Michel Guimond

[Petitions, March 9th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present a petition with close to 1,000 signatures of employees at Air Canada's maintenance and overhaul centres. Three-quarters of these employees work in Montreal and the remaining quarter work in Winnipeg, Manitoba. These petitioners are calling upon the Minister of Finance to uphold the Air Canada Public Participation Act, which was passed in 1988 when Air Canada was privatized.

You will recall, Mr. Speaker, since you were a member of Parliament at that time, that this act provides for full compliance with the Official Languages Act, a head office in the Montreal urban community and three maintenance and overhaul centres in the Montreal urban community, Mississauga and Winnipeg. Recently, Air Canada sold its maintenance services. Now, 4,500 well-paid jobs, with average salaries of $60,000, and approximately 23,000 indirect jobs may be transferred to El Salvador. The government must take responsibility.

[Quebec City Arena, March 7th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, the Canadian Press tried to obtain details about the government's deliberations on the Quebec City arena. They received only 60-some pages with half of the information censored.

Since there have been doubts from the beginning that the Conservatives actually intended to help fund the arena, why does the minister not make public all the internal documents related to this project? What does she have to hide?

[Quebec City Arena, March 7th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, the minister responsible for the Quebec City region is rejecting Mayor Labeaume's proposal on the pretext that the federal government does not have any programs to support facilities that are designed primarily for professional sports. Nevertheless, an internal memo stated that, although the multi-purpose arena could house a professional team, this was not a condition of the proposal.

Rather than misrepresenting Mayor Labeaume's proposal, why will the minister not recognize that this is a multi-purpose arena for which the government must provide immediate funding?

[Business of Supply, March 3rd, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, I congratulate my colleague from Québec on her comments and more generally on how she handles her duties as the Bloc Québécois critic for democratic reform. I would also like to thank my NDP colleague for accepting the Bloc amendment.

I would like to respond to the Minister of State for Democratic Reform, who said that the Bloc could expect a 25% reduction in the number of parliamentarians because there are 25 senators from Quebec. The minister did not seem to notice that the only difference is that, in Quebec, no matter what our party, we are democratically elected by the people we represent. Ours are not political patronage appointments. That is what my colleague was trying to show and to make the minister understand. He does not seem to understand that.

If an election is called—likely this fall—the 308 people elected to this place, no matter what parties they belong to, will deserve to be here and their legitimacy will be conferred by the people, unlike senators who are appointed as a political reward.

Although I am being told that my time is up, I would like to mention some cases: Brian Mulroney appointed his hair stylist and the manager of the Ritz-Carlton; the Liberals appointed Viola Léger, the actress from La Sagouine, and Jean Lapointe, who still makes movies. I could go on for the rest of the day.

[Quebec City Arena, March 1st, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, in addition to the group J'ai ma place, another private partner has announced its contribution to the Quebec City multi-purpose arena. Quebecor Media has pledged to support Mayor Labeaume's project so that our national capital has a necessary tool for its economic development.

Rather than creating obstacles for the promoters of this important project, will the Conservative government finally commit to doing its fair share right now?

[Quebec City Arena, February 28th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, while the Minister of National Defence has come out strongly in favour of a football stadium for the city of Halifax, the Conservative members from the Quebec City area are giving more excuses for their lack of action. Unlike Quebec City, Halifax does not even have any private partners.

How can the minister responsible for the Quebec City region explain that her Nova Scotia colleague is able to support a project that is just beginning to take shape when she is incapable of defending a project supported by the people, the City of Quebec, the Government of Quebec and the private sector?

[Quebec City Arena, February 15th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, I am going to quote another report.

In an Environment Canada report released in 2007–08, it states that “Each of the three orders of government announced a funding commitment of $500 million...[for] Toronto's bid for the 2008 Olympic and Paralympic Games”.

Why are the reasons used to justify the funding of the Toronto bid no longer valid when it comes to funding an arena in Quebec City?

[Quebec City Arena, February 15th, 2011]

On March 5, 2001, Transport Canada issued a press release announcing “four projects for priority action in support of Toronto's bid for the 2008 Olympic and Paralympic Games”. The minister responsible for the Quebec City region stated yesterday in the House that “most of the investments made at that time were for the purpose of redeveloping the lakeshore”.

How can the minister deny that the federal government spent $500 million backing Toronto's Olympic bid? One of these versions is true—

[Quebec City Arena, February 14th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, I have a quotation, too.

The current Minister of Finance, when he was a minister in the Ontario legislature, announced in a press release, “...four projects for priority action in support of Toronto's bid for the 2008 Olympic and Paralympic Games”, to which the federal government contributed $500 million.” Ten years later, Quebeckers are still contributing to this $500 million through their taxes.

Why are the reasons given to justify funding the Toronto bid not applicable to funding for the Quebec City arena. Is that fair?

[Quebec City Arena, February 14th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservative government is refusing to do its share for the Quebec City multi-purpose arena. According to a survey taken last weekend, 79% of those polled are in favour of federal funding for the arena.

Can the minister responsible for the Quebec region explain why her government has decided to disregard the will of Quebeckers? Will she make a decision only after the arena is built?