Infrastructure  Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague, the member for Gatineau, for his advocacy on public transit. As a former bus driver, I know first-hand the importance of public transit in our communities. I was happy to see the Canadian Urban Transit Association members here la

Infrastructure  Mr. Speaker, I am honoured to say that even in the hon. member's municipality we are investing money into the design and planning work that is currently under way, along with many other municipalities, to advance public transit, to do the work on waste water, as well as many othe

Infrastructure  Mr. Speaker, we are delivering on our commitments. Since taking office, we have approved over 900 projects, including more than 700 projects for budget 2016 funding for infrastructure. More than 60% of those projects are currently under way, improving transit systems, ensuring Ca

Infrastructure  Mr. Speaker, I am proud to say that over the summer months we concluded our bilateral agreements for infrastructure investments with all provinces and territories, including Nunavut. We have announced more than $92 million in federal funding for projects in Nunavut in the last fe

Infrastructure  Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for Brampton South, as well as other members from that community, for hosting me there last week. We announced over $5 million towards water and waste water projects in Brampton, ensuring access to clean and safe drinking water and healthy ri

Infrastructure  Mr. Speaker, we are proud to deliver on our long-term infrastructure investment commitment. Today the Prime Minister announced our first bilateral agreement, investing $460 million in public transit in British Columbia, leveraging more than $920 million altogether. This funding

Main Estimates 2016-17  Madam Speaker, let me touch base on the bilateral agreements for a minute. I have an excellent relationship with our provincial counterparts. I had a chance to meet with my provincial counterparts in the province of Quebec. I had a chance to meet with the mayors of Gatineau, Mon

Main Estimates 2016-17  Mr. Speaker, I also appreciate my hon. colleague's very deep understanding about infrastructure and why we need to invest in areas that the hon. member has identified; whether it is public transit, affordable housing, or making our communities more resilient to climate change und

Main Estimates 2016-17  Mr. Speaker, I did state the day this issue came up, from that day to today, that ours is a stand-alone ministry with a dedicated minister and deputy minister, which did not happen in the previous administration. Infrastructure Canada was part of Transport Canada. Therefore, we

Main Estimates 2016-17  Mr. Speaker, we looked at different options. We continued to share the space with Transport Canada. The best option for us was to build a new space; a space where we could have a dedicated minister, a dedicated DM, and space for 32 people on one floor to bring the efficiencies an

Main Estimates 2016-17  Mr. Speaker, when I was appointed Minister of Infrastructure and Communities, I did not have any staff, so I had to start from scratch. I had to build my ministry from scratch. The only person who gave me support was the deputy minister, who I share with Transport Canada. I had

Main Estimates 2016-17  Mr. Speaker, the first thing I did when I was appointed to this position was engage with Canadians to learn what the needs were, what was working for them, and what was not. I engaged with the Federation of Canadian Municipalities and with big-city mayors. I made phone calls to

Main Estimates 2016-17  Mr. Speaker, as I said earlier, infrastructure is about unlocking people's potential. Infrastructure is about public transit, about having safe places for people to go home to. Infrastructure is about providing homes for people who do not have them because they have ended up livi

Main Estimates 2016-17  Mr. Speaker, I welcome the opportunity to be here this evening to talk about infrastructure. Infrastructure Canada has an unusual history. It originally operated as a program, known as the infrastructure national office, which was administered by the Treasury Board Secretariat,

Ministerial Expenses  Mr. Speaker, the expenditures the hon. member is referring to are for 32 staff members. As for the fridges, furniture, and paintings she is talking about, the only painting hanging on my office wall is the map of Canada. As the Conservatives well know, we did not have a dedicate