The Environment  Mr. Speaker, the Minister of the Environment has announced absolute caps on greenhouse gas emissions, but no legislation that would make the measure binding. In addition, he is keeping 2006 as the reference year, instead of 1990. In short, his announcement is just a lot of talk that has Steven Guilbeault of Équiterre saying Canada's targets have no value.

The Montcalm Family  Madam Speaker, it is with great pride that I pay tribute today to a farm family in Saint-Louis-de-Gonzague in my riding of Beauharnois—Salaberry, the family of Roch Montcalm and the late Corona Maheu. On December 2, they were named the farm family of the year by the Fondation de la famille terrienne at the UPA annual general meeting.

Petitions  Madam Speaker, I am pleased to present two petitions: one from the municipality of Saint Michel signed by 282 people and the other from the municipality of Saint Édouard signed by 229 people. The petitioners are calling on the federal government to maintain the moratorium on rural post office closures because they believe that the post office plays a key role in the economic and social life of their region and their municipality.

Petitions  Mr. Speaker, I would like to present a petition signed by more than 1,100 citizens of the town of Sainte-Martine, which states that the post office infrastructure plays a key role in the economic and social life of rural communities. Both communities and businesses need post offices in order to prosper.

Afghanistan  Mr. Speaker, the government is doing everything possible to hide the truth about the atrocities suffered by detainees transferred to Afghan authorities. After derailing the Military Police Complaints Commission, the government is intimidating diplomat Richard Colvin and refusing to release various reports, which it nevertheless provided to witnesses who support its position.

Afghanistan  Mr. Speaker, David Mulroney acknowledged that the government knew that prisoners transferred by Canada to Afghan authorities risked being tortured. The Geneva Convention has clearly been violated by the Canadian government, which was not even capable of keeping tabs on its detainees.

Marc Lacroix  Madam Speaker, today I would like to acknowledge the ingenuity, creativity and especially the perseverance of Marc Lacroix, a new resident and young entrepreneur of the town of Huntingdon. Mr. Lacroix is an artist and promoter who created a game that comes highly recommended in the 2010 toy guide of the Protégez-Vous magazine.

The Environment  Mr. Speaker, when it comes to the environment, this government is making an increasing number of bad decisions, such as supporting oil sands development and subsidizing the traditional auto industry to the tune of billions of dollars. Yet, the economy of the future will not be based on oil, but on alternative energies and technologies such as the electric car, which is an option proposed by both the Parti Québécois and the Bloc Québécois.

The Environment  Mr. Speaker, it is this government which ended subsidies to the eco-auto program. Instead of subsidizing oil companies, the government must provide incentives to convince consumers to buy rechargeable electric vehicles or plug-in hybrids. Why does the government refuse to take such measures?

Award-Winning Vineyard  Mr. Speaker, today I would like to recognize an outstanding vineyard in my riding of Beauharnois—Salaberry, the Vignoble du Marathonien on highway 202 in Havelock. Owned by Jean and Line Joly, this vineyard has won dozens of medals in the past 15 years in prestigious competitions in Quebec, Ontario, British Columbia, the United States and France.

The Environment  Mr. Speaker, the mayor of Rivière-du-Loup is saying that the landfill and methane recapture site in his RCM will lose over $1 million a year. In the absence of any Canadian regulatory framework with absolute reduction targets for greenhouse gas emissions and 1990 as the reference year, and the creation of a carbon exchange similar to Europe's, the Rivière-du-Loup plant will not be able to sell its emissions credits.

The Environment  Mr. Speaker, I am thinking specifically of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, who came to Rivière-du-Loup to strut about and who refused to defend the biomethanation project. Instead he chose to spew out the usual platitudes. Is he not bothered by the fact that his government's failure to act on the environment is undermining Rivière-du-Loup's economic development?

Government Contracts  Mr. Speaker, this government's lack of transparency is appalling. For example, when the Parliamentary Budget Officer attempted to obtain additional information about the government's economic plan, he was inundated with irrelevant documents. Similarly, when we asked for details about Senator Housakos' shenanigans, the minister gave us long, irrelevant tirades on transparency and avoided answering our questions.

Government Contracts  Mr. Speaker, the minister is hiding behind the so-called independence of the Bridge Corporation when he knows very well that it is stacked with the government's friends. Partisan appointments to the Bridge Corporation allow the government to control it. When will this government give a straight answer to our questions regarding Senator Housakos' shenanigans, sanctioned by Quebec's political lieutenant?

Forestry Industry  Mr. Speaker, in addition to not helping workers in the forestry sector, the Conservative government is offering nothing to help private woodlot owners, who, in some cases, have seen their revenues drop by 75%. The Fédération des producteurs de bois du Québec applauded the Bloc Québécois this week for proposing targeted measures for this sector, which has been hit hard by the crisis.