The Environment  Mr. Speaker, the Kathryn Spirit is going to cost taxpayers $24 million. Most of the money will go to the company that dumped this eyesore in Beauharnois in the first place. To make matters worse, the government has not established a penalty in case the company fails to meet the dismantling deadline in early 2019.

Salaries Act  Mr. Speaker, since the Liberals are unable to agree on whether this bill pertains to pay equity or parity in cabinet, could my Conservative colleague tell us whether the responsibilities of ministers of state are equivalent to those of full ministers, given that ministers of state do not have to manage a department?

Salaries Act  Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his eloquent speech. Bill C-24 is simply smoke and mirrors. We do not know whether the Liberals are referring to pay equity or parity in cabinet. In fact, the bill is not really about either of those things. The Liberals are contradicting themselves.

Salaries Act  Madam Speaker, the Liberals cut short the debate on Bill C-24 because it is a purely cosmetic bill. We are not talking about equality for all women here. We are talking about raising the salaries of the ministers of state on the pretext that the Prime Minister made a mistake when he appointed the members of his cabinet.

Petitions  Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present a petition calling for an end to corporate pension theft given that working Canadians rely on their pensions and benefits to have a dignified life and retirement. Canada's inadequate bankruptcy laws currently allow corporations to take money intended for their employees' pensions and benefits to pay CEOs, banks, and investors.

Questions Passed as Orders for Returns  With regard to the Kathryn Spirit: (a) what amount has been spent by the government since 2011 for maintenance, related costs, abortive towing attempts and any other costs, broken down by (i) year, (ii) private supplier and lead department, (iii) description of the services offered by the supplier, (iv) description of tasks accomplished by public servants, (v) contract start and end date for the private supplier and start date and completion of tasks accomplished by public servants, (vi) value of the contract for each service and amount of expenses to complete tasks carried out by public servants, (b) for each service that used a private supplier, was it chosen by the Coast Guard or by public tender; (c) with respect to the contract awarded by the government to Groupe René Saint-Pierre and Englobe on October 20, 2017, (i) why did the government choose this consortium, (ii) was this consortium chosen according to the lowest bidder rule, (iii) what other companies bid for this contract, (iv) what is the list of all other proposals received by the government, (v) how did the government ensure that the consortium had the necessary expertise for the work and that there would be no environmental damage for the entirety of the work, (vi) has Groupe René St-Pierre Excavation or Englobe ever dismantled wrecks or dealt with hazardous products such as asbestos, PCB or any other product that would be in the wreckage, (vii) are there late penalties (financial or otherwise) if the vessel is not dismantled by the fall of 2018 and, if so, what are they, (viii) are there late penalties (financial or otherwise) if all the work provided for in the contract is not completed on time by the fall of 2019 and, if so, what are they?

Salaries Act  Mr. Speaker, it is so sad to hear the Liberals speaking today; they are totally oblivious to the mess they will be creating. They claim to be in favour of equality even though their cabinet is not gender balanced. There are fewer women in actual ministerial positions. The Minister of Science was mentioned, but she is a minister of state.

Salaries Act  Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague from Beauport—Côte-de-Beaupré—Île d'Orléans—Charlevoix. This is indeed a cosmetic bill designed to boost the Prime Minister's image. He calls himself a feminist, but the facts show that he does not put female ministers forward. It is still women who are being assigned lesser roles than full ministers in cabinet.

Salaries Act  Mr. Speaker, the long-standing battle for gender equality is far from over. Yesterday, December 6, reminded us that violence against women remains all too real. Women who publicly declare that they are feminists and ask for equal rights and opportunities still endure virtual or real attacks.

Salaries Act  That is because it is still—

Salaries Act  Madam President, I cannot help but take exception to the hon. member’s comments. He said that this debate was unjustified, and that we could not continue discussing the subject because it furthered gender equality. By digging a little deeper into the bill, we find that it contains only cosmetic changes that would allow the Prime Minister to continue boasting about being a feminist while he appoints women to minister of state positions rather than appointing an equal number of men and women.

An Act to change the name of the electoral district of Châteauguay—Lacolle  Indeed, that is terrible. It is an attack on democracy. It is sad to see the government misusing its tools to make changes to a riding name, something we are all able to do anyway, and miss out on an incredible opportunity to address pressing issues in the ridings and make progress on currently problematic situations on the ground.

An Act to change the name of the electoral district of Châteauguay—Lacolle  Madam Speaker, as has been said, we are beginning our study of Bill C-377, which was introduced by my colleague from Châteauguay—Lacolle. I am very familiar with the western part of her riding, which used to be part of Beauharnois—Salaberry, the riding I represented before the boundary changes of 2015.

Canadian Heritage  Mr. Speaker, young people need structures in place to continue working and living in French. The Fédération de la jeunesse canadienne-française is calling on the government to invest in national organizations, such as the Jeux de la francophonie, to help French thrive outside Quebec.

Access to Information Act  Mr. Speaker, it is highly offensive for the Liberals to keep saying that we are being partisan on this issue, that we are not taking a position or that we are against them, and that we do not want to debate. In committee, we proposed 20 amendments related to the Information Commissioner's recommendations and the Liberals rejected them all.