House of Commons photoLost his last election, in 2011, with 23% of the vote.
Canada Shipping Act October 15th, 2004
Mr. Speaker, I was not there when the committee report was drafted. What I have done for the moment is to rely directly on the unanimous report, which provides an even greater argument for government action, since that report had the unanimous support of all committee members.
I am sure that the recommendations of the Bloc Quebecois are included in it. By our very presence we gave our unanimous support.
Canada Shipping Act October 15th, 2004
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his encouragement.
My intention was precisely to ensure that the government does not simply transfer public service positions administratively between departments. I believe that the government ought to take a more serious approach, especially since a report was tabled by a standing committee which looked at the whole issue and made recommendations. This is a report by a committee of the same government. It does not make sense to have before us today a bill that is simply transferring public servants from one department to the other, without offering any solution to the problem.
Because of the current international security problems we are facing, the Coast Guard is likely to play a more major role in the protection of the country. This is but one thing that should be included in the mandate of the new Canadian Coast Guard agency.
Canada Shipping Act October 15th, 2004
Thus, Mr. Speaker, the lines of accountability will be clearer and the Coast Guard's programs cannot be trumped by some other agency's priorities.
The committee also pointed out that the organization is understaffed, and I quote:
Its officers are overworked, stressed and demoralized. The Coast Guard requires the human and physical resources, ships, manpower, modern technology, and funding to do the job. The probability that the Coast Guard will get these resources within DFO, which has its own financial pressures and a different set of priorities, is, in our view, minuscule.
Finally, the Coast Guard does not play an important role in security. The Committee believes that, in addition to its traditional responsibilities, the Coast Guard should have its mandate expanded to include coastal security.The committee therefore concluded that the Canadian Coast Guard should be a stand-alone federal agency reporting directly to the minister responsible.
We think the recommendations in the unanimous report dated March 2004 should be implemented. The Bloc Quebecois wants therefore to see a renewed Coast Guard established as an independent civilian federal agency.
We also recommend that the Canadian Coast Guard be governed by a new Canadian Coast Guard Act, which would set out the roles and responsibilities of the Coast Guard. These would include: search and rescue; emergency environmental response; a lead role among the several federal departments involved in marine pollution prevention.
We believe that the Canadian Coast Guard be given full operational funding sufficient to carry out its existing roles as well as the expanded mandate and additional responsibilities recommended in the report of the standing committee.
We also call on the federal government to make an immediate commitment to provide the Canadian Coast Guard with an injection of capital funding to pay for fleet renewal, upgraded and modernized shore-based infrastructure and the implementation of new technology.
For all these reasons, the Bloc Quebecois cannot support Bill C-3. We believe that the only solution here is the establishment of an independent agency as recommended in the unanimous report of the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans.
Canada Shipping Act October 15th, 2004
Mr. Speaker, to begin with, may I take advantage of this, my first speech in this House, to thank all the people in my riding of Alfred-Pellan for their confidence in me. I will do my best to defend their interests here and to ensure that the jurisdiction of Quebec is respected.
Today I would like to fulfill part of that commitment by taking part in the debate on the bill to amend the Canada Shipping Act, the Canada Shipping Act, 2001, the Canada National Marine Conservation Areas Act and the Oceans Act. It is, in fact, nothing more than a step backward
In 1995, the responsibilities involved in this bill were transferred from the Department of Transport to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. Since then, however, it has become evident that certain responsibilities overlapped and were creating confusion, so today that transfer is being partially reversed.
On December 12, 2003, when the present Prime Minister took office, policy and operational responsibilities were transferred by order in council from Fisheries and Oceans to Transport. The purpose of this bill is therefore to clarify the legislation and regularize that order.
However, the bill does not reflect the March 2004 report of the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans regarding the Canadian Coast Guard. This was a unanimous report, but the bill only proposes cosmetic changes that would merely split, once again, certain responsibilities between the Department of Transport and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. The situation is as confused as ever and the real issues facing the Coast Guard are not addressed.
The Bloc Quebecois is asking for a long term solution to settle the underfunding problems of the Coast Guard and to clear the confusion regarding the division of responsibilities for boating safety and marine pollution prevention.
Consequently, the Bloc Quebecois is opposed to the principle of Bill C-3. In its report entitled “Safe, Secure, Sovereign: Reinventing the Canadian Coast Guard”, the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans stressed the Canadian Coast Guard's inability to meet the challenges that it is facing now and that it will face in the foreseeable future. The report says, and I quote:
The Committee has therefore come to the conclusion that the problems at the Coast Guard cannot be resolved by incremental adjustments to the organization. This amounts to a band-aid solution that only treats the symptoms without getting at the roots of the Coast Guard’s problems.
Committee members identified several problems. The Department of Fisheries and Oceans has never succeeded in truly integrating the Coast Guard into its operations. The report contains the following:
It is clear that the two organizations have different mandates, corporate cultures and philosophies, and that the merger of the two has been a disaster for the Coast Guard.
In the presentations made by the department to the committee, during our review of the department's estimates, in May 2003, the initiatives relating to the Coast Guard represented the smallest part of the department's priorities. Yet, the Coast Guard's work force, assets and responsibilities are comparable to those of other organizations at the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. Indeed, the responsibilities of the Coast Guard account for 30% of DFO's budget.
The Coast Guard is also suffering from serious underfunding, since anticipated and authorized spending is always greater than actual spending. This shows that the Department of Fisheries and Oceans has always deprived the Coast Guard of adequate funding. Therefore, the committee said that the Coast Guard should get adequate funding and have its own budget.
Oil and Gas Industry October 15th, 2004
Mr. Speaker, in the fall of 2003, a majority of members of the Standing Committee on Industry recommended the government create a petroleum monitoring agency.
Why does the minister stubbornly refuse to immediately act on this recommendation?
Oil and Gas Industry October 15th, 2004
Mr. Speaker, in light of the flare-up in oil prices, it does not take a psychic to know that consumers will once again foot the bill. This increase will hit not only motor vehicle owners, but also the many families that rely on heating fuel in the winter.
This time, will the government have the foresight to create a petroleum monitoring agency?