Pierre Nantel

[Canadian Heritage, May 5th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, a number of hosts of Radio-Canada news programs appeared on the program Tout le monde en parle to denounce the upcoming cuts.

The Conservatives claim that everything is fine, but their cuts have triggered an internal crisis at Radio-Canada. Not only will Canadians have to rely on fewer journalists, but essential programs like Enquête, which help flush out crooks who are close to power, will also undergo cuts.

Will the Conservatives stop attacking the ratings of our public broadcaster and instead reconsider their cuts, which are directly related to the current crisis and the quality of the content?

[Canadian Heritage, May 1st, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, oil lobbyists are buying access to cabinet ministers and senators by donating money to museums, and the minister does not see a problem with that. Give me a break. Cultural institutions are being exploited to benefit the oil industry, which goes to show how important culture is to this government. It also shows that the Conservatives will stop at nothing to advance the interests of their friends at Canadians' expense.

Under the Conservatives, Canada's museums are struggling to get public funding and are being forced to cave in to lobbyists. Why?

[Canadian Heritage, April 30th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, when even the Liberals are talking about it, there is a big problem.

Yesterday, 17 respected CBC/Radio-Canada journalists, including Patrice Roy, Céline Galipeau and Alain Gravel, protested the death by a thousand cuts of CBC/Radio-Canada. Over a five-year period, the budget of the French-language news service has been cut by 20%.

CBC/Radio-Canada does make its own decisions, but the Conservatives' cuts have direct consequences on the content and diversity of information. The Government of Quebec has demanded a meeting with the Minister of Canadian Heritage.

Can the minister tell us when she plans to meet with representatives of the Quebec government? Is she prepared to reconsider her cuts?

[Questions on the Order Paper, April 28th, 2014]

With regard to the Economic Action Plan 2014: (a) will the $25 million for the Canada Council for the Arts that will be made permanent be in addition to the $180 million in funding received by the Council for the Arts for 2013-2014, and if so, will the additional funds be allocated to a particular program; (b) will the $30.1 million that will be made permanent for the Canada Cultural Investment Fund be in addition to the funds allocated to the Investment Fund for 2013-2014, and if so, will the additional funds be allocated to a particular program; (c) will the $30 million for the Canada Cultural Spaces Fund that will be made permanent be in addition to the funding for 2013-2014, and if so, will the additional funds be allocated to a particular program; (d) will the $18 million for the Canada Arts Presentation Fund that will be made permanent be taken from the funding allocated to this fund for 2013-2014, (i) is the balance of the funds allocated for 2013-2014 guaranteed for 2015-2016, (ii) if it is an increase, will the additional funding be allocated to a particular program; (e) is the $9 million that will be made permanent for the Canada Book Fund an increase in the funding allocated to this fund for 2013-2014, (i) is the balance of the funds allocated to this fund for 2013-2014 guaranteed for 2015-2016, (ii) if it is an increase, will the additional funding be allocated to a particular program; (f) is the $8.8 million in funding that will be made permanent for the Canada Music Fund an increase compared with the funding allocated for 2013-2014, (i) is the balance of the funds allocated for 2013-2014 guaranteed for 2015-2016, (ii) if it is an increase, will the additional funding be allocated to a particular program; and (g) is it the government’s intention to renew the Canada Media Fund in 2015-2016, given that this fund will expire in 2013-2014 like the other funds mentioned above, but it was not mentioned in the Economic Action Plan 2014?

[Canadian Heritage, April 28th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, CBC/Radio-Canada plays a key role in ensuring that this country has access to diverse, high-quality news. However, the new round of cuts to the tune of $131 million is jeopardizing this fundamental aspect of CBC/Radio-Canada's mandate. Forty-seven positions will be eliminated from CBC/Radio-Canada's news service. Even the show Enquête will lose three reporters and a producer. By making cuts to Enquête and to the news, the government has found another way to go after democracy.

When will the government stop torturing CBC/Radio-Canada and when will it give the corporation a stable, predictable budget so that it can fulfill its mandate?

[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, April 9th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, a new report has confirmed that budget cuts are preventing CBC/Radio-Canada from meeting its linguistic obligations.

Since the Conservatives came to power, they have been constantly cutting the public broadcaster's budget at the expense of its obligations, and francophone minority communities are directly affected by this obstinacy. Having access to local French content is essential to the development of those communities, and it takes resources to do so.

Now that further devastating cuts are expected to be announced tomorrow, can the Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages tell us how, despite these relentless cuts, she expects CBC/Radio-Canada to fulfill its duty to these minority language communities?

[Democratic Reform, April 8th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives have launched repeated attacks on election experts under the guise of creating a fairer electoral system. Their sometimes veiled attacks culminated today in a direct attack on the Chief Electoral Officer, Marc Mayrand.

The very person who represents the integrity of a system in which all Canadians have confidence was attacked by the minister for democratic deform, the very minister who defended the fraudulent robocalls and the in and out scheme, two Conservative tactics that enabled them to take power.

Those who schemed to make it to the top want us to believe that we need to change the act to make it fairer, but I have serious doubts that this bill will benefit the public. As always, the Conservatives are putting the party and their friends above the country.

The experts are not the only ones this government is ignoring. The Conservatives are also ignoring the concerns of seniors, the visually impaired, students and low-income individuals. What is worse is that they are going to force people to pay to vote. If we can no longer use electronic bills as identification at polling stations and the Conservatives continue to allow big corporations to charge $2 for paper bills, then the public is being forced to pay to vote. That is not right. Canadians deserve better.

[Economic Action Plan 2014 Act, No. 1, April 7th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask my colleague whether he really thinks that in a bill that is 362 pages long and one-inch thick it is really reasonable to include a pile of legislation and subjects that have nothing to do with one another. Can he really look me in the eye and say that he thinks that this is appropriate?

[Petitions, April 7th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present two petitions. The first was signed by 150 people, the second by 116.

The petitioners are calling on the Government of Canada to help repair and maintain rail lines between Bathurst and Miramichi by investing the funds required to obtain a guarantee that CN will maintain the segment between Bathurst and Miramichi.

[Economic Action Plan 2014 Act, No. 1, April 7th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question. We have always had an interest in public transit. These are urgent, immediate issues. We need to be talking about public transit to make it easier for people to get around and to consider the environmental and economic aspects. All companies will say that public transit is an asset because it helps ensure that people are not late for work. The same goes for delivering goods by truck.

Is public transit a priority for us? Absolutely. Is it a priority for the government? Not quite. Every time we have spoken about the new Champlain Bridge, we have hoped—and we still hope—that the Government of Quebec will get the infrastructure it needs to build an LRT.