

From the comments of backbench Conservative MPs, who do not understand the budget document, we need someone like the PBO. Could the member address the issue of not having a PBO for a period of maybe seven, eight or nine months? What are members going to do to inform themselves properly on the budget, especially Conservative backbenchers?

[Business of Supply, February 7th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, if the member for Palliser and the Conservative Party are so concerned about increasing accountability, they would provide the PBO with all the information he needs, instead of forcing the PBO to go to court to get what he needs.

In terms of the F-35, the PBO and the Auditor General spent $1.8 million doing reports and audits on the F-35 file. What was the government's response to these transparent reports? It spent $800,000 more of taxpayers' money to get a private firm to do a report that would give it an answer it wanted.

Canadians expect more of their government. They expect increased accountability. It is hard to swallow the member talking about accountability when the government is wasting taxpayers' money on private reports and court challenges to a position that is supposed to increase accountability.

[Business of Supply, February 7th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I was a voter during the time of the sponsorship scandal, and I know from lots of conversations I had with people that voters were disgusted. It raised the level of cynicism among the Canadian electorate very high. As a response, in the 38th Parliament, Ed Broadbent introduced a seven-point plan to clean up government, which eventually became the Federal Accountability Act in 2006. Unlike the other two parties, which tried to use the issue of government scandal to raise the cynicism of the Canadian electorate, we had practical solutions.

Despite not taking action for 13 years, does the Liberal Party now support making the PBO a full officer of Parliament?

[Faster Removal of Foreign Criminals Act, January 30th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. We had a point of order before on the fact that we were debating the time allocation motion and not the content of the bill. I hope the member will return to relevance and speak about the motion.

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, January 28th, 2013]

With regard to canals (waterways): (a) which canals are managed by the government; (b) how much does it cost the government to manage these canals; (c) what canal projects are being studied by the government; (d) what is the status of the canal projects being studied by the government; (e) how much funding will be allocated to the canal projects studied by the government; and (f) under which budgetary envelopes or programs does the government funding for the various canals fall?

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, January 28th, 2013]

With regard to federal grants and contributions, what were the amounts paid out in the Vaudreuil-Soulanges riding between April 1, 2011, and October 25, 2012, broken down by (i) the identity and address of each recipient, (ii) the start date for the funding, (iii) the end date for the funding, (iv) the amount allocated, (v) the name of the program under which the funding was allocated?

[Questions on the Order Paper, January 28th, 2013]

With regard to the project to reopen the Soulanges Canal: (a) does the government anticipate that the reopening of the Soulanges Canal will have a significant positive impact on economic development in Vaudreuil-Soulanges; (b) does the government plan to commit the funds required to update the technical, environmental and socio-economic studies linked to reopening the Soulanges Canal; and (c) does the government plan to invest the funds required to reopen the Soulanges Canal?

[PETITIONS, December 12th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I have a petition to present calling upon the Government of Canada to introduce a regulation under the Motor Vehicle Safety Act that requires side guards and to harmonize Canadian vehicle safety standards with ECE Regulation No. 73, which requires side guards.