Pablo Rodriguez

[Committees of the House, November 25th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the leader of the Green Party of Canada.

For me, it was a tangible opportunity to create a better future for my daughter and for the generations to come. The government of the day did everything in its power to defeat my bill. Thanks to our work with the Bloc Québécois and the NDP, however, we managed to do the almost impossible: We got a bill passed. This is proof that not only can we change things politically, but that everyone wins when we work together, because that is possible to do.

In politics, we often get the opportunity to work with exceptional people. There are some worthy men and women on both sides of the House. I have developed a deep respect for and genuine friendships with some of them. I am thinking in particular of the member for Louis-Saint-Laurent, who is a true gentleman. I am thinking of my friend from La Prairie, who is also the Bloc Québécois House leader, not to mention my friend, the member for New Westminster—Burnaby, the NDP House leader. I would like to remind him that it was thanks to his party, thanks to the orange wave, that I lost my job and wound up on vacation in 2011. I thank him very much for the time to rest. I say that in all sincerity, because I learned more from that defeat than I ever did from my six electoral wins.

There are so many lessons to learn from losing an election. I was pigheaded. I lost on May 2, so on May 3, I hit the reset button. On May 3, I started over, because I wanted to reflect on the reasons for our defeat. I wanted to rebuild the party. I wanted to reconnect with the people of Honoré‑Mercier, who had said “thanks but no thanks” this time and taken a pass on me.

Around that time, I became friends with a passionate young politician with great hair, who went on to become the leader of the party. I want to thank the Prime Minister for his trust, his advice, and above all, his friendship. Together, we won. We won the party's leadership race, and we won three elections, meaning three consecutive victories in Quebec in 2015, 2019 and 2021. That is not too shabby. The Speaker was part of that too. Together, we have made progress for Quebec and Canada. I want to say to the Prime Minister that it was an honour to serve alongside him. I thank my friend.

I would like to take a moment to thank the people who choose public service but work behind the scenes. The first such person is Geneviève Boisvert, the manager of my constituency office. Now she is mad at me because she hates being thanked publicly, but I have to do that because she has a special place in my career, and I owe her so much.

To everyone who has ever worked with me, whether in the riding, in the whip's office or the House leader's office, whether at Canadian Heritage, Transport or the lieutenant's office, I just want to say thank you very much, from the bottom of my heart, truly and sincerely.

Their advice made my job as an MP and a minister much easier. Their friendship has made it much more enjoyable and quite often really, really fun, I have to admit. I love those guys and I thank them so much.

To the public servants, the House of Commons staff from the kitchen to the pages, I thank them for choosing to serve our most prestigious democratic institution.

Then there are those who mean everything to us. No words can express how much I owe to Roxane and Béatrice. Words are not enough. Roxane and Béatrice know how much I love them and how grateful I am for their support, advice and encouragement. None of this would have been possible without them. Today, I want everyone to know what amazing women they are. I admire them so much. I love them.

In all the years I have been here, I have always fought for Quebec. Every time I studied a file or had to make a decision, I asked myself whether it was good for Quebec. I truly believe that defending and promoting Quebec's interests is an ongoing job. As the Quebec lieutenant, I was able to speak for the regions and state their challenges and priorities. I worked with the caucus chair on issues such as building the new Champlain Bridge, including Davie in the shipbuilding strategy and deploying high-speed Internet throughout the province.

I had opportunities to participate in negotiations with the Government of Quebec on issues like health, housing, and child care spaces, which really improved people's living conditions. Both as the Quebec lieutenant and as minister of Canadian heritage, I fiercely defended the French language and Quebec culture by standing up to the web giants, because protecting and promoting our culture also means ensuring the vitality of our identity as a nation.

I also made it my duty to stand up for the local press and a strong, autonomous and independent free press, which is one of the cornerstones of our democracy. I led these fights alongside the member for Drummond and the NDP House leader. I thank them both from the bottom of my heart.

Like my father before me, I sincerely believe that we can tackle every issue and challenge that people face. For that to happen, however, people have to be able to trust their leaders and institutions. That kind of trust must be earned. We all have to earn it collectively.

As my colleagues may know, on September 19, I crossed the Alexandra Bridge to launch my bid for the leadership for the Liberal Party of Quebec. That is where it all started for me, back when I was young and thought I knew everything. That is where I will continue to fight for Quebec. Over the past few years, I have spent a lot of time talking to people from all over the place. They have made it clear that, despite the current government's fine promises, nothing is better now than it was before. In fact, it is quite the contrary.

