Lawrence Cannon

[Federal Government Research Centres, November 30th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to begin by joining my colleagues from Argenteuil—Papineau—Mirabel and Hull—Aylmer in congratulating the City of Gatineau on its winning submission to host the Quebec Summer Games.

In response to the member's question, I believe he is mistaken because unlike him, federalists include the entire national capital region in the equation, and that allows for job creation. There has always been a close economic relationship between the two cities that make up the national capital region, and people are being well served.

[Infrastructure, November 30th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, let us face the facts. The Liberals have been saying that it is their money.

There is $1.3 billion for public private partnerships. Is that new money? There is $2.25 billion for PT base funding for all the provinces for seven years. Is that new money? There is $8 billion of extension gas tax from 2010 to 2014. Is that new money? There is the new building Canada fund of $8.8 billion. Is that new money?

[Infrastructure, November 30th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, on the contrary. When we came into power in 2006, members will recall that we put an unprecedented amount of money forward to be able to address the infrastructure needs in the country.

We sat down with the provinces and the Federation of Canadian Municipalities to design the new building Canada fund, which is the largest infrastructure fund dedicated to municipalities and communities across the country. This is the largest one since the second world war. We are getting the job done.

[Forestry Industry, November 30th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, once again—of course—the government has gone above and beyond the expectations of the Bloc Québécois. Indeed, last year, this government worked closely with the Quebec government and transferred $350 million to set up its ecotrust program. This is action. They call for action and that is what we deliver. These results allow Quebec in particular to achieve the necessary standards in terms of the environment.

[Forestry Industry, November 30th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, on the contrary, we are doing our part. We have made it clear. My colleague's plans, which are intended to help forestry workers, are a perfect example. The only problem in this House is that the members of the Bloc Québécois do not take the time to read, the time to see what is being done, the time to do anything, full stop.

[Forestry Industry, November 30th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, the way I see it, the only people in Parliament who have no heart are the members of the Bloc Québécois, who for years now have accomplished exactly nothing in this House.

Hon. members have to understand that my colleague, the Minister of Finance, proposed measures in his economic statement and in the throne speech. What did the Bloc Québécois do? Once again, it voted against them, in the interests of Quebeckers, as it claims, even though that meant leaving $12 billion for Quebeckers on the table.

[Forestry Industry, November 30th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for her question.

Clearly, it is always a sad day when workers lose their jobs or leave their jobs involuntarily. However, we must remember that the government has been very active on this issue. The Minister of Natural Resources has announced a program worth over $400 million to help these forestry workers. I believe that the federal government has not only made a contribution, but is being very active on this issue.

[Airports, November 29th, 2007]

Indeed, Mr. Speaker, that low-cost Hamilton to Ireland flight is a result of our new blue sky agreement.

The objective is to offer new international air service to people in every region in the country. As a result, Calgary, Edmonton, Halifax, Hamilton, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver have new non-stop flights to places such as Algiers, Amman, Auckland, Belgrade, Cancun and Dublin. They are all over the place.

As well, we have started to negotiate another agreement, with the EU, and hopefully that will give us more advantages.

[Manufacturing Industry, November 27th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, if my hon. friends in the Bloc Québécois had bothered to read the economic statement and the throne speech, they would have seen that, yes, the government will be taking action. And that action has begun. But what is the Bloc Québécois doing? The Bloc members are not really working for Quebeckers. They have a unique opportunity to take action that will help Quebeckers, by lowering personal taxes, reducing corporate taxes or decreasing the tax on capital. They are not there for Quebeckers; we are there.

[Manufacturing Industry, November 27th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, once again, I would like to review what the government has done. We brought out an economic statement that contains very specific measures to help the industry. But what did the opposition do? Once again, the opposition let its own interests dominate, meaning that it left on the table $12 billion over five years earmarked to help Quebeckers and companies. That is what it did.