Raymond Côté

[Health, February 13th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the parliamentary secretary for providing an answer and for making himself available, but I have to express my dissatisfaction right away.

When he talks about Transport Canada’s efforts with respect to the Port of Quebec, what efforts is he talking about? I cannot get any answers. There is no transparency. That is abundantly clear.

I would especially like to remind him that the scope of the port authorities' responsibilities and powers is determined by Ottawa. The federal government determined the famous parameters that mean that port authorities operate in isolation and do not have to be accountable, except for one event per year that is basically little more than a media relations exercise.

Unfortunately, while the people of Limoilou are suffering the consequences of the operations at the port, we are not able to get any answers.

I am totally dissatisfied with his answer. I am going to ask him when we can finally have some openness, some transparency and some real co-operation.

[Health, February 13th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, on January 27 I asked a question about a recent episode of red dust in Limoilou.

In fact, I went to the location in question to see the deposit, which was limited to a very specific area in the extreme southern part of Limoilou, but nevertheless affected several hundred residents.

Needless to say, the question had to do with the fact that the Port of Quebec and the company were hiding behind the federal government to avoid taking any action. For its part, the federal government stated in a letter that I received from the Minister of the Environment that as the contamination was related to air quality, it fell under provincial jurisdiction.

I have been working on this file for over a year now, and my team has worked very hard on it too. I ended up submitting many access to information requests. I wish to tell the House that I am extremely dissatisfied, because some of the answers I received, from both Transport Canada and Environment Canada, demonstrated patent inaction. This was the case for several of the replies. Others had so many sections blacked out that I was unable to determine the outcomes of the consultations or actions by the two departments in question. It amounted to an outright denial.

The departments involved are clearly hiding behind sections of the Access to Information Act and claiming that there is too much information of various kinds for it to be disclosed. This pretext goes much too far and is much too wide-ranging for me to be able to believe it and let things go. However, what is particularly deplorable is that many of my access to information requests remained unanswered, even though the deadline for responding was exceeded by a wide margin.

I will come back to the answer that I received from the environment minister. It was repeated, practically word for word, by an employee in the minister's department: air quality is a provincial jurisdiction and hence the responsibility of the Quebec Department of the Environment in this specific case.

I would like to point out to the House that this response contradicts the claims made by the Minister of Transport, who is passing the buck to the Port of Quebec and washing her hands of the whole affair.

On the other hand, it is viewed quite differently by the Port of Quebec, and particularly Arrimage Québec, represented by Johanne Lapointe, who claimed in connection with the most recent episode that all matters pertaining to dust contamination in the Limoilou area are in fact the responsibility of the Quebec Department of the Environment, but that everything within the boundaries of the port remains to be determined by the courts. In other words, this is one more way for Arrimage Québec to shirk responsibility, with the collusion of the federal Conservative government, of course.

I would like to ask the minister when she will finally shoulder her responsibilities and resolve this impasse, which has been holding residents of my riding hostage for too long?

[The Budget, February 13th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague from Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques for his very enlightening speech that covered important details about this budget and the government's failure to take action.

My Conservative colleague's question referred to the government's highly Manichaean, almost cartoonish approach to extolling the qualities of the greatest minister in all of the universes, known and unknown. However, the government is suffering from wilful blindness. My colleague said that in his speech, and we saw it at the Standing Committee on Finance, especially when the acting Parliamentary Budget Officer appeared. Despite the Conservatives' desperate attempts to show that all of the jobs created since the end of the recession were the direct result of government measures, analysts have never been able to show the government conclusive evidence that it was all connected.

The Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer also pointed out that austerity slowed our economy down and resulted in both job losses and loss of economic growth.

I would like my colleague to give us an idea of what this has cost Canadians.

[Situation in the Central African Republic, February 12th, 2014]

Mr. Chair, I would like to start off by thanking all my colleagues who have participated in this committee of the whole this evening and who have taken this debate to a level worthy of praise. It was really important to take stock of the situation in the Central African Republic, considering the rapid deterioration of the current situation, which is extremely tragic.

Like I said earlier, as the member for Beauport—Limoilou, I am privileged to be in contact with nationals of the Central African Republic in the Central African community of the greater Quebec City area.

Over the past two years that I have been in contact with them on a regular basis, I have been amazed and astounded to see the strong sense of belonging, of course, and the networking throughout the various events they have organized.

Take the holiday season for example. They organized a very vibrant and joyful Christmas celebration, and their compatriots from across Quebec, and even other parts of Canada, came to Quebec City to celebrate Christmas and to be together and socialize. We might even say to find solace in each other, but that is not really the term. They were really there to support each other, given how concerned and worried they are about their loved ones in their home country.

My colleagues from all parties have mentioned in their speeches that the situation in the Central African Republic is not without precedent, far from it. It is actually a situation that has shown for decades that the constitutional state, or—to actually focus on a specific state organization—that the organized state has never been a reality, especially outside the capital of Bangui.

The Central African Republic has gone through the torment of dictatorships and then the vacuums that followed them. It is experiencing great difficulty in mastering democracy, organizing itself and providing its citizens with safe surroundings.

We could cite other unfortunate examples of countries next to or farther away from the Central African Republic, such as Sudan and South Sudan, which were once a single state and were torn apart by domestic conflicts. The Democratic Republic of Congo is another example of a never-ending and forgotten conflict despite the millions upon millions of deaths. In fact, it is practically impossible to tally the deaths. What comes to mind even more quickly for me, and an example that should compel us to be very worried for the future of the CAR, is another conflict that unfortunately has been completely forgotten, or another completely disorganized country that is a state in name only, and that is Somalia.