I think that, as Quebeckers, we deserve better than a government whose go-to solution is the politics of division. That is why I decided to join this race, together with my family, and it was with my family by my side that I crossed the bridge. In crossing the bridge, I am leaving behind my friends and colleagues in caucus and in cabinet. I am leaving behind my pals from Quebec, including the Speaker. These are people I really adore. In crossing the bridge, I am leaving this seat that I longed for and dreamed about so much, that I worked so hard to win and that has made me so proud.

In crossing the bridge, I am leaving behind a big part of my career and my life. I would say that I did my best. It was far from perfect, but I gave it my all. I did it with conviction. I did it with pride, to the best of my ability, with a deep love for the House, for democracy, for Quebec and for Canada.

My first remarks in the House were addressed to my constituents in Honoré-Mercier, and so my final remarks will be, as well.

Without my constituents, without their friendship, their generosity and their trust, none of this would have been possible. The last 20 years have been an honour for me. It has been an honour to serve them. It has been the honour of my life, and I can never thank them enough.

[Member spoke in Spanish]

[Committees of the House, November 25th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, I do not get many opportunities to rise in the House these days, but this will be the last time. Although I am officially leaving the party in January, not today, this is a deeply emotional moment for me as I rise to deliver my last speech in the House.

I remember my maiden speech. It was on October 13, 2004. I was seated at the back, over there. I was up against the curtains. I was a bit thinner, my hair was a bit darker and I was very nervous. That was a little over 20 years ago. That maiden speech was the start of a great adventure, but at the same time, it was the end of the long journey that led to me becoming an MP.

I want to let you in on a secret, Mr. Speaker, but it has to stay between us. I have politics in my blood. It is in my DNA. I must say that my father is partly to blame for that. I have talked about it in the House before. In Argentina, my father ran for governor in our province. He opposed the military-controlled government. He was also a lawyer for political prisoners, who, most of the time, were simply student leaders or mothers of missing children who were standing up to the government. He was poisoned and he was tortured on several occasions. One night, while the whole family was sleeping, two bombs went off in our home. We were all injured, my parents, my sisters and me. We survived, but we all knew that it was just a matter of time before we were killed, so we left Argentina. By some miracle, we managed to escape.

We arrived in Quebec, in Canada. No one in the family spoke a word of English or French. We lost everything when we fled Argentina. We had nothing when we arrived here. We left with just a few suitcases for two parents and three children. In the beginning, my parents cleaned houses, mostly in Outremont. I went with them to help. We were regulars at the food bank and the Salvation Army. I remember wandering the aisles picking things out and buying them with very little money.

Through hard work and perseverance, my parents became professors. They both went back to school. My father got a PhD. They became professors at the Université de Sherbrooke and stayed there for over 20 years. I cannot tell you enough what great role models they were for me. We know that things are not easy, but they are always possible in our society, when a person puts their heart into something, works hard and makes an effort. They deserve credit for that, but it is also thanks to the helping hand offered by Quebeckers, who gave us a warm welcome, that we were able to heal our wounds and get back on our feet.

I remember a conversation I had with my father right after we got here. He had survived torture and bombing. He had lost friends. He looked at me and said, “son, Canada is a welcoming country, a land of opportunity, and you can do anything you want here, but do not go into politics”. That time, I did not listen to him. However, on another occasion, he said, “human beings do not have a perfect set of tools to change the world and improve society, but the best tool they have right now is politics”. That time, I did listen to him.

I first became involved in politics as a student leader in high school and then in college and university. My commitment really deepened when I started campaigning with the young Liberals in the Quebec Liberal Party. It was a fascinating time. Several of my colleagues from the Bloc Québécois and from all over—I am thinking of one of my Conservative colleagues—were there. That was shortly after the Meech Lake accord failed. In my opinion, it was a huge mistake to reject that agreement. It was the early nineties, and we had the Allaire report, the Bélanger‑Campeau Commission, the Charlottetown accord referendum and the 1995 referendum on Quebec sovereignty. I was a spokesperson for both referendums. The younger set were not very supportive of the Quebec sovereignty referendum. I remember, because I gave speeches in Saint‑Hyacinthe, Chicoutimi, Sherbrooke, Saint‑Jérôme, pretty much everywhere. It was a very lively and exciting time, and I will never forget it.

