- Member of Parliament
- Member of Parliament
- Conservative
- Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles
- Quebec
- Voting Attendance: 64%
- Expenses Last Quarter: $115,195.70
- Government Page
- Oct/16/23 9:18:14 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, quite obviously, my colleague is absolutely right.
There has been a lot of talk about an attack on Israel. Now, it is true that some people are trying to downplay the reality of what happened and the disgusting way Hamas attacked Israeli citizens. Canadians died. Some victims were from the United States. There were people at a concert. Young people were there to have fun and listen to music. Paratroopers came in from all sides and started shooting. It does not make any sense at all.
That is why we always have to think of the act that was committed, whether it was against Israel or against people from any other country who were there that day and were attacked by 1,500 Hamas commandos. These terrorists did this simply to spread terror. That is what terrorism is. It is about spreading terror and scaring people.
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- Oct/16/23 9:16:16 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, sadly, my colleague just informed me that two more Canadians died as a result of Hamas's unspeakable attacks. That is why I took the time in my speech to describe Hamas. I think that is worth repeated reminders.
We often tend to hear people say they are against Hamas, but there is always a “but”. There should be no “buts”. We must be 100%, unequivocally, behind Israel in fighting Hamas and destroying every last one of its members.
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- Oct/16/23 9:15:06 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, as we have indicated today, we are in favour of establishing a humanitarian corridor and providing support in safe zones. We also support the evacuation.
As a priority, we obviously call on Hamas to release the three Canadians being held hostage and to allow the evacuation of other Canadians in the Gaza Strip or elsewhere in Israel who want to leave. Obviously, we support those calls.
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- Oct/16/23 9:10:33 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, I will be sharing my time with the member for Charleswood—St. James—Assiniboia—Headingley.
First of all, we are having a lot of trouble clearly identifying who we are dealing with when it comes to Hamas. Last week, for example, I was flabbergasted to hear that CBC/Radio-Canada had asked its news anchors not to use the word “terrorist” to refer to Hamas. Last night, on the program Tout le monde en parle, news anchor Céline Galipeau answered a question from Guy A. Lepage by saying, “Out of concern for remaining neutral, we prefer to use more specific and neutral language, but we can speak of combatants, armed men or hostage-takers. That's what we prefer.”
I am going to use the time I have left to talk about Hamas in more detail, because I think some people may not understand exactly who we are dealing with.
Hamas emerged in late 1987, at the beginning of the first Palestinian intifada. The group's charter calls for the establishment of a Palestinian state in the place of Israel and rejects all agreements between the Palestinian Authority and Israel. Hamas has a military branch that has led many anti-Israeli attacks in Israel and in Palestinian territories since the 1990s. Hamas continues to refuse to recognize Israel or to abandon its violent resistance against Israel. It proactively encourages and leads terrorist attacks and does everything it can to sow hatred against Jews. As a result, the American government designated Hamas as a terrorist organization in 1997, and Canada followed suit in 2002.
Hamas's explicit mission is to murder Jews and to eradicate Israel and replace it with a Taliban-type theocracy. Videos distributed primarily by Hamas and posted on social media document acts of torture, sexual violence, violence against children and desecration of corpses. Even Palestinian officials have recognized that the missiles fired by Hamas constituted war crimes. A Palestinian envoy to the Human Rights Council said that every missile launched against Israel constitutes a crime against humanity, whether or not it hits its target, because it was directed at civilian targets.
On October 7, 2023, over 1,500 Hamas terrorists attacked the Israeli border around the Gaza Strip and went on a murderous rampage in the southern regions. Over 1,300 people were killed and thousands more were wounded in this bloody attack, which was accompanied by a barrage of 5,000 rockets launched indiscriminately on Israeli towns and villages.
Why deny reality? The members of Hamas are terrorists. There is ample evidence of that. It is time to tell the whole truth about these violent criminals. This is not merely a conflict between two peoples. These are acts of terrorism and war crimes. What is more, I think it is despicable that anyone in Canada can express support for Hamas knowing that at least five Canadians are among the victims, including Alexandre Look of Montreal.
Israel has the right to defend itself and to exist. We will always unequivocally the terrorist acts without mincing words. We will always stand by the Israeli people. Hamas must be destroyed. Hamas has provoked something irreparable, and it must pay the price.
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- May/19/22 7:02:19 p.m.
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Madam Chair, at present, we see that defence procurement for major projects is rather complex and we understand this complexity.
That is why, in his 2019 mandate letters for the then Minister of Public Services and Procurement and Minister of Defence, the Prime Minister included the creation of an organization whose sole focus would be defence procurement.
This was missing in the 2021 mandate letters. I would like to know whether it is still being contemplated, and, if not, why it was overlooked.
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- May/19/22 7:01:21 p.m.
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Madam Chair, I will come back to the issue of the polar icebreakers. We currently have the cost estimated by the Parliamentary Budget Officer.
I understand that the minister is in negotiations. I would like to know who she is negotiating with. Is the Davie shipyard included in these negotiations, because it is not yet a partner in the national shipbuilding strategy?
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- May/19/22 7:00:27 p.m.
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Madam Chair, the Parliamentary Budget Officer, who we are lucky to have, by the way, estimates that the polar icebreakers announced by the government will cost $7 billion, or $3.5 billion each.
