Marc-André Morin

[Homes Not Connected to a Sanitation System, March 18th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to support the hon. member for Argenteuil—Papineau—Mirabel's motion to correct an injustice done to rural Canadians.

One would expect a party that campaigned on the slogan "Our region in power" to support this important official opposition motion.

As in all rural regions of Canada, thousands of people in my riding of Laurentides—Labelle live close to lakes and waterways. Maintaining the quality of these regions' sanitation systems is vital to people and environmental protection.

The safety of communities' drinking water depends on the state of their septic systems. The same is true of the survival of the tourism and recreation industry, a major development focus in my riding. These communities are responsible for maintaining water quality by maintaining their sanitation facilities. However, infrastructure programs are not being given adequate financial support to bring septic systems up to new environmental standards.

Everyone pays the same taxes whether they live in an urban or rural area, so everyone should be able to benefit equally from those tax dollars.

As an MP who represents a rural riding, I am very proud to defend this motion, which seeks to ensure fairness among people living in urban and rural areas.

Supporting my colleague's motion would be a good opportunity for the Conservatives to take action and show Canadians that the federal government is implementing practical measures to help the regions.

Motion No. 400 seeks to make the waste water services that are currently available to people in urban areas accessible to people in rural areas as well.

Although the federal government is investing in bringing municipal waste water systems up to standard, over 25% of Canadians are not connected to these urban systems and are therefore not receiving any subsidies.

As is often the case in my riding, many homeowners depend on residential septic tanks. Right now, 25% of Canadians have to pay out of their own pockets to maintain and upgrade their septic systems.

If the Conservatives were really listening to people in the regions, they would quickly realize that the municipalities support this motion.

Many municipalities in Laurentides—Labelle have openly expressed their support for my colleague's proposal. Ten of them—the RCM of Antoine-Labelle, Sainte-Adèle, La Macaza, Ivry-sur-le-Lac, Lac-Saguay, Rivière-Rouge, La Minerve, Sainte-Marguerite-du-Lac-Masson, Val-David and La Conception—have demonstrated their support for the motion by adopting a city council resolution.

I will not read the resolutions sent to my office, but I would like to mention some important points included in the preamble to the resolution adopted by the City of Sainte-Marguerite-du-Lac-Masson. It states:

...in peri-urban areas, a number of septic systems of isolated dwellings are outdated and need to be brought up to standard, work that is both important and urgent;

...this situation poses a significant potential risk to the water quality of our waterways, lakes and rivers;

...because of the high cost of the work, some residents are delaying bringing their system up to standard, which means an increased risk to water quality and public health;

...the federal government [must support] the municipalities that need to build or repair their waste water systems.

These points expressed by the City of Sainte-Marguerite-du-Lac-Masson very clearly indicate the problem and the needs facing the municipalities in my riding.

The septic system issue is problematic for many other groups in the riding of Laurentides—Labelle, besides the municipalities I just mentioned. For instance, the Regroupement des associations pour la protection des lacs et cours d'eau des Hautes-Laurentides, which represents 19 associations and municipalities, is working on this priority issue. In fact, one of its key active projects is the search for funding to renovate individual septic systems.

Therefore, by moving this motion, my colleague from Argenteuil—Papineau—Mirabel has really identified a key problem facing our municipalities. By following through on a resolution from the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, the member has proven that she really is listening to Canadians.

I am truly grateful to her for moving a motion that is so in tune with the actual needs of our fellow Canadians.

This motion would definitely get us much closer to equality among Canada's various regions. More importantly, this motion would help protect the environment, which is another issue the Conservative government has mostly been ignoring.

Outdated septic systems in some rural regions threaten water quality and public health. As the Pays-d'en-Haut RCM points out, the health of a waterway or lake depends heavily on whether surrounding septic systems comply with current regulations. Septic systems can leak water contaminated with fecal coliform bacteria and nutrients such as phosphorus and nitrogen. When contaminated water enters the water table and flows into our lakes and waterways, algae and aquatic plants proliferate. We know that fecal coliform bacteria contain a number of pathogens that threaten human health.

Maintaining high waste water treatment standards is critical, but that comes at a cost. Individuals simply cannot afford it. As we all know, the current government often leaves people in the regions out in the cold. Recent cuts to employment insurance are a harsh example of how, in many respects, the Conservatives could not care less about people in the regions. Maintaining existing infrastructure programs will only perpetuate the unfair treatment of people in rural areas.

Motion No. 400 is a preventive measure. Helping create programs that provide financial support for upgrading residential septic systems will help us avoid the enormous cost of decontaminating lakes and rivers.

It is time for the federal government to come up with a long-term vision. By expecting the provinces and municipalities to deal with this by themselves, the Conservatives are just putting off confronting an issue that affects all Canadians. I think they are trying to shirk their responsibility by turning a blind eye and pretending the problem does not exist.

I hope that the government will stop ignoring the problem and try to understand that the need is great. The people in my riding need the measures proposed by my colleague. We must take steps to protect water and public health by studying the possibility of establishing financial support programs to bring up to standard septic systems not connected to sanitation systems.

[Business of Supply, March 5th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to reassure my colleague by saying that I would have no trouble voting against any bill introduced to trick us or to demonstrate that we are dealing with a hidden agenda or some other ploy.

