House of Commons Debates, 41st Parl, 2nd Sess, No 228 (11 June 2015) at 14971.
Mr. Speaker, first the government made the unilateral decision to allow supertankers to go through Montreal and Quebec City. Now the federalist parties have agreed to run the oil pipeline through Quebec, whether Quebec likes it or not. It is rather ironic that Quebec has to fight to have a say on what happens on its territory.
Will the Minister of the Environment live up to her title and finally stop imposing all these economic, social, and environmental risks on Quebeckers, just to fatten up western oil companies?
Mr. Speaker, we are embarking upon Canada’s most ambitious trade agenda, and in doing so we want to ensure that we are able to get our goods to market and are able to receive goods from other markets as well.
That is the importance of the St. Lawrence River to us. It is to make sure that we can flow goods as far into the continent as possible. I am very proud of all the federal ports along the river, from Sept-Îles all the way to the Port of Montreal. They do great service for Canadians and are an important part of our chain.