The Federal Republic of Somalia fell prey to factions that fought to gain control of the country, often for very special interests, I would even say base sectarian interests. Unfortunately these groups managed to arm themselves with incredible ease, to our great shame, far from the watchful eye of the West, against our desire and ability to take action and to influence the destiny of these abandoned peoples.

When my constituents originally from the Central African Republic came to see me—I mentioned this earlier—I was very surprised to see that, beyond their concerns, they were actually very confident and hopeful about Canada's ability, through its presence and by speaking and expressing itself on the ground, to have an influence beyond what I could have imagined or grasped. Is this hope based on a misperception of just how much influence Canada really has? This needs to be put to the test. This really brought home what my responsibility is as an elected member, as well as the collective responsibility of an elected House in a rich country, one that has an excellent reputation and a past legacy that could lead us to assume these responsibilities.

My constituents from that part of Africa told me that if Canada spoke to the Central African Republic, it would have a huge influence. The people there would listen to Canada, and whatever Canada said would be taken into consideration by the parties on the ground. I commend the Government of Canada for the financial assistance it has allocated in light of the conflict. However, beyond the numbers and the money allocated, there is unfortunately still room to criticize this government for its current approach to international aid, which has been clearly expressed based on our supposed or real national interests.

Beyond our capacity to be present as a diplomatic corps, as a country, there is this famous human factor of influence and good relations. They have significantly diminished, unfortunately, but such is the reality, to our great shame. I hope that we will not limit our involvement to just handing over some money. It is a kind gesture, but we have to do more than that. We have to extend our hand and have an individual and collective influence through our human presence and our excellent reputation.

I want to again thank all my colleagues for taking part in this committee of the whole, this take note debate. I hope this is not the end of the debate. I hope that this will inspire concrete action that will be much broader and much more comprehensive.

[Situation in the Central African Republic, February 12th, 2014]

Mr. Chair, I would like to take this opportunity to address my colleague. Earlier in the debate, I posted on Facebook that we were having a debate on the situation in the Central African Republic. A Venezuelan national responded. I met her in the past and she told me about the heartbreaking situation in her country.

I would like to talk to my colleague about another issue. Small arms trafficking is very popular in Venezuela, as it is in the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. As a result, these kinds of situations can happen and deteriorate very quickly and tragically.

Could my colleague comment on the problem of arms trafficking? It is easy to obtain personal arms, which causes a lot of problems around the world.

[Situation in the Central African Republic, February 12th, 2014]

Mr. Chair, as I was saying, I have been in touch with Central African nationals. I feel I was given a mandate by those people, who shared their concerns and hopes with me. They live in hope despite the great hardships experienced by their country and their loved ones who are still in the Central African Republic. They are still hoping for a solution that might bring peace. The thing that struck me is that when they approached me, they felt that Canada still had considerable moral authority to intervene in this part of Africa.

I would like my colleague from Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou to rely on his experience to give me an assessment of this moral authority and tell me whether it is strong enough to do more than just provide financial aid.

[Situation in the Central African Republic, February 12th, 2014]

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

I have had the great privilege to come into contact with representatives from the Central African Republic community and the Republic of Congo community in my constituency. To be specific, people in those communities in Quebec City are very active, and they approached me last spring as the crisis was just beginning.

I must confess that my heart bled for them. Their concern was palpable; you could see it on their faces. At the time, of course, I could listen, but I could also look at what they were proposing and whether there was any glimmer of hope.

Can my colleague tell us what hope we can offer to the people from that region of Africa who now live here? They are enormously worried about their loved ones and their home country.

[Situation in the Central African Republic, February 12th, 2014]

Mr. Chair, I thank the minister for his speech and for the answers he has provided up to now.

At the moment, a part of the conflict is very much linked to the fact that things between the Catholic and Muslim communities are completely out of control and that the country's principal Catholic and Muslim leaders are trying to find an avenue of reconciliation in order to calm things down.

Considering the deterioration of our diplomatic network in Africa, which unfortunately substantially reduces our ability to act, can the minister give us an idea of the resources that our diplomatic corps could deploy on the ground to facilitate that process and those efforts at reconciliation on the part of the Catholic bishops, the leaders of the Evangelical church and the imams in the Central African Republic?

[Fair Elections Act, February 5th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I listened very carefully to my colleague's speech.

While he was talking, I was reading the introduction of the bill. The fascinating thing is that the government has decided to introduce a massive bill that deals with a whole host of issues. That takes me back to when I was a member of the Standing Committee on Finance in 2013 and the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights.

I find it quite absurd that the government keeps hammering away at repression. It claims it wants to deter illegal acts. However, it proposes repressive clauses, while stripping Elections Canada of the tools it needs to take action and correct certain shortcomings. Clearly, the government is trying to divert attention from its own inadequacies and shortcomings.

How can the member justify this hodgepodge of measures that might not be enforceable or enforced?

[Health, February 5th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, once the Prime Minister has crossed the Quebec Bridge in our fair city, perhaps he will see the cloud of nickel dust coming from the Port of Québec. By the way, that port is the responsibility of his Minister of Transport.

If he is an observant person, he will see the cloud settling on top of the people of Limoilou and causing health problems for my constituents.

Does the Prime Minister intend to take the issue of public health seriously during his trip to Quebec City or is he just going there for another photo op?