John Baird

[Infrastructure, February 6th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, we are working cooperatively with the Government of Ontario. A series of announcements will be coming in short order.

We are committed to providing a much needed shot in the arm to the southern Ontario economy. That is not enough for the people who live in that part of the country. That is why recently, the Prime Minister, with the help of the Minister of Finance, announced a new southern Ontario economic development agency. My premier has been fighting for something like this for many years. Finally my premier, Dalton McGuinty, has some support in Ottawa.

[Infrastructure, February 6th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, one of the Liberal members opposite was spreading some half-truths yesterday. He produced a list of 27 projects totalling about $1 billion. One single project he left out, which was for $662 million, goes through the ridings of Vaughan and York West. This clearly demonstrates that Liberals are not being upfront and honest with Canadians.

We are moving forward with an aggressive plan to create jobs, hope and opportunity. That project, the Spadina subway extension, will be ready to break ground in the coming weeks. It will put thousands of Canadians to work. We are excited about that.

[Infrastructure, February 6th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I will say the last one over again. There is a picture here with the Minister of Veterans Affairs and the Liberal Premier of New Brunswick announcing $26 million for Saint John. At the time, it was represented by a Liberal. After the people of Canada were consulted, the people of Saint John changed their minds and elected a good Conservative member.

The Liberals can spread the half-truths, lies and innuendo. We do not believe it and Canadians will not be fooled.

[Infrastructure, February 6th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Liberal Party put out a list of projects. It said that grants were given to Conservative ridings. One grant that it talked about was in Kenora. The announcement was made on July 24. At that time it was a Liberal riding. When the people of Canada were consulted, they changed their minds.

We made an announcement on February 22 last year with the Premier of New Brunswick to support a new conference centre in downtown Fredericton. That constituency was a Liberal constituency at the time, but it is listed as a Conservative one. Of course, it is now represented by a good member from the Conservative Party.

Saint John, New Brunswick, again with the—

[The Economy, February 6th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, we are obviously tremendously concerned with the economic numbers coming out of the province of Ontario. The good news is we are working co-operatively with the provincial government on a series of initiatives to ensure that we provide needed shot in the arm to the Ontario economy.

I can indicate for the member from the greater Toronto area that we will be breaking ground in short order on the Spadina subway extension. That will put a lot of Canadians and Ontarians to work.

We also have a lot of initiatives with respect to transportation in the GTA, including a major retrofit and redesign of Union Station, which will be another example of the Government of Ontario and the city of Toronto working co-operatively to get the people of the greater Toronto region to work.

[Infrastructure, February 6th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, we have come forward with a series of new programs and initiatives designed to put a shot in the arm of the Canadian economy in every region of the country. We have indicated to our provincial and territorial partners that we are prepared to accelerate the existing building Canada programs so more money can get into the hands of workers right across the country.

Step by step, we feel that infrastructure can be a very important place to help provide economic growth. We are particularly looking at a number of projects in her home community of Vancouver, where we were very concerned with the unemployment rates that came out today.

[Points of Order, February 5th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I wish to correct the record.

In response to the question by the member for Vancouver Quadra, I noted the hard work of the Minister of Canadian Heritage and the Minister of International Trade on important projects in Vancouver. I also should have mentioned the excellent, hard-working commitment of the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development.

[Infrastructure, February 5th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, last week those members said that no projects had been funded. This week they say there is an orgy of spending going on, but only in Conservative ridings. I can tell the member opposite that we are committed to public transit in the greater Vancouver area.

I can say very directly that when one looks at British Columbia and the results of what the people of British Columbia delivered on election day, it is no wonder so much is going to Conservative ridings, because there are an awful lot of them in B.C.

[Infrastructure, February 5th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, because of the efforts of many hard-working British Columbians, including the Minister of Canadian Heritage, the Minister of International Trade and the British Columbia caucus, we are working hard.

I can commit to the hon. member that we are going to fund enough in that project to get the job done.

[Transportation, February 5th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, we are working very hard on public safety in Quebec and throughout Canada. That is one of my department's priorities. We are spending a great deal of money this year to improve the quality of our bridges. We will continue to do so without the support of the Bloc members because they vote against our action plans.