House of Commons photoLost his last election, in 2011, with 35% of the vote.
Manufacturing Industry May 30th, 2007
Mr. Speaker, we tabled this bill several months ago. A notice of motion was given to the House. All the opposition parties agreed to fast track it and send it directly to the Senate since the technical changes reflected the will of the House of Commons in the last Parliament. However, the Bloc Québécois made amendments and these are not in the spirit of the bill that was passed. When the Bloc gives us the green light, we will act quickly and table the bill.
Ministerial Expenses May 29th, 2007
Mr. Speaker, I repeat that this contract was duly approved by the department.
I would like the hon. member to respond to this: the member for Cardigan hired his official agent at a cost of $70,000, but the agent never produced the work for which the minister had hired him.
Mr. Giguère produced speeches and statements that I used, and he was paid for what he did. Why does the member for Cardigan have different standards, and why did he pay $70,000 for work that was never done?
Ministerial Expenses May 29th, 2007
Mr. Speaker, first, the member said that $150,000 in expenditures were concealed, but this is not true, because they were posted in full on the Internet. He should take back what he said. I hope he will do the honourable thing, because all the expenditures were posted on the Internet, as required.
Second, I want to say that Mr. Giguère, who worked in my riding, divided his time between two types of work. He worked both for the riding office and for the cabinet, and he was paid out of the budget envelopes for those functions.
Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec May 28th, 2007
Mr. Speaker, when it comes to regional economic development, this is how we have to work. We have to consider how this province and this country operate.
As minister responsible for regional economic expansion, I can say that the Laiterie de l'Outaouais application is under study. Yes, we will support secondary and tertiary processing. No, we will not support primary processing. We are trying to find ways to help the Laiterie de l'Outaouais. We need to let the application take its course within our department.
Ministerial Expenses May 28th, 2007
Mr. Speaker, all actions were perfectly legitimate. We were following a departmental recommendation and it was approved by the department's financial controller.
Ministerial Expenses May 28th, 2007
Mr. Speaker, I would like to remind the House that there was no double dipping. The work that Mr. Giguère did was divided in two: one part was for the needs of the riding office and the other was for the cabinet. I have to go all over the Saguenay—Lac-Saint-Jean region, as well as elsewhere, and there are speeches I need.
Mr. Giguère had a perfectly valid contract. His work was completed and delivered and is available on the Internet under the Access to Information Act. It was duly approved by the department’s financial controller.
Ministerial Expenses May 28th, 2007
Mr. Speaker, I think it is only natural that someone who performs a professional service would be paid for it.
Mr. Giguère was the senior assistant in my riding office in Jonquière-Alma, he was the mayor of Jonquière, he was the director of public relations for Hydro-Québec, and he was also a former Liberal candidate and a former candidate for our party. This man, who is well known in our community, divided his time between two kinds of work: taking care of the needs of the riding office and taking care of cabinet needs. He was paid for each kind of work out of the envelopes provided for each.
Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec May 18th, 2007
Mr. Speaker, I categorically deny the member's statements. The main thing we are doing is helping economic regions experiencing difficulties, helping vulnerable regions to increase their economic activities in order to better diversify their economic activities and spur the growth of businesses and of the regions themselves. Of the 14 Quebec regions, we have targeted the seven most disadvantaged and most vulnerable. Naturally, we try to provide greater support for these regions as per the department's mission statement, which was established by the previous government in cooperation with ours.
Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec May 18th, 2007
Mr. Speaker, every Quebec region has an envelope for regional economic development. Every region submits its application. Sometimes the project estimates are greater than the envelope for the region. Then we turn to the central fund, as in the case of the Massif in the Quebec region.
Recently, in Saguenay—Lac-Saint-Jean, the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec was asked for $10 million to support a sizeable cruise ship dock project. Other regions will soon be asked to submit their applications to this department.
Forestry Industry May 11th, 2007
Mr. Speaker, the question of roads is more a provincial responsibility. Quebec, like the other provinces, knows that we cannot intervene at the primary processing stage in forestry, any more than in the fisheries.
I want to remind this House about all the support the Economic Development Agency of Canada provides for economic diversification in the regions of Quebec, including the CEDI-Vitality program, which allows business owners to receive both repayable contributions—loans—and non-repayable contributions in order to expand or to create new businesses.