Ethics  Mr. Speaker, the Commissioner of Lobbying discovered that not one, but two friends of the Conservatives had engaged in illegal lobbying. What happened next? Nothing. There was no punishment, no charge, no fine, not even a little slap on the wrist. The code does not have any power, but the fact remains that this government is sitting on its hands when it comes to Conservative lobbyists.

Fair Representation Act  Mr. Speaker, I would like to congratulate my hon. colleague from Gatineau on her speech, which explained things very clearly and was quite balanced and reasonable. I would like to ask her the following question. Members on the other side of the House talk about proportional representation based simply on demographic indicators.

Fair Representation Act  Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the hon. member for his very pertinent question With this bill, the Liberals are taking a somewhat populist approach, suggesting that MPs and democracy cost too much and that we should not be spending money on that. In our opinion, as democrats, that sort of argument can be used in an extremely dangerous manner.

Fair Representation Act  Mr. Speaker, I have strange visions. I want to thank the hon. member for Saint-Laurent—Cartierville for that very pertinent question. However, it is as though he were completely ignoring an essential principle, namely the recognition of the Quebec nation and maintaining Quebec's political weight, for purely mathematical reasons.

Fair Representation Act  Mr. Speaker, I would first like to say that I wish to share my time with the hon. member for Gatineau. First of all, I must address the statements made by the hon. member for Saint-Laurent—Cartierville, who announced in a somewhat populist manner that people do not want more politicians.

Infrastructure  Mr. Speaker, they did it again. Trust the Conservatives to not learn a lesson. A few short years ago, they misled all of us about the border infrastructure fund. The Auditor General called this action non-transparent and they agreed. Now we find out that another fund has been used as a back door piggy bank.

Infrastructure  Mr. Speaker, let me greet the new spokesperson for the President of the Treasury Board. The Conservatives keep reminding us that they spent $1 billion on the green infrastructure fund, but only 10% of that has been spent in three years. In committee, the Parliamentary Secretary to the President of the Treasury Board told us that it takes time to develop projects, but that the Conservatives plan to spend all the money.

Senate Reform Act  Mr. Speaker, since it is related to the debate, I would like to talk about the Senate's financial statements from March 31, 2010. The costs were: pay and benefits, $71,685,000; transportation, $12,883,000; facilities, $11 million; and professional services, $4 million. The total is $107 million.

Fair Representation Act  Mr. Speaker, once again today, this Conservative government's behaviour is pathetic. What was once supposed to be an exception is becoming the norm. For the ninth time this fall, the government is limiting time for debate in the House. It is a sign of contempt for parliamentarians, democracy, this institution, our debates and Parliament.

President of the Treasury Board  Mr. Speaker, just because the minister is wearing a Christmas tie, that does not mean that he could play Santa Claus in his riding with $50 million of taxpayers' money. The minister said that the city decided to remove the project. The same city sent two emails indicating that it was the minister who advised it to remove the project.

President of the Treasury Board  Mr. Speaker, that is just another way of avoiding answering questions. Conservatives deal with many scandals by denying the facts and hoping everyone will just forget. For example, the President of the Treasury Board testified at committee that the G8 port project was removed at the request of the municipality, but we have evidence this is simply not true.

Port of Montreal  Mr. Speaker, unfortunately there are many more questions than answers about corruption at the Montreal Port Authority. This is what Bernard Poulin had to say to Tony Accurso about Leo Housakos: “Leo Housakos is coming to see me...Leo is good not because of his association with Cannon, but with Soudas...If you want, I'll start talking to him if he's ready to get his buddy Soudas involved.

Port of Montreal  Mr. Speaker, unfortunately the story of arm twisting and influence peddling continues. The Conservatives are not helping to shed light on the matter. Here is another conversation between Mr. Poulin and Mr. Accurso: Mr. Poulin: “...We'll get the information. Now, Soudas, if he can do something, well...”

Service Canada  Mr. Speaker, unfortunately, that is still quite a bad answer. Today is December 2. It is snowing. It is beautiful. Children are happy. Walking through the corridors of Parliament this morning, I saw a lot of fir trees. There were little ones, medium-sized ones, big ones, with balls and lights and the whole thing.

Service Canada  Mr. Speaker, if there are no national directives, there is a very clear Quebec directive in any case. It is not just the employees who are deprived of the magic of Christmas in their workplace. The Conservatives also want to deprive hundreds of members of the public of these annual festivities.