Budget Implementation Act, 2016, No. 2  Balance!

Budget Implementation Act, 2016, No. 2  What is your plan?

Holidays Act  Madam Speaker, I am very pleased and proud to be here to support my colleague from West Nova's bill. This bill would make Remembrance Day a legal holiday. November has passed, and all of our communities have commemorated another November 11. I know how very proud all members of the House are of our veterans and serving military personnel.

Budget Implementation Act, 2016, No. 2  Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague, whose riding is across the river from my riding of Gatineau. The member again is getting very good at reciting all of the dogma and the failed experiments in supply-side economics. What he fails to realize is that with respect to outcomes, in terms of the real world, and in terms of what we were left as the situation when we entered office was a failed economic experiment by relying unduly on commodities in our country; crumbling infrastructure; a social deficit in social housing, as my friend from Belleville outlined, or other measures, we were in all sorts of social deficit; and, finally, nine consecutive years of unfettered, unchecked borrowing.

Budget Implementation Act, 2016, No. 2  Mr. Speaker, every time members on that side of the House get up and give a speech about debt, I am struck by their temerity. They watched as the previous government, a government that was reimbursing Canadian debt, that was reimbursing debts incurred by previous Conservative administrations, and doing it even before the financial crisis, then proceeded to rack up nine consecutive years of structural deficit.

Budget Implementation Act, 2016, No. 2  Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his speech. Like him, I served on the Standing Committee on Finance when the proposed amendments to the Bank Act were being examined. I think my colleague is laying it on a bit thick. There is nothing here that will take away protections for Quebec consumers in any area.

Budget Implementation Act, 2016, No. 2  Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague from the Standing Committee on Finance for his excellent speech. He speaks of the legacy of the Conservative government. Indeed, the Conservative legacy is one of anemic growth; they ran deficits for nine consecutive years after inheriting a healthy financial situation from Mr.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for her speech and for the little taste she gave us of the same old Republican rhetoric we have been hearing for the past 50 years. She mentioned Canada's backbone. I will tell her what our backbone consists of. It consists of the tradition established by Liberal prime ministers who visit countries like Cuba to show their solidarity with the people of Cuba and who go on television and to universities to talk about Canadian values, human rights, and respect for gay, lesbian, transgender, and other communities.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his speech. As the hon. member knows, Canada has shown its concern for the Cuban people on many occasions. This concern has been expressed repeatedly because Liberal prime ministers of Canada have gone to Cuba to talk about democratization of that country and human rights.

Fall Economic Statement  Mr. Speaker, I had the opportunity earlier to congratulate the finance critic for the official opposition on his address, and I thank this member for his address as well. Hopefully I will do better with him than I did with the finance critic. When we arrived in office, we inherited a technical recession.

Fall Economic Statement  Mr. Speaker, I enjoyed the speech made by my colleague from the Standing Committee on Finance. The member tried to sell us the same song he was unable to sell in the Quebec National Assembly for a number of years. He did not succeed today, either. However, he came here with a platform.

Charity Fundraising Event  Mr. Speaker, on Saturday, October 15, I had the privilege of attending the eighth annual “Les Rêves de Monique” event, celebrating the courage, determination, and strength of women and men who have had breast cancer surgery. Every year “Les Rêves de Monique” hosts a fashion show featuring survivors and women currently fighting the disease in order to raise money to provide women like them with specially designed post-surgical clothing.

Budget Implementation Act, 2016, No. 2  Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague from Saint-Maurice—Champlain. Gatineau is a very dynamic city. It is constantly growing, and its population is younger than average. Its needs reflect that. The fact is that we have a growing need for basic infrastructure, such as roads, water and sewage, and waste water treatment.

Budget Implementation Act, 2016, No. 2  Madam Speaker, the commitment we made during the campaign was to double infrastructure spending to about $120 billion over 10 years, compared to the $65 billion mentioned or promised by the previous government. That is what we are going to do. In communities from coast to coast to coast, including in Gatineau, we are starting to feel the effects of our basic infrastructure spending in social housing, recreational infrastructure, and so on.

Budget Implementation Act, 2016, No. 2  Madam Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague from Edmonton-Centre for sharing his time with me. As always, it is an honour and a privilege to represent the citizens of Gatineau in the House. It is a great honour for any parliamentarian to represent the views and perspectives of their fellow citizens.