Joël Godin

[Regional Economic Development, December 14th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, the Institut nordique du Québec is a development tool serving northern Quebec, Ontario, and the Canadian Arctic. The Government of Quebec, Laval University, and private companies have confirmed their financial support to the institute.

Why is the Liberal government ignoring the regions yet again? The Quebec City region is being ignored.

While the Prime Minister seems to have instructed his Minister of Families, Children and Social Development to ignore the Quebec City region, will he instead show some respect for the people of the greater Quebec City area and support the Institut nordique du Québec?

[Regional Economic Development, December 7th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I am calling on this government to respect the people in the regions.

During the election campaign, the Minister of Transport promised to deal with the Portneuf wharf in my riding, Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier.

The wharf is key to tourism development in my region and it is very important to the mayor of Portneuf, Nelson Bédard, his municipal council, and all the local residents. It is the longest deep-water wharf in Canada. Unfortunately, its infrastructure is crumbling and becoming less safe all the time. This matter has been dragging on.

A developer has been prepared to acquire the wharf since March 11. On April 11, Transport Canada promised a response. Then the minister's office wrote to me to say that we would have a response no later than August 8. We still have no response. After nine months of negotiation, can we have an agreement?

I would like the Minister of Transport to resolve this issue before the end of the year. That would be a nice Christmas present for the very patient people of Portneuf.

Thank you in advance, Minister.

[Ethics, December 5th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, an attendee of the Liberal Party fundraiser on November 7 said that he spoke directly to the Prime Minister about government business for the price of a $1,500 contribution. However, Liberal Party ethics rules state that “Ministers, Parliamentary Secretaries and their staff should not discuss departmental business at any fundraising event, and should refer any person who wishes to discuss departmental business to make an appointment”.

Can the Prime Minister confirm that he never discussed government business during that fundraiser?

[Ethics, December 2nd, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, let us talk about rules.

The government is taking Canadians for fools. The Prime Minister issued clear rules to maintain the integrity of his cabinet. He said:

There should be no preferential access to government, or appearance of preferential access, accorded to individuals or organizations because they have made financial contributions to politicians and political parties.

Does the Prime Minister take his job seriously? Does he know how to read? Does he understand the things he says? Can he show some respect for the people of Canada?

[Guy Drouin, November 29th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, we were surprised and saddened to hear of the death of a great builder who was on the verge of making his lifelong dream a reality. Guy Drouin passed away four days before the grand opening of his new concept, Bora Park.

A visionary businessman, he built an empire. He transformed a toboggan hill in Valcartier into a major resort known all across the country. Next, he built Calypso in Ontario. To cap his trifecta, he bankrolled and laid the groundwork for Bora Park, an indoor water park and four-star hotel.

This is a great loss to the business community. He put his municipality, my riding, Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, and the greater Quebec City region on the map. We will remember him as a discreet leader and a bold, determined, and visionary entrepreneur.

My colleagues and I wish to express our most sincere condolences to his family, and especially to his three sons, Mathieu, Simon, and Jérôme. He wanted them to follow in his footsteps, and I am glad that they will.

Goodbye, Guy.

[Ethics, November 25th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I have my doubts about what my colleague just said.

I could go on with the long list of ministers who take donors hostage. Worse still is the fact that the Prime Minister himself is involved in this sketchy kind of fundraising, the very same Prime Minister who told his ministers not to get involved in this kind of thing.

They should really walk the talk. This is serious. This government has no ethics and could not care less about rules.

Will the Liberals stop holding these sketchy fundraising events?

[Ethics, November 25th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, what he is not saying is when the cheque was written.

This government is trying to defend the indefensible. It is hiding behind a law written for all parliamentarians to claim that it is obeying the law. We are all familiar with the saying that just because it is legal does not mean it is ethical.

The Minister of Justice invited lawyers to a cocktail party. If they are ambitious they will attend, because when she appoints judges she will think of the Liberal Party's friends.

Will this government respect the House and stop the intimidation with its political fundraising?

[Foreign Affairs, November 18th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, what the parliamentary secretary just said is not very reassuring: she is consulting.

With respect to the mission in Iraq, when the Prime Minister was a member of the opposition, he stated that he could not support any mission unless he was given the reasons for it. We are still waiting to hear the reasons justifying the mission in Africa. The government is improvising and saying just about anything.

When will the Liberals finally be transparent and explain where our soldiers will be deployed, what the mission objectives will be, and, above all, what the conditions will be?

[Saint-Augustin-de-Desmaures, November 3rd, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, it is with great pride that I congratulate the city of Saint-Augustin-de-Desmaures, which is in my riding, Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier. It was awarded ISO 37120 platinum certification by the World Council on City Data. This is the first international standard for people's quality of life. In receiving this distinction, our city is in the company of cities such as Boston, Barcelona, and Shanghai.

Saint-Augustin-de-Desmaures is one of five Canadian cities to have received this certification. For example, in the area of education, more than half of Saint-Augustin-de-Desmaures' residents are post-secondary graduates, ranking it among the best cities in the world.

I offer my congratulations to the mayor, Sylvain Juneau, the city council, and all employees of the city of Saint-Augustin-de-Desmaures for their engagement, leadership, and efforts to improve its citizens' quality of life.

[Ethics, November 2nd, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, former Liberal Party organizer Jacques Corriveau was found guilty of money laundering and other offences as part of the sponsorship scandal.

Mr. Corriveau pocketed nearly $7 million of taxpayers' money during the six years that he was a close friend of former Liberal prime minister Jean Chrétien.

Such ethical lapses are nothing new for the Liberal Party. They have been the norm in that party for many years, and that has not changed with the current government. For example, this government paid $200,000 in moving expenses for close friends of the Prime Minister and held a fundraiser where people paid $1,500 for privileged access to a minister.

These ethical breaches are a far cry from the transparency that this Liberal government claims to promote. It is therefore high time that the Prime Minister began taking some responsibility, stopped defending the indefensible, and started being honest with taxpayers—