Lisa Raitt

[Air Transportation, June 12th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, the carriers from the U.S. and Europe utilize the same standard every day as they fly through our airspace. As a result, there has been a request for a regulation change for a new process. In fact, on May 22, we had a full public consultation on this matter, and I have received a letter from the CUPE president.

In truth, because CUPE is currently suing Transport Canada, it would be inappropriate to meet.

[Rail Transportation, June 12th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I too have heard about the issue with respect to what is happening in terms of Cape Breton and this line. The rail line in question is a provincial line, and we will hear from our partners on the issue.

In the meantime, we will continue to work with the mayor of Cape Breton, Cecil Clarke, on these matters and with the provincial government as well.

[Board of Internal Economy, June 12th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the chair of the transport committee for this important question.

It is true that the rules have been very clear. It is not acceptable to use House of Commons resources to fund a party office or to send out party mail-outs. The NDP knows this. As a result, I expect that the party is going to pay back Canada Post.

However, I also expect that those members will refuse to pay back Canada Post, and that is why today I spoke to the CEO of Canada Post to ensure that he understood what was happening. He does. He takes it very seriously. Canada Post will be developing a plan to deal with the situation.

[Quebec Bridge, June 11th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, in this country we have rules that we expect railways to follow. They are very clearly set out in the Railway Safety Act. We also expect that they will conduct investigations on their property to ensure that there are not any accidents.

When we say that we have inspected the rail, it matters as well too. Indeed, that is what we did with respect to this rail to ensure that it was safe.

As the hon. member does know, CN and the Government of Canada are currently in a dispute with respect to the payment of monies for the further painting of that bridge. As it is before the courts, I have no further comment.

[The Environment, June 9th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, that is categorically false. There are response plans in our country and many people take part in them, like the great Coast Guard Auxiliary, which worked very hard on both of our coasts in this matter.

There is always room for improvement. That is exactly what we are doing. We are ensuring that the areas are ready for a response, that they have all the tools they need. We want to ensure three pillars: that we prevent oil spills from happening; that we respond to them very well if in case they do happen; and, at the day, that polluters will pay.

[The Environment, June 9th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, in 2013, the ministers announced that we would be moving ahead with the world-class tanker safety program. Indeed, we struck a panel. That panel came up with recommendations. We just recently announced our response to the recommendations.

One of the key recommendations was the notion that one size does not fit all for response plans across the country. That is why we are putting different areas for different response plans and allowing for those response plans to include the use of chemical disbursements. However, here is the kicker: it is where it is a net benefit for the environment, and that is the means by which we will be allowing this to happen.

[Canada Post, June 5th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, Canada Post is an arm's-length crown corporation. As such, it has developed a five-point plan in order to deal with the reality it is facing, which is that fewer people are sending mail through its system. It has less revenue to deal with in order to pay for increasing expenses. Therefore, it has developed a way forward. We support it in its path.

[Canada Post, June 5th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, Canada Post was faced with the reality that one billion fewer letters are being delivered in this country. As a result of that, it is seeing a decrease in its revenues, and increase in its expenses and it had to have a plan.

Canada Post developed a five-point plan. That plan is being implemented, and that is in place to ensure that in the future, all Canadians can receive timely mail and packages at the places they wish to have them.

[Canada Post, June 5th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is correct, there is a rural moratorium with respect to Canada Post offices that was put in place by this government, because we wanted to protect the service in those areas.

Canada Post also has developed a five-point plan. One of them is to remove the door-to-door service for one-third of Canadian households, which the member opposite has been talking about a lot in recent days.

I think it is important for the House to know and understand that the Federation of Canadian Municipalities defeated a resolution calling on the government to reverse the decision on door-to-door service. Two-thirds of Canadian municipalities support us on this.

[Transport, June 5th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, just to be clear, there have been nine complaints in Canada regarding this faulty ignition switch. Two of them have ended in tragedy, and those two are being investigated by Transport Canada.

The member opposite is referring to whether or not GM Canada was given the information in a timely fashion that they should issue a recall. We understand from GM that they issued the recall as soon as they found out from their partner in the United States.

We have no information to the contrary. We have asked them repeatedly. If information comes to light through our current investigation that such is not the case, we will prosecute under the Motor Vehicle Safety Act.