Jean-François Fortin

[Natural Resources, February 27th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, the federal government needs to stop hiding behind the National Energy Board to avoid ruling on Quebec's conditions for authorizing a reversal of Enbridge's 9B pipeline, which goes from Ontario to eastern Montreal.

This morning, the Montreal metropolitan area, the Union des producteurs agricoles and Équiterre took their cue from members of the National Assembly of Quebec and demanded that Enbridge fulfill the 18 conditions in the report produced by the Committee on Agriculture, Fisheries, Energy and Natural Resources.

Will the government make a commitment that it will refuse to give the Enbridge project a green light until it is in full compliance with Quebec's 18 conditions?

[Ukraine, February 26th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, last fall, former president Viktor Yanukovych decided to reject an agreement that would bring Ukraine closer to the European Union. Instead, he chose to strengthen ties with Russia.

Pro-European protests ensued. Since then, the protests have turned into a grassroots uprising against government corruption and totalitarianism. After the president fled, the heroine of the Orange Revolution, Yulia Tymoshenko, was released from custody. It is an initial gesture of openness, but the people of Ukraine will need to remain vigilant during the fragile lead-up to the next presidential election on May 25.

In the meantime, Canada must ensure that the international community prosecutes those who violate human rights and also that Ukraine is respectfully supported, without interference, during its future democratic steps towards what we hope will be renewed political, social and economic stability. The coming weeks will be critical as Ukraine moves towards holding free elections and restoring regional stability. Canada must offer intelligent support that is designed to protect the Ukrainian people and their democratic institutions.

[International Development, February 25th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Government of Quebec and the Association québécoise des organismes de coopération internationale jointly released a report that clearly shows that the federal government's approach is moving further and further away from the values of Quebec regarding international solidarity and practices that are considered effective and ethical by development experts.

After consulting about 60 organizations and experts in the field, the report recommends that Quebec create its own agency with its own policy on international solidarity.

Does the government recognize Quebec's right to do so, and will it transfer to Quebec its rightful share of the international assistance envelope?

[Intergovernmental Relations, February 24th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, we learned that the free trade agreement with South Korea has been finalized and, at the same time, we learned that the Prime Minister bowed to pressure from his MPs and is doling out $500 million to Ontario's automotive industry to counter South Korean competition.

Fishers in Newfoundland have also received hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation for losses stemming from the agreement with European Union.

Why has compensation already been granted to the automotive and fishing industries but not to Quebec's cheese and dairy producers, who will also lose millions of dollars? Why? What is wrong with this picture?

[Intergovernmental Relations, February 11th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, it is no secret that the federal government wanted to impose a new job training program on Quebec that was rejected by all those involved at the provincial level. Now the minister is adding insult to injury. He wants to change the parameters of another agreement, the labour market development agreement. In an open letter, Quebec's employment minister publicly reminded the federal minister that she was still waiting for him to return her call. Now we know what happened yesterday. The federal minister dialled the wrong number. Ms. Maltais is the employment minister, not Ms. De Courcy.

Can the minister's assistant take down Ms. Maltais' phone number, 418-643-4810, and pass on the message?

[Intergovernmental Relations, February 10th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, after announcing with no prior consultation a job training program that torpedoed all the efforts previously made by Quebec, and after spending millions of dollars on useless advertising for a job training program that no one wants in Quebec, the Minister of Employment and Social Development has now moved on to a new chapter in which he disappears from the negotiations and no longer returns calls.

Can the minister reassure us that he is still on the job and promise he will get back to the Quebec minister, who is still waiting for a call?

[Intergovernmental Relations, February 10th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, after announcing with no prior consultation a job training program that—

[Ethics, February 3rd, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, last Friday, the government quietly announced that Conrad Black was being removed from the Privy Council, but it remained completely silent about another problem appointment to a select group that, in theory, is supposed to advise the Prime Minister.

Arthur Porter, the former president of the Security Intelligence Review Committee, who still refuses to be held accountable on charges of fraud, is still a member of the Privy Council.

I would remind members that he was appointed by the Prime Minister himself, with the support of the NDP and the Liberals.

When will the Prime Minister kick Arthur Porter out of the Privy Council?

[Intergovernmental Relations, January 29th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I ask for unanimous consent for the following:

That this House condemn the Prime Minister's tactic of equating any legitimate criticism of the State of Israel with anti-Semitism and deplore his refusal to condemn the establishment of new Israeli settlements in occupied territory in violation of UN resolutions; that this House urge the government to return to a just, fair and balanced position that is respectful of international law and human rights; that this House reaffirm the fundamental importance of a total and permanent end to confrontations that prevent dialogue between the two parties and that it condemn any act of violence toward Israelis and Palestinians; and finally that this House reaffirm its support for a negotiated solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that is based both on Israelis' right to live in peace within their secure and recognized borders and on Palestinians' right to self-determination.

[Intergovernmental Relations, January 29th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, for almost a year now, the federal government has been doing everything in its power to force Quebec to implement a new job training program that was rejected by all of the province's economic players.

However, over the holidays, the Minister of Employment and Social Development recognized that:

...Quebec has been doing a better job than the rest of Canada of getting businesses, private sector employers, unions and educators involved in a more integrated training system.

Since the minister recognizes that Quebec's approach is working, what is he waiting for? When will he scrap his unacceptable project and renew the job training agreements as they stand?