However, the Government of Canada only announced the purchase of two polar icebreakers, not how much they will cost. Does the Parliamentary Budget Officer have the right figures? If not, what should we expect?
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- May/19/22 6:59:26 p.m.
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Madam Chair, let us talk about transparency again.
An article in the April 19, 2021, issue of the weekly newspaper The Hill Times discusses the secrecy surrounding the fees that the federal government has paid to Irving, the prime contractor for the construction of these 15 surface combatants.
We know that Canada is paying Irving fees, but the Department of National Defence refuses to disclose the cost of these fees. Out of respect for taxpayers, how much has the government paid for this?
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- May/19/22 6:58:04 p.m.
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Madam Chair, let us talk about transparency. I will give the minister an opportunity to say more.
The committee recently heard from representatives of Irving Shipbuilding. For the contract to build the 15 new frigates, the president mentioned that Irving's bid was under $60 billion and added that the government had announced that it would cost $60 billion. However, the Parliamentary Budget Officer estimated that the frigates would cost $77.3 billion to build.
Given that Irving's figure was less than $60 billion, the government's figure was $60 billion, and the Parliamentary Budget Officer's figure was more than $77 billion, could the minister, in the name of transparency, tell us the projected cost of building these frigates?
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- May/19/22 6:57:09 p.m.
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Madam Chair, for some time now, the minister has been telling me that the government is monitoring the work very closely.
Why does the Parliamentary Budget Officer regularly complain in his reports that the government is so cagey that he cannot get any information? The committee is in the same boat, and the experts who came to testify told the committee members that they were not allowed to know more.
Since the minister is so well informed, why are the experts and especially the Parliamentary Budget Officer not allowed to have that information?
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- May/19/22 6:55:41 p.m.
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Madam Chair, obviously it depends on the ships. In the case of these ships, however, we understand that the contract for the first five ships was for $400 million each, but the sixth ship is going to cost $800 million, bringing the total to $2.8 billion.
We have learned that the total bill for all the ships would be $4.3 billion. The cost per ship normally goes down, but instead it is going up. The seventh and eighth ships ordered are going to cost $1.5 billion.
After gaining experience from building the first two ships, we should be improving, not regressing. Can the minister explain why this is costing more, not less?
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- May/19/22 6:54:58 p.m.
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Madam Chair, let us talk about some of projects that are currently being delivered or have been delivered, particularly the Arctic and offshore patrol ships.
A witness who appeared before the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates last week, Mr. Kendrick, said he really could not understand why the cost of the seventh and eighth ships to be delivered to the Canadian Coast Guard will exceed $1.5 billion, while Norway is building three larger, more powerful ships for a total of $700 million.
Can the minister explain that?
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- May/19/22 6:53:54 p.m.
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Madam Chair, about the construction timeline, the Parliamentary Budget Officer estimates that construction of the first polar icebreaker will begin in the 2023-24 fiscal year, and the second in the following year. The ships should be delivered in 2029-30 and 2030-31, respectively.
How can they even have a timeline when the Davie shipyard is still not an approved partner in the national shipbuilding strategy?
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- May/19/22 6:52:57 p.m.
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Madam Chair, Troy Crosby, the person responsible for National Defence procurement, told the committee that the ships are not being built fast enough and that they are costing more.
I want to know if the minister has sent the shipyards an official letter, directive or document of some sort expressing the Government of Canada's concerns about the delays and cost overruns. If so, when did she send it? If not, why not?
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- May/19/22 6:51:58 p.m.
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Madam Chair, nobody is questioning the shipyard employees' work. What we are questioning is the excessive cost overruns taxpayers have to cover for projects that, to make matters worse, are often delayed.
There are delays. Here is my question. Are these delays and cost overruns due to government management, or does the problem lie with the shipyards?
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- May/19/22 6:51:00 p.m.
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Madam Chair, I have another point that was raised by officials from Public Services and Procurement Canada. On April 7, these bureaucrats told the committee that we can expect further cost overruns and delays regarding the delivery of new ships for the navy and the Coast Guard, and that the multi-billion dollar shipbuilding program faces significant challenges.
Will the minister admit that billions of dollars in cost overruns are already expected?
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- May/19/22 6:50:49 p.m.
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Madam Chair, was Canada the only country to experience COVID‑19 or did it happen in other countries as well?
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- May/19/22 6:49:58 p.m.
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Madam Chair, the cost of everything is skyrocketing right now. None of the contracts involve fixed costs. A number of witnesses told the committee that many businesses in many countries had fixed costs. The witnesses suggested signing fixed-cost contracts.
Does the minister agree?
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- May/19/22 6:49:08 p.m.
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Madam Chair, Andrew Kendrick, who testified on May 13 at the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates, mentioned that the major shipyards always transferred the risk to the smaller suppliers, the contractors, and that the costs associated with the risks were assumed by them. If they needed to boost the price, they just had to increase the bill and the government paid.
Why are the contracts written that way? Why is it always the taxpayers who pay for the cost overruns or the risks, which most often are passed on to the smaller players?
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- May/19/22 6:48:27 p.m.
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Madam Chair, I would like to salute and welcome the minister. Now, on to the first question.
The Parliamentary Budget Officer said the following at the February 4 meeting of the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates: “The pattern is that whenever we look at major procurement issues, for example, combat ships, supply ships, and now polar icebreakers, there is one constant: the costs are always higher when an independent office estimates them rather than the government.”
Why is that?
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