House of Commons photoLost his last election, in 2019, with 28% of the vote.
The Budget April 28th, 2015
Mr. Speaker, could my colleague tell us more about his thoughts on the proposed investment in public transit announced in budget 2015? The government is proposing just $250 million, which will start in 2017 and will then be gradually increased.
What does the member think about this new funding that will not start until 2017 and of the amount of this investment, compared to the scope of the problems with public transit in our Canadian cities?
The Budget April 28th, 2015
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to ask a question of my colleague, who concluded his speech by talking about the Conservatives' promise to balance the budget, when they presented Canadians with seven budgets in a row that were not balanced.
Today, the Conservatives have a new-found passion for balanced budgets. What is more, they are set to introduce a bill to force future governments to present balanced budgets when they themselves did not do that for the past five years. It is rather surprising, not to mention hypocritical, for a government to claim to be passionate about balanced budgets when it did not balance any of its own budgets in the past five years. It did not even respect its own legislation that it is about to introduce to Canadians.
Could my colleague speak to how sincere the Conservatives' new passion really is?
The Budget April 28th, 2015
Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to be able to ask my colleague a question. We share some of the same questions and concerns.
More specifically, I want to ask him about the tax rate for small and medium-sized businesses. I am still not clear about where he stands on this issue. When the budget was presented, the leader of his party did not take a clear stand on this issue. He said one thing but then changed his position. I would therefore like the member to clarify his party's position regarding lowering the tax rate from 11% to 9% for small and medium-sized businesses in Canada.
Many local businesses in my riding, whether it be my dry cleaner or the convenience store around the corner from my house, are happy that we proposed this measure and that the Conservatives took it from our platform.
I would therefore like to know what my colleague thinks about lowering the tax rate from 11% to 9% to help small and medium-sized businesses across Canada.
The Budget April 28th, 2015
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to ask my colleague a question.
She provided some examples of typical families that might benefit from her budget. I would like her to comment further on the higher tax-free savings account limit. That limit is now $5,000, and the government would like to double it. Many experts, tax experts and economists have said that this will benefit only the wealthiest.
I would like her to tell us about a typical family in her riding that will benefit from that additional $5,000. What typical middle-class family has enough money to benefit from being allowed to put an additional $5,000 in a tax-free savings account?
Canadian Air Transport Security Authority April 23rd, 2015
Mr. Speaker, I wish to thank all my colleagues who spoke and expressed their views on this issue in the first hour of debate, which took place on March 9 of this year. I would like to mention the participation of the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport and of the hon. members for Ottawa-Sud Compton—Stanstead in my area, Etobicoke-Centre and Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Lachine. All of them spoke to motion M-553. I also thank all those who have spoken today, beginning with the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Veterans Affairs, the hon. members for Winnipeg North and for Saint-Bruno—Saint-Hubert the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Canadian Heritage and the hon. member for Hamilton-Centre. I wanted first to thank all those who have taken part in this debate and have expressed their views on this issue and, on the government side, have tried to explain the reasons why we have reached this point today. I am very proud to sponsor this motion, which will be put to a vote next week, as the procedure requires.
I thank the government for its contribution, the amendment it proposed and its co-operation throughout this debate. It proposed some rather technical changes to the motion, which will, I hope, have the support of most members of the House. I have had good indications from all the members who have spoken and who said they would support it. I am very happy. I hope that all those who have not had a chance to speak to this motion will nevertheless support it after hearing the debate and what was said during the two hours we spent discussing it.
I want to take up the questions by my colleague from Hamilton-Centre concerning the reason why we have reached this point today. I would actually have preferred not to have to move such a motion to compel the government to act in this matter. These concerns date from even before those affecting the Sherbrooke airport. They date from 2009 and the airport in Trois-Rivières, one of the airports that was requesting designation. This matter has been raised for a long time by the various airports that are unfortunately not designated under the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority Act. I too wonder why we have reached this point, given that the applications were made so long ago and that the government talked about a mechanism that would allow non-designated airports to have security screening. To my knowledge, the government had proposed this on paper in 2012, at least. So why has this matter been dragging on since 2012? Why did the government not act and present this mechanism sooner?