I want to thank him, because while listening to his speech, I remembered why I got into politics. The fact is that the vast majority of Quebeckers and people from my riding are fed up with sterile discussions and the dead end into which the Liberals and Conservatives have in turn led us.

I would like to reiterate what someone said this morning about how the Bloc, which introduced this bill, was invented by a bunch of Conservatives and Liberals back in the day. We no longer feel like playing a role in this movie. We have moved on. I am afraid that abolishing the Senate could turn out to be a missed opportunity, because the idea of getting rid of this idiotic body would probably be very easy to sell to Canadians. I cannot think of anyone who would want to defend the Senate, apart from them.

[Business of Supply, March 5th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I admire the parliamentary secretary's optimism, but I think he is a bit naive if he thinks that it will be easier to sell the provinces on holding votes in each province, with the same rules, at their expense, and then to all agree on a standard procedure across the country, from coast to coast. That seems very difficult to me. I think it will be easier to convince the provinces to get rid of this institution, which is used for all kinds of stunts. For example, a senator wanted to get his book translated, so he read it out in the chamber, in order to get an inexpensive translation into French.

It is time to wake up. There are all kinds of expressions that work here, for example, “stop flogging a dead horse” or “putting a Band-Aid on a wooden leg”. I could go on.

[Employment Insurance, March 1st, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, the EI reform is threatening a number of skilled workers in my riding's seasonal industry. One of them is Ghylslain Jalbert, who has been working at Ski Valet in Tremblant for eight years. Mr. Jalbert's expertise and that of a number of other workers could be lost when the reform pushes them out of the region to look for work.

Tremblant is a world-renowned tourist destination. Why are the Conservatives penalizing the tourism industry in my region? Will the minister reverse these senseless changes?

[Petitions, February 13th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I will try to remain as neutral as possible. It seems to be the current fashion.

That being said, people do have concerns.

Canada is the only industrialized country without a strategy. As I was going through this exercise of standing up and sitting down, I checked the petitioners' names and places of residence. I recognized people from my riding, as well as other people I know who live outside the riding. It is a universal problem.

When will the government take concrete measures to address this issue?

[Enhancing Royal Canadian Mounted Police Accountability Act, February 12th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to hear my colleague's opinion.

I am like every other member of the public. I do hope some of them watch the debates on CPAC. After hearing arguments from both sides one quickly realizes that, while some wish to act, others prefer things to stay the same.

Not wanting to change a situation implies that everything is fine. I wonder how many members opposite believe that sexual harassment means cracking jokes between colleagues and that the women who complain have no sense of humour. To my mind, the problem is deeply rooted, which raises many questions.

If they do not wish to change the situation, could it be because they are okay with the way things are?

[Business of Supply, February 7th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, the riding of the hon. member for Pontiac is very similar to mine in terms of size, population and economy.

Earlier, I heard the parliamentary secretary talking about all sorts of resources available on the Internet. Since I know my colleague's riding well, I would like to ask him how many people in Ladysmith, Chapeau, Lytton, Otter Lake and so on have high-speed Internet and how much it costs for those who do have it?

In my riding, I constantly meet people who tell me that Internet access is extremely expensive and does not work. It takes three hours to download a two-page PDF document.

Should the government not be ensuring that people have Internet access before closing offices and putting all of the information online? That will be of absolutely no help to some people.

I would also like to ask my colleague another question. Is there a business in his riding that could continue to function knowing that the accountant will retire in a month, but not knowing if he will be able to stay on while they find another one?

[Business of Supply, February 7th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I would not want to over-simplify things, but I would like to know if my colleague agrees with me.

I get the sense that this is about respect for democracy and parliamentary institutions. Mr. Page's title includes the word “parliamentary”. He serves all parliamentarians. The problem is that some members of the House think there are only 161 parliamentarians. But there are 308 of us. Nobody can say that we are not doing our work or that we slack off. We spend our evenings and weekends working. We all—Liberals, NDP and independent members alike—take this job very seriously. We all represent our ridings with as much dignity as possible.

Some of the members opposite think that because we are on the wrong side of the House, we are clowns or nonentities, that we do not count. Personally, I feel that I am paid well, so I work hard to earn my keep. I find it insulting to be considered a bit player in a comedy.

[Conflict in Mali, February 5th, 2013]

Mr. Chair, the member for Toronto Centre raised some good points, but I think we need to dig a little deeper.

What is going on in Mali was foreseeable. When NATO intervened in Libya, everyone fled to Mauritania, Algeria and, primarily, Mali. That is why this crisis has exploded in Mali. A strategy is needed to avoid having the same thing happen in Mali and having everyone to flee to Niger. That would be dangerous, because there is uranium in Niger and Mauritania.

There is no military strategy, and the country has never had one. Intervention is done on an as-needed basis. It is as though the government finds out about conflicts in the newspaper like everyone else. Something is not working. I would like to hear what my colleague has to say about that.

[Business of Supply, February 5th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, an article like that makes it easy to believe. Everything always comes back to the economy and alleged job creation. I say “alleged”, because 15% of young people who are unemployed are not in the mood to brag or boast.

This is obviously a hidden and vicious attack on certain regions of the country where the Conservatives may not have gotten very good political support.