Tarik Brahmi

[Flooding in Montérégie, April 25th, 2012]

Madam Speaker, I listened carefully to the parliamentary secretary's answer, which did not touch on infrastructure. She spoke about the $99 million allocated over three years. She is answering a question about the past with a question about the future. I am not asking what investments will be made in the future; I am talking about a promise that was made in 1937 and then repeated by various federal governments, a promise that the federal government would do dredging in order to compensate for the lower flow of the river. I would like her to respond to this first point.

There is a second question she has not answered. What will the government do if a class action suit is accepted? This suit could be looking for up to $200 million for the people who were affected by the 2011 floods.

[Flooding in Montérégie, April 25th, 2012]

Madam Speaker, on February 10 of this year, I asked the Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities to tell me what he thought about the request by a group of flood victims from the Richelieu valley for authorization to launch a class action suit and what he intended to do about it.

I asked this question following a press conference held in Montreal on February 9 by the Arsenault and Lemieux law firm. Oddly enough, the parliamentary secretary told me that she sympathized with the flood victims in Manitoba, her home province. First, I would like to say that I too sympathize with the flood victims in Manitoba. The Minister of Industry also answered my question. He said: “there are disaster mitigation programs that the provinces and federal government are constantly working on”.

However, my question was not about Manitoba, public safety or even industry. My question was for the minister responsible for infrastructure, who did not provide me with an answer. That is why I am asking the question again this evening.

I would first like to talk about the situation of Mr. and Mrs. Dupuis, the couple who are behind this class action suit.

Before April 23, 2011, Mr. Dupuis' property had never flooded. The applicant's certificate of location shows that the property is not considered to be in a flood zone. Mr. and Mrs. Dupuis were forced to leave their home on April 23, 2011, as a result of springtime flooding, which caused 14 inches of water to accumulate in their home, which is quite a bit. They were unable to return to their home until December 28, 2011, eight months later. To date, they have spent $135,000 on repairs and they have received only $30,000 from the Ministère de la Sécurité publique du Québec. It is this specific case that initiated the request.

What are the plaintiffs' allegations?

Let me provide a little background. Since 1963, there have been 25 floods over 100 feet recorded at the reference point in Rouses Point, New York.

On April 1, 1937—this goes back quite a while—the Government of Canada applied for the right to build a work and set aside $500,000. On June 10, 1937, the joint international commission approved the construction of the Fryers Island dam and stated that the construction would also involve dredging.

On January 5, 1976, the Secretary of State for External Affairs of Canada stipulated that the Government of Quebec would build the dam and maintain it, including dredging, pursuant to an agreement reached with the Government of Canada. That is the history and the request.

What are the claimants asking for?

They are mainly calling on the government to finally keep a promise made in 1937 to complete this infrastructure, and to carry out the dredging to compensate for the reduced water flow that has resulted from various interventions on the river. Because of this reduced water flow, the entire Richelieu valley is being flooded every time water levels rise.

[National Defence, April 5th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, let us talk about jobs. The Conservatives claim to support our soldiers, yet they are eliminating 1,100 civilian jobs within the Department of National Defence. Furthermore, the government is warning that more cuts are coming. No one is immune to them—not mechanics, cooks, technicians or communications specialists. Many of these cuts will occur in Quebec, including at the military base in Saint-Jean.

Why are the Conservatives not showing some respect for our soldiers by protecting these jobs?

[Persons with Disabilities, March 30th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, on February 9, we learned that, since 2007, 85% of the money available for persons with disabilities through the enabling accessibility fund has gone to Conservative ridings. In my riding, the town of Saint-Valentin tried desperately to obtain funding to make its municipal building accessible. However, on March 20, the town learned that its application for funding had been denied because of a small technicality: a date was missing on a letter of support.

Rather than pointing this out and allowing the town to submit its application on time, the department waited until the deadline had passed and then denied the town funding on that pretext. This shameful tactic clearly shows this government's appalling bad faith. Even people with disabilities are not immune to its infamous partisanship.

[Protecting Canada's Immigration System Act, March 26th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for Vaudreuil-Soulanges, who reminded us of some of the darkest moments of human history and the plight of Jewish deportees.

I wonder if he could comment on any similarities that may exist with the plight of the Roma from the Czech Republic and Romania, for instance, two countries that this government considers safe.

[Protecting Canada's Immigration System Act, March 16th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I listened carefully to my colleague's speech and I would like him to speak a little about cases involving countries that are deemed safe. For example, Hungary and the Czech Republic are considered safe countries by Canada, even though there is systematic discrimination against the Roma in those countries.

In this particular example, how does the minister justify putting a country on the list of safe countries?

[Points of Order, March 16th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleagues who spoke. I would just like to say to them that I already know how to read, therefore I am learning to speak. Perhaps in a few years, I will know how to speak. I will be on the other side and I will speak to you.

[National Defence, March 16th, 2012]

How can our soldiers trust the Conservatives when they signed—

[National Defence, March 16th, 2012]

We already have submarines that cannot go underwater and now the government wants to purchase planes that do not even fly. Those submarines cost $750 million—they should not be proud of that—plus the billions of dollars needed for repairs. This government—

[National Defence, March 16th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, once again—