Transport committee  Joe Comartin and I are talking regularly on these issues.

Transport committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. I'd like to thank the members of the committee for their work during the last session. In a portfolio as important and as diverse as this, cooperation is key as we take action on issues that matter to Canadians. Guided by our economic action plan, our government has made significant investments in this portfolio in the transportation mode and the vital infrastructure area of the country.

Transportation  Mr. Speaker, it is this government that has done exactly that, and when we did, the NDP voted against it. Not only did the previous minister of transport make the gas tax transfer to municipalities permanent, this year the Minister of Finance doubled it. What did the NDP do when we doubled funding to municipalities, when we made it permanent?

The Economy  Mr. Speaker, the OECD expects this year and next year that Canada will be the fastest growing economy in the entire G7 and also beat the OECD forecasts for economic growth by a very wide margin. Clearly our economic action plan is working. However, members should not believe me.

Status of Women  Mr. Speaker, there are serious allegations, many of which are a matter of public record. They have been turned over to the relevant authorities so that they can make that determination. The Prime Minister acted expeditiously. The Prime Minister did the right thing.

Status of Women  Mr. Speaker, let me give some news to our friend from Winnipeg. The Conservative member for Saint Boniface knows a great deal more about a lot of things than that member. She delivers for the people of Saint Boniface and for the people of Canada each and every day. We are proud to have her aboard the team.

Transportation  Mr. Speaker, there is an unprecedented consensus in central Canada that this bridge must be built. It is a bridge for jobs, for hope and for opportunity. Trade between Canada and the United States has skyrocketed over the last 20 years. Just about every forecast suggests that additional capacity is needed.

Offshore Drilling  Mr. Speaker, I think the member took a rather different position when she was minister of the environment in British Columbia, as most people in British Colombia will know. The government has no plans to reopen the 1988 exclusion zone on tankers travelling between Alaska and Washington.

Information & Ethics committee  Do I get a closing statement?

Information & Ethics committee  That was the nature of the question Mr. Easter asked me, sir.

Information & Ethics committee  Well you're looking at me.

Information & Ethics committee  This sounds like your Big Daddy G speech.

Information & Ethics committee  I'm here representing the Prime Minister—

Information & Ethics committee  I think I've already said in my opening statement that I agreed with you, that Mr. Soudas is accountable and responsible to the Prime Minister. In our parliamentary system, that's the way it works. It's incredibly rare for a sitting Prime Minister to appear before committee. I'm a senior member of the government.

Information & Ethics committee  I'm not sitting here for--