Marc Garneau

[Air Canada, February 22nd, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question.

We are all pleased that the Government of Quebec decided to drop its lawsuit against Air Canada. In return, Air Canada will build a centre of excellence for C series aircraft maintenance for the next 20 years.

That is good news. This will create jobs for the future of our country. When that happens, we will be prepared to examine the Air Canada Public Participation Act to clarify it and ensure that there will not be any litigation in the future.

[Air Transportation, February 17th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I am sure that everyone in this chamber, on both sides of the House, is delighted with the news today that Air Canada has decided to purchase 45 airplanes from the C-series 300 and has options for 30 more.

We care deeply about the Bombardier aircraft. I, myself, have had the pleasure of sitting in the cockpit. This is the best airplane in the world in its class, and all of us should be hoping that Bombardier is going to be selling hundreds of these aircraft in the months and years to come.

[Rail Transportation, February 17th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question.

I am happy to share some details and to tell my colleague about the initiatives that have been taken since July 2013, after the tragedy in Lac-Mégantic. These initiatives were taken by the previous government. I have examined them, and there is still work to be done. We will do what is necessary to assure Canadians that their rail systems are safe.

[Rail Transportation, February 17th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I welcome this question because I have been speaking extensively about rail safety since I received my mandate to do so.

On the question of fatigue, the member will be glad to know that I have taken action with respect to a complaint that was lodged with CP concerning fatigue of those who are responsible for driving CP trains. We are actively looking into that at the moment.

Rail safety is my number one priority and that of this government. We will be vigilant with respect to that, because so many Canadians are concerned about it.

[Infrastructure, February 5th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I can assure my colleague that we are working very hard on the matter of Quebec infrastructure.

My colleague, the Minister of Infrastructure and Communities, has met with the premier of Quebec. During the election campaign, we announced that we were going to make major investments in infrastructure across Canada in the next 10 years.

We made that promise. We know that doing so will stimulate the economy, which is good for Quebec and for Canada. We are going to keep our promise.

[Government Appointments, February 5th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, as we have said many times, the appointment process must be respected. We know very well that many appointments were made by the previous prime minister very shortly before the election, and those appointments are now taking effect. That is not how things should be done. The new government should have the latitude to make its own appointments.

[Employment, February 5th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, on the contrary. Our Prime Minister is very much aware of it. That is why he was in Alberta for two days this week. He is also aware that there are challenges in Saskatchewan and Newfoundland and Labrador. When he met with the Premier of Alberta, he undertook to fast-track $700 million worth of infrastructure. That is showing understanding.

He also said that Alberta would be eligible for the fiscal stabilization fund that is available when a province goes through a particular difficulty due to the lowering of the oil price. So we do care and we are taking action right now.

[Employment, February 5th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, we know that the only party in the House that has failed Albertans is the Conservative Party. It coasted through 10 years of high oil prices and just could not deliver.

We are going to deliver, but we are going to do it by taking into account the fact that we can develop our economy while being respectful of our environment. That is the approach we are taking, an intelligent, scientifically based approach. That is the proper approach for this government to take.

[Natural Resources, February 5th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, to finish off, we firmly believe that a clean environment and a strong economy go hand in hand. That is the job of government in getting our resources to international markets. Only by engaging Canadians and conducting deeper consultations with indigenous people are we going to get there.

[Natural Resources, February 5th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, in the 21st century the only way to get big projects like pipelines built is to do them responsibly and sustainably. That is the hard lesson we learned from the failed approach of the members opposite, who for 10 years were unable to deliver for the province of Alberta and unable to get resources—