John Baird

[Infrastructure, March 3rd, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, in the member's province we are moving very aggressively to get infrastructure projects started. We were able to announce 289 different projects in every corner of the province at more than $1 billion worth of spending.

We were supposed to allocate money for $300 million worth of projects and we more than tripled that. Just two weeks ago, in the member's own constituency, the Prime Minister and my premier made another announcement for $500 million to help GO public transit.

Step by step we are getting the job done.

[Business of Supply, February 26th, 2009]

Madam Speaker, the answer is yes, we will do everything within our power. We can cut some legislative burden, which is in the budget bill, which the hon. member has supported, and that is noted and appreciated. We can cut it with regulation, which we are moving forward with, which all 13 premiers have agreed to support. We can move it through bureaucratically at the federal level, politically at the political level, and oftentimes there are political fights which delay projects.

At the end of the day, though, we can only clear decks on those things at the federal level. At the end of the day, in his community, it will be community organizations, the city or the province with the shovel itself. The good news is all those other levels—

[Business of Supply, February 26th, 2009]

Madam Speaker, let me compliment the member on those very precise and good questions.

On the money for the Spadina subway extension which will service her riding, there is so much work that needs to be done from the announcement to the project going forward. There is a lot of engineering work. Building a subway is a gigantic undertaking. That has gone on. There has been a significant amount of red tape which has slowed down the process. My premier brought up the example of that five inch binder, duplicate environmental assessments, the Navigable Waters Protection Act; we are clearing the deck of those impediments. There will still have to be engineering work done. I understand construction will begin very shortly on that project. They are ready to break ground in a big way, which is good news for her constituents and people all over the GTA.

The member talked about 4% of the $33 billion being expended. Of course that $33 billion includes the gas tax money and the GST rebates, which has gone on completely on schedule, so it is substantially more than that. We are moving aggressively to make decisions quicker and to cut red tape to see things flow.

She talked about municipalities, and even her own, not having the money. In the budget we did come forward with a $2 billion loan program. Interest rates are at historic lows. That will help municipalities.

I know that her own city of Toronto underspent. In 2007, the last year that city's statements were audited, it underspent by some $160 million to $180 million. It underspent its capital budget. I know Toronto, and the good news is there are funds there. If there is not, it does not necessarily have to be the municipalities. The Hon. Frances Lankin, PC, now the head of the United Way of Greater Toronto, has some projects for which the United Way could come up with a third of the funding, and the province is prepared to support a third. So there is another example of how things can happen for people in the greater Toronto area.

[Business of Supply, February 26th, 2009]

Madam Speaker, I am very pleased to rise in the House today to talk about infrastructure and this government's efforts in that regard. As my colleagues before me have mentioned, our government has a very important economic action plan to help stimulate economic growth, create jobs and bring back hope and prosperity to our great country. We are working hard to roll it out.

We are experiencing, expanding and accelerating our infrastructure investments and we will provide almost $12 billion in additional stimulus to the Canadian economy beyond our building Canada plan. Our economic action plan provides $4 billion of our economic stimulus fund to help provinces, territories, communities and municipalities get projects started as soon as possible. It provides $2 billion to accelerate colleges and university construction. The budget mentions Algonquin College, a great college in Ottawa—West Nepean. It has a project all ready to go that can create a lot of jobs and help create more once it is complete by training more tradespeople. That is good news.

It provides $1 billion to create a new green infrastructure fund. That is good news. It provides $500 million to support the construction of new community recreation facilities and to upgrade existing facilities. My constituency provided the genesis for this idea. We have the Merivale Arena. It is in bad shape. It was a centennial project in 1967 and it desperately needs to be repaired and renovated. Right across the country, whether it is in Oxford County, New Brunswick or Manitoba, projects like that can do a lot of good and get Canadians working again.

We are also accelerating additional funds for infrastructure to move it up and get those projects going now. Some municipalities expressed a concern when we did our prebudget consultations, particularly the parliamentary secretary who did some excellent consultations, that they might not have the money. There is a $2 billion fund of loans to support those municipalities.

