Marc Garneau

[Ways and Means, October 25th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 83(1), I have the honour to table a notice of ways and means motion to implement certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on March 22, 2017, and other measures. Pursuant to Standing Order 83(2), I ask that an order of the day be designated for consideration of the motion.

[The Environment, October 24th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, we are very proud of having announced the oceans protection plan. In relation to vessels of concern, we announced the $6.8 million abandoned boats program last May. We also announced a small craft harbour federal fisheries boat cleanup program. We will be acceding to the Nairobi protocol, and later this year we will be introducing legislation dealing with vessels of concern.

I think we are covering the waterfront.

[The Environment, October 23rd, 2017]

—when the previous government gutted the Navigation Protection Act. We will go beyond recovering many of the things that were lost in the last act. We are going to ensure greater transparency, and we are going to make sure—

[The Environment, October 23rd, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, I want to reassure my colleague that I take my mandate extremely seriously with respect to the navigable waters act. I remember spending all night long with my hon. colleague—

[The Environment, October 23rd, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, I will take this opportunity to say that our government is determined to protect the health and safety of Canadians and our waters.

We are doing what it takes to ensure that the permanent removal of the Kathryn Spirit is done safely and effectively, something that the previous government did not do.

Between July 2016 and July 2017, Public Services and Procurement Canada conducted the environmental studies and assessments required for dismantling the ship. We are keeping our promise.

[Rail Transportation, October 16th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, as members know, rail safety is my top priority. Of course our sympathy and thoughts are with the victims of the Lac-Mégantic tragedy. We have been working very hard since that time to bring in measures to make rail transportation safer. With regard to Lac-Mégantic, we are working with the Province of Quebec and the Town of Lac-Mégantic to come up with a solution. I can assure the House that we will find a solution.

[Questions on the Order Paper, October 6th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, the Government of Canada is committed to protecting the safety, security, and efficiency of Canada’s vital trade links.

With respect to (a), on February 27, 2014, the Canadian Transit Company submitted an application for a proposed project pursuant to the International Bridges and Tunnels Act.

With regard to (b), there is no legislated time frame under which International Bridges and Tunnels Act decisions must be made; as a result, there has not been a delay in issuing a permit. The length of the review process was caused by the complexity of the project and the requirement for extensive public, stakeholder, and international consultations in the review of the application. The results of these consultations are available on Transport Canada’s website at https://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/page-653.html. Once the review of the application and of the comments received during the consultations is complete, the Minister of Transport makes a recommendation to the Governor in Council for the proposed project.

With regard to (c), there is no legislated time frame under which International Bridges and Tunnels Act decisions must be made.

With regard to (d), the Minister of Transport makes a recommendation to the Governor in Council. The Governor in Council decides whether to approve the construction of the proposed project.

[Air Transportation, October 5th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Pierrefonds—Dollard for his question.

We all share his desire to make the passenger experience as pleasant as possible. That is why we worked with the Minister of Public Safety and officials at Pierre Elliott Trudeau airport to fix the problem, by adding automated kiosks and more customs officers.

I am proud to report that last summer, during Montreal's 375th anniversary celebrations, we reduced the wait time to 10 minutes. That a good example—

[Oil Tanker Moratorium Act, October 4th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, I am glad that my colleague brought up the fact, as I did beforehand, that Bill C-49 passed yesterday through clause-by-clause study. It is certainly my hope that Bill C-48 will go through a similar collegial process. There will be that opportunity.

I totally respect the independence of the committee as our government has done from the very beginning, unlike the previous government. I am sure when it does arrive at committee, there will be a similar opportunity to hear witnesses to argue for and against, and eventually go to clause-by-clause study. I hope to do all this in a collegial manner.

[Oil Tanker Moratorium Act, October 4th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, I am glad my colleague supports this bill, but it is the third time I am answering the NDP question about ministerial powers. The ministerial powers are for extreme emergency situations. The only example that at the moment exists is if there was an emergency in a community along the coast in a remote area that suddenly, for reasons we do not anticipate, needed a vast quantity of a certain kind of fuel. That might be one exception. However, we do not anticipate using that ministerial power.