Matthew Dubé

[Safe and Accountable Rail Act, March 31st, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague and neighbour, who often speaks about Saint-Bruno, the town where I was born and raised. It could be called a rail community.

However, I have a concern and it is the same situation for her and me and for all of our colleagues who have railways tracks in their ridings. When we say that the bill does not go far enough, one of the concerns that comes up fairly often is about prevention. When the government talks about the amounts the companies will have to pay, it is going on the assumption that an incident will occur. The municipalities want tools to prevent such incidents.

I am thinking of the firefighters and all of the people on the front lines who work to save lives when such tragedies occur. For example, there was the train disaster in Mont-Saint-Hilaire in 1990, which could have rivalled the Lac-Mégantic tragedy. Fortunately, the train derailed outside the city's residential and commercial area.

Does my colleague agree that the municipalities need information about the dangerous goods that are passing through them and that we do not want any more disasters so it is not enough for the government to say that the companies will clean up the mess afterward?

[Champlain Bridge, March 27th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, the Champlain Bridge is another example of the Conservatives' incompetence.

Bridge replacement work is threatening Montreal's drinking water supply. It will cost several million dollars to protect the aqueduct canal that supplies close to half of Montreal's drinking water. The city is asking the government for help.

I know how hard this is for the minister, but will he sit down with elected representatives from the Montreal region, find a solution to the lack of planning, and protect the people's drinking water?

[Sports, March 23rd, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians were horrified to learn that young athletes were the victims of a national ski coach. To date, 11 victims have reported incidents that occurred over a period of eight years. That is extremely troubling.

Can the minister tell the House what measures have been taken within the national sports federations to protect our young people? Can he tell us whether his department is investigating Alpine Canada?

[Zero Tolerance for Barbaric Cultural Practices Act, March 23rd, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for her speech.

She mentioned one issue in particular. I tried to ask a member across the aisle a question about this earlier, but unfortunately, he avoided the question and repeated the government's talking points about zero tolerance for such acts, and so on.

As my colleague put it so well, of course we all oppose violence against women and want to get at the root of the problem. I want to come back to that point, which is one that the Conservative members appear incapable of addressing.

Should we not be concerned about the terms used in the bill's title? Rather than getting at the root of the problem and addressing it properly, the Conservatives chose words that fuel fear and could lead to stereotypes about certain cultural communities by painting everybody with the same brush, when we all know very well that the acts listed in the bill are relatively rare.

Indeed, this calls for zero tolerance. However, does my colleague not find the government's approach problematic in that regard?

[Zero Tolerance for Barbaric Cultural Practices Act, March 23rd, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, I listened carefully to my colleague's speech, and it goes without saying that we share his concerns about violence against women and girls.

Another concern is the title of this bill. We are not saying that these practices are acceptable, but we are very concerned about the language used. This concern was also expressed when this bill was being examined in the Senate, and a number of MPs have spoken about this issue in the House.

Obviously, we want to do everything we can as legislators to protect women and girls and put an end to this violence.

However, does my colleague not think that using words like “barbaric” in the title of the bill is putting us on a slippery slope and is a way of distorting the debate rather than getting to the heart of such an important issue?

[National Strategy for Concussion Reduction in Amateur Sports Act, March 12th, 2015]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-658, An Act respecting the development of a national strategy to reduce the incidence of concussions in amateur sport.

Mr. Speaker, today I am pleased to introduce a bill to reduce concussions. This bill is a major improvement over the previous version.

This bill calls on the Minister of Health to sit down with her provincial colleagues to adopt measures that will mitigate the scourge of concussions among young people.

It is important that the federal government show leadership on this file, and that the Minister of Health sit down with her provincial counterparts, which is what the bill asks, and puts into place measures that would help reduce concussions in amateur sports.

As a former coach myself and as a fan of sports, it is important for parents and for young people to continue to enjoy all of the positive benefits of sports in a safe environment. This bill goes a long way to taking the steps in the right direction.

I hope that my government colleagues will support this initiative. We all love sports, and we all want our young people to be safe.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)

[Charitable Organization in Chambly, February 24th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, I want to talk about an organization that is close to my heart. Aux sources du bassin de Chambly helps families and single people become independent in terms of food security and material security. To that end, the organization is able to provide food and material goods free of charge, all the while helping households become self-reliant. Every year this organization hosts a charity drive in Chambly and Carignan.

On Saturday evening, I had the pleasure of attending the organization's vintage fashion show and dinner. The goal was to collect money to expand the organization's facilities, which are overflowing thanks to the public's generous response to the drive and also thanks to the donations that are collected all year long. At this event I also learned about and witnessed the importance of its thrift shop first-hand.

In conclusion—and this is the most important part—I want to extend my congratulations and support to the director of the organization, Yolande Grenier, to her wonderful board of directors and to all of their excellent volunteers. Thank you.

[Employment, February 23rd, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, the closure of the Parmalat Canada plant in Marieville will result in the loss of 92 good jobs. This is a real catastrophe for our community and all the families affected.

While the NDP is providing ideas to kick-start the economy, the Conservatives are doing nothing to keep jobs, like those in Marieville, in our small communities.

What does the Minister of Employment and Social Development have to say to the people of Marieville who are going to lose their jobs? Why is he so insensitive to their problems?

[Red Tape Reduction Act, February 3rd, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, as I said in my speech, it would be extremely simple to require credit card companies to eliminate these absurd fees charged to small and medium-sized businesses. It would not take any time, it would not cost much, and an incredible amount of money could be saved. Instead of going into the pockets of the credit card companies, this money would go back to our small and medium-sized businesses and, therefore, to our communities. That is the NDP's vision and that is what we are suggesting.

[Red Tape Reduction Act, February 3rd, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, the member is absolutely right. We could definitely do a lot to alleviate some of the burden on small and medium-sized businesses.

There are some important regulations. The problem we have is that when we talk about safety, security or those good regulations, for lack of a better way of putting it, we have to regulate intelligently. There is no reason to trust the Conservatives. The President of the Treasury Board up to this point has not proven himself able to appropriately deal with more power.

The best example in the legislation is the one-for-one rule where one rule is removed for every new rule. We are being asked as legislators to take it on blind faith that the one-for-one rule will be applied appropriately when there is no guarantee that the government will not touch rules and regulations as it has done in the past, whether it was with respect to rail safety or food safety, issues that affect our everyday lives. No small or medium-sized business, no constituent of mine and definitely no constituent of any member of the House would see us get rid of those rules and regulations.

We definitely agree that something needs to be done about regulations. However, we will not find the proper solutions by letting the President of the Treasury Board go nuts on this. We will find the proper solutions by putting forward concrete proposals that will really alleviate the burden on small and medium-sized businesses in our country.