I speak to my constituents in Ottawa West—Nepean. They say that in these challenging economic times they want to see their governments work together. We have led the way in the province of Ontario. We have put aside past political grudges and my premier and I are working constructively to make things happen for the people of Ontario. That is good news. That is what taxpayers expect.

We are also working very well with Ontario's minister of energy and infrastructure. George Smitherman and I just a few weeks ago announced a $1 billion for almost 300 infrastructure projects right across the province of Ontario. Three levels of government are all in the same boat, all with an oar in the water and all rowing together, helping to invest in our communities and get Canadians working again.

Let us look at what municipal leaders said about these investments.

South Stormont-Dundas Mayor Bryan McGillis said of his residents, “We've been waiting for this money for 30 years. I've almost got tears in my eyes I'm so happy”. That is incredible.

Now, one might say that I just fished out one quote. There are more.

Quinte West's public works chair said, “I'm excited, dumbfounded and astonished. This is a project that we've needed to get done for a long, long time”.

Merrickville-Wolford Mayor Doug Struthers said, “It's been a tremendous day for our municipality”.

The member for Leeds—Grenville has been pushing hard for this project in Merrickville. Its existing sewage treatment plant was in danger of collapsing. We could have had raw sewage going down the Rideau Waterway, just after it was named a world heritage site. That goes through my constituency and right to the border of Parliament Hill. By working together, we can accomplish things.

People said that these must be Conservative mayors and politicians. What do Liberals say about these announcements? Let us take a look.

My good friend Dave Levac, a Liberal MPP from Brant, said, “This is the kind of co-operative venture that produces the most effective and efficient projects any level of government can hope for”. Is that not good news? He works well with the mayor of Brant.

I suppose I could go on and on, but I will resist that temptation. However, I have news for the member from Toronto and other members. Premier Dalton McGuinty and I are not satisfied that we have done enough. That is why tomorrow morning we will be doing it again. We will be creating more jobs and more opportunities. The Prime Minister is in British Columbia spreading the good word, investing in our cities and public transit. Premier Dalton McGuinty and I will be working together and announcing even more funding. The key thing is that we are all working together.

Instead of creating 1,000 jobs, if we get more money from the province, we can create 2,000 jobs. If we get municipalities on board, we can create 3,000 jobs. We can create more jobs by working together and get more economic stimulus. The size of the growth package will be much bigger. We are leveraging funds and that is good news.

There were other views. When we did the prebudget consultations, everyone said that the fastest way to create stimulus is to just give the money to them. The Canadian Taxpayers Federation said just to put it all in their pockets and they will spend it faster. The provinces said the model of an infrastructure trust would be better. Just give all the money to the provincial premiers and they could spend it. The municipalities said the same thing. Just give all the money to them right away and they will spend it.

We are taking a balanced approach, just as the Prime Minister and this government always does, fair and balanced, and that is exactly what we are doing.

Airports wanted the money to go to them. The Commercial Rail Association wanted it all invested there. The public transit folks said to skip the municipalities and go right to the transit authority. However, as usual we are taking a measured and balanced approach.

We have extended the now permanent gas tax transfer so it creates the kind of partnerships so municipalities and projects around the province and around the country can get support.

Another benefit of the government's approach is that contributions by all three levels of government are dedicated to specific projects. Taxpayers know what their money is being used for and how it will benefit communities.

There have been times in the past when it has not worked that way. I am sad to report that in my own community, the city of Ottawa diverted provincial infrastructure money meant to go for road maintenance into its snow-plowing budget. We want to make sure that does not happen. That money was meant to fix our roads, not to be syphoned off for operating expenditures.

The government of my friend Dalton McGuinty ultimately passed a law which prevented the misuse of infrastructure money. The Investing in Ontario Act received royal assent on May 14. The City of Toronto in the past has used provincial infrastructure money to pay down debt. I understand that Toronto is in a difficult situation. Mayor Miller is a friend of mine and does a good job of representing the city, but we want to ensure this money gets Canadians working and simply does not go to pay off bonds or to plow snow.