Over time, I continued to be active in politics, at both the provincial and federal levels. I had been on the scene for a long time when I stood for election in Honoré-Mercier in 2004. I thought I had it made. I thought I knew what politics was and believed I had been doing it for a long time. However, when I saw my face plastered on a pole for the first time, I froze and realized it was true. I know everyone here felt that way. I know I did. People feel it the first time they see their face on a poster, because it changes absolutely everything. That is when I realized that even though I had been politically active, I still had a lot to learn. I certainly can say I have learned a lot.

I want to thank the man who gave me that first chance, Paul Martin. I want to thank him for trusting me and believing in me. Without Mr. Martin, I would never have been here.

One thing I am most proud of is the passage of my private member's bill, Bill C‑288 , almost 20 years ago. The law required the government of the day, the Harper government, to report on its efforts to reach the Kyoto targets.

[Questions on the Order Paper, September 16th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, Transport Canada is responsible for regulating the safety of railway operations, pursuant to the Railway Safety Act and part II of the Canada Labour Code.

Under the Railway Safety Act, railway companies are ultimately responsible for maintaining their operations and infrastructure in accordance with the regulatory regime. The department’s role is to monitor federally regulated railway companies for compliance with rules, regulations and standards through oversight activities including audits and inspections.

The railway locomotive inspection and safety rules outline the design and inspection requirements for locomotives operated by companies subject to the Railway Safety Act.

Under the rules, railway companies are responsible for the inspection and repair of all locomotives to ensure safe operation. Transport Canada’s oversight is conducted to ensure company inspections are performed as per the rules and that locomotives placed or continued in service are free from the safety defects prescribed in part III of the rules, including the safety defects pertaining to internal combustion engines outlined in sections 26.1 and 26.2 of these rules as follows:

26.1 The engine and engine room shall be kept free from accumulation of oil, grease, fuel oil, and other combustible material. Pollution control tanks shall be kept free from leakage and/or from overflow.

26.2 Locomotives operated in service during the fire season, shall have exhaust passages on the discharge side of spark arresting devices or turbo-chargers kept free of oil accumulation and carbonaceous deposits in excess of 1/8 inch (3 mm) in thickness.

In the province of British Columbia, Transport Canada inspected 1,072 locomotives from 2019 to 2023. The inspections were conducted in 35 yards, maintenance facilities and stations across the province, covering locomotives from 15 companies, which included CN Rail, BNSF Railway, Canadian Pacific Kansas City Limited, VIA Rail Inc., Southern Railway of British Columbia and White Pass & Yukon Route Railway. The inspections found that 1,018 locomotives were compliant to the internal combustible engine requirements and 54 were found non-compliant to these internal combustible engine requirements.

For all locomotives inspected, Transport Canada provided a report to the company identifying the non-compliant items as applicable. As such, companies were provided 14 days to respond to Transport Canada inspectors with corrective measures. In all cases, satisfactory actions were taken by the company.

[Questions on the Order Paper, September 16th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, Transport Canada does not collect information on purchase price or value of a registered vessel.

The total number of pleasure crafts registered from 2016 to 2024 was 5,949 vessels.

For year 2016, 534 total pleasure crafts were registered, with 48 total new pleasure crafts registered and 486 total used pleasure crafts registered.

For year 2017, 648 total pleasure crafts were registered, with 63 total new pleasure crafts registered and 585 total used pleasure crafts registered.

For year 2018, 673 total pleasure crafts were registered, with 69 total new pleasure crafts registered and 604 total used pleasure crafts registered.

For year 2019, 712 total pleasure crafts were registered, with 83 total new pleasure crafts registered and 629 total used pleasure crafts registered.

For year 2020, 574 total pleasure crafts were registered, with 37 total new pleasure crafts registered and 537 total used pleasure crafts registered.

For year 2021, 812 total pleasure crafts were registered, with 77 total new pleasure crafts registered and 735 total used pleasure crafts registered.

For year 2022, 874 total pleasure crafts were registered, with 92 total new pleasure crafts registered and 782 total used pleasure crafts registered.

For year 2023, 807 total pleasure crafts were registered, with 69 total new pleasure crafts registered and 738 total used pleasure crafts registered.

For year 2024, 315 total pleasure crafts were registered, with 11 total new pleasure crafts registered and 304 total used pleasure crafts registered.

[Questions on the Order Paper, September 16th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, in response to part (a) of the question, Transport Canada can confirm that Mr. Juneau did not have any meetings specific to Unidentified Aerial Phenomena with United States officials.

With respect to part (b), Transport Canada did not locate any meeting notes or records of decisions of meetings occurring about Unidentified Aerial Phenomena with United States officials.