Nonetheless, we are talking about it today. We are talking about adopting Motion No. 553, which calls on the government to implement this mechanism as soon as possible. It is important to note that the motion specifies “as soon as possible”. I wanted to be sure to emphasize that in my right of reply. I do not want to predict the result of the vote before it is held, but given the support most members have expressed, I get the impression that my motion has a good chance of being adopted. If that is the case, I hope that the government will truly take action as soon as possible because there is not a lot of time left before we all leave for the summer. There is not much chance that we will come back before the next Parliament either. I hope the government will truly take action as soon as possible and that a solution will be presented to the House as soon as possible once the motion is adopted.
Today, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Veterans Affairs indicated that the government was working on the issue and that the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority had also held meetings with the various airports involved. Discussions are being held and steps are being taken. People are talking. I am pleased to hear that and I am glad that the government is finally taking this situation seriously after so many years. This matter should have been resolved a long time ago.
Of course, an NDP government would have settled this matter long ago. However, since that is not the case, we are doing our best, and we hope that this matter will be settled as soon as possible for the good of my community, Sherbrooke, and for the Eastern Townships, because this is critical to Sherbrooke's development.
I urge all of my colleagues to join me in supporting Motion No. 553, which will provide a meaningful solution to various airports in need of a mechanism like this, including the Sherbrooke airport.
The Budget April 23rd, 2015
Mr. Speaker, I am very happy to be able to put a question on the budget to my colleague fromBeauport—Limoilou.
He did not address the comments made by the Minister of Finance concerning the expansion of the TFSA, the tax-free savings account. I would like to hear what he has to say on that subject. The Minister said that it was not a serious matter if costs were going to increase exponentially in the years ahead, and that in the end it would be for the generations following us, thePrime Minister’s grandchildren, to see about resolving a situation that will become unmanageable because of high costs.
Can my colleague comment on these remarks from the Minister of Finance?
The Budget April 23rd, 2015
Mr. Speaker, I have a short, very specific question for my colleague on his government's new passion for balanced budgets.
This government has spent seven years running deficits and tabling unbalanced budgets, and now, in 2015, it has discovered a passion for balanced budgets and has even proposed a law to mandate balanced budgets in the future, except in specific circumstances. For the past five years our country has been in a period of economic growth. We were not in a recession. Five of these seven deficits were after the 2008-09 recession. Could the member explain this new passion for balanced budgets, when this government posted seven consecutive deficits over the past seven years?
Drug-Free Prisons Act April 21st, 2015
Mr. Speaker, following the comment my colleague just made and her speech, does she think it was a missed opportunity for the Conservatives to find real solutions, and not just the appearance of a solution?
As she quite rightly said, it is just a title, but in reality as in the bill itself, there is no solution that will really eradicate drugs from our prisons.
Does she believe the Conservatives have missed a good opportunity to really deal with the problem and find practical ways of solving it? Could today’s budget also provide a practical and genuine opportunity to attack the problem? Does she think the Conservatives have let a good opportunity go by?
Drug-Free Prisons Act April 21st, 2015
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Surrey North for his excellent speech and for sharing his experience in his riding and the experience he had when he visited a penitentiary.
He touched on this, but I would like him to elaborate on the subject: does he think this is a real missed opportunity on the part of the Conservatives, to have a bill with this title but with only four clauses that ultimately only reiterate a practice that already exists at the Parole Board? Is this an opportunity that the Conservatives have missed to put new measures in place, real, concrete measures, to prevent the spread of drugs in our prisons? They could have done so much more.
With a title like this, it truly is a missed opportunity. As other colleagues have said, the bill will not have the planned effects, as stated in its title. Is this a missed opportunity? And with this being budget day, would there be other opportunities that the government might offer in order to genuinely address this very real and well documented problem?
Drug-Free Prisons Act April 21st, 2015
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Gatineaufor her speech. She too has not hesitated to tell it like it is.
Can she confirm what I think I understood from her speech: when the bill has received royal assent, it will change nothing in the existing prison system or in how the Parole Board of Canada does things? If that is the case, what actual point is there to this bill?