I know that is important to the member for Labrador. We want to create jobs and strengthen our economy. We have a lot of cooperation for that.

We are doing a lot to cut red tape. We have made changes to the Navigable Waters Protection Act that have gone through this House at second reading, which one premier called the biggest job killer in his province. That is your province, Madam Speaker, British Columbia.

My premier came forward with a five inch binder, a business case which took an additional nine months to prepare, which has slowed down the Spadina subway going to the riding of the member from York West.

We are working to streamline those efforts, because when my premier has advice, we listen and we work together. That has always been my approach.

Another favourite premier of mine is the premier of Manitoba. One of Canada's best premiers, Gary Doer, came out and said that we should have one project, one approval, not one project and three, four or five approval processes through two levels of government and that “perhaps we could spend our time and money a little more effectively”.

This is what the premier of the province of Quebec, Jean Charest, said:

“I am always fascinated by the question of whether there will be national norms, as though the people of Quebec and Manitoba care less about the environment than some bureaucrat in Ottawa”.

Even David Miller, my good friend the mayor of Toronto, with whom I have a good relationship, said that he thinks it is right to harmonize the federal process with the provincial. When we are going to do the right thing for the environment, we are actually doing the right thing for the economy in the long run.

That is very good news. We are committed to working together with our provincial and municipal partners. We are committed to making investments in important community projects in those other areas, whether it be an airport, whether it be a port. Working together we can go further, faster and get the job done. That is what the people of Ottawa West—Nepean sent me to this place to do, and that is exactly what we are doing, working in partnership.

[Points of Order, February 25th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, on the same point of order I, like the Minister of Veterans Affairs, saw the actions of the member for St. Paul's. I respect the member for St. Paul's. It was quite evident from many members on the government side of the House exactly what she did, exactly what her intent was and exactly what the laughter of her Liberal colleagues was. I know the member to be a member of great honour. The member should stand and apologize for what she has done to this House.

[Infrastructure, February 25th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, not only is this government working tremendously well in the province of Ontario with my premier, but we are also reaching across the aisle and working with Liberals right across the country. We have been working very hard with the Liberal government in British Columbia, where just last week we announced $175 million of new funds.

These funds will do two things: they will build a lot of great infrastructure on the west coast and they will create a lot of jobs, hope and opportunity.

[Infrastructure, February 24th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, every day more than 200,000 Canadians rely on the important services provided by GO Transit to get to work. Last week our Prime Minister, together with my good friend Premier Dalton McGuinty, announced that we will upgrade and revitalize GO Transit infrastructure.

Supporting public transit is good for our economy. It is good for the environment. And it is so good in these difficult times that our Prime Minister is providing great leadership working in cooperation with my premier.

[Rail Transportation, February 24th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, this government will do the study first and make a decision once that study is complete.

[Rail Transportation, February 24th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, we are working co-operatively with the Government of Quebec and the Government of Ontario on this important initiative. Three million dollars have been allocated and recently we have awarded a contract that will update a study done in 1994.

[Arctic Waters Pollution Prevention Act, February 23rd, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I do not have any questions, just a comment. I share the member's commitment to wanting to protect the environment in the far north. I have had the opportunity on a number of occasions to visit the far north, and many communities in his constituency, where there are some of the great environmental treasures of the world, whether it is Nahanni National Park, which this government is working very hard to expand, or whether it is the significant amount of environmental missions that have gone on there. I know that it is important, not just to his constituents but to all Canadians. I appreciate learning about the various issues, from airports, to the far Arctic, and the need to promote sovereignty abroad. The single biggest thing we can do, though, is not just talk the talk, but walk the walk and take significant and meaningful action, which we are doing.

I look forward to the day that we launch the Diefenbreaker up in the far north, maybe in Tuktoyaktuk. I hope the hon. member will be there for what will be a great occasion.