As for part (c), Transport Canada did not locate any records pertaining to information sharing agreements about Unidentified Aerial Phenomena.

Reports filed in Civil Aviation Daily Occurrence Reporting System on Transport Canada’s website are publicly available at CADORS: Query, at https://wwwapps.tc.gc.ca/saf-sec-sur/2/cadors-screaq/q.aspx?lang=eng.

[Questions on the Order Paper, September 16th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, my office was provided the analysis in May 2024.

Transport Canada is currently in the process of reviewing the analysis and determining next steps. The findings will be included in a summary report that is scheduled for publication on Transport’s Canada website in the coming months.

The Government of Canada paid CPCS Transcom Limited and WSP Global Inc. $1,068,424.36 to carry out its study of how to improve intercity passenger rail service in southwestern Ontario.

[Questions on the Order Paper, June 19th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, in regard to (a), Transport Canada, or TC, officially ended its participation in the Known Traveler Digital Identity, or KTDI, project in April 2023. The KTDI Project never launched.

The Digital Travel Credentials, or DTC, pilot project launched on January 7, 2024, and ended on March 31, 2024.

In regard to (b), the KTDI project was delayed indefinitely due to the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. In April 2023, TC and the Kingdom of the Netherlands notified the World Economic Forum that they had officially ended their participation due to resource constraints, travel restrictions and competing priorities.

In regard to (c), as the KTDI project was never officially launched, no data was obtained.

In regard to (d), as the KTDI project was never launched, no data of any type was retained or stored.

In regard to (e), TC facilitated the DTC pilot project with KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, or KLM, and the Kingdom of the Netherlands by assisting KLM in receiving a ministerial exemption order from Public Safety Canada for sections 4 and 4.1 of the Secure Air Travel Regulations to allow their use of facial recognition technology in a live pilot to verify the identity of participating passengers at the boarding gate for flights destined to the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

A condition of the ministerial exemption was for KLM to ensure that all passenger participation in the DTC pilot project be voluntary.

In regard to (f), the World Economic Forum was not involved in any capacity with KLM’s DTC pilot project.

In regard to (g), the DTC pilot project partners were KLM, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and the Montreal-Trudeau International Airport where the live pilot was hosted in Canada for departing flights.

In regard to (h), the DTC pilot project concluded on March 31, 2024.

In regard to (i), as TC did not collect any data from the DTC pilot project, the total number or citizenship of the passengers who volunteered for the pilot is unknown.

In regard to (j) (i) and (ii), no data from the DTC pilot project has been shared with TC, and no data was shared with Canadian third parties, such as the Montreal-Trudeau International Airport.

In regard to (k), no third parties received data.

In regard to (l), TC did not conduct testing as the DTC pilot project was industry-run by KLM in partnership with the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

In regard to (m), as the DTC pilot project was run by KLM, its results, including (i) benefits of, and (ii) problems with the technology, are commercially proprietary. Further information may be available from KLM and the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

In regard to (n), during the length of TC’s participation in the KTDI project, TC’s expenditures totalled $399,938 on salaries and $238,627 on other operating costs.

There are no government expenditures by TC in relation to the DTC pilot project run by KLM and the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

[Air Transportation, June 18th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, as my colleagues know, WestJet makes its own business decisions, but charging extras for customers who book flights over the phone makes absolutely no sense.

On this side of the aisle, we are working with the Canadian Transportation Agency to increase transparency of fees to make life more affordable. What are they doing? They are voting against all of that.

[Questions on the Order Paper, June 17th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, in response to (a), Transport Canada does not approve oversea tows of retired lakers or coastal ships. However, Transport Canada conducted a total of 12 safety assessments of international towing operations of dead ships departing Canada since January 1, 2016: one in 2022; two in 2021; one in 2020; six in 2019; and two in 2018.

In response to (b), his information is unknown. Transport Canada does not keep track of changes to destination as these ships are not required to be reported after leaving Canadian waters.

In response to (c), Transport Canada does not collect this information as Canadians are not required to report vessel recycling. However, the department has been made aware of two vessels that were recycled in Canada in 2022.

[Questions on the Order Paper, June 17th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, the response to (a)(i) is $94,520.55 gross; the response to (a)(ii) is $94,520.55 gross. The response to (b) is 1. The response to (c)(i) is 100%; the response to (c)(ii) is 0%. The response to (d)(i) is $94,520.55 gross; the response to (d)(ii) is N/A. The response to (e) is $94,520.55 gross).