Pauline Rochefort

“Mr. Speaker, I thank my riding neighbour for her eloquent speech. I would like to point out that a growing number of people in our region are saying that the Liberal government is not there for them and that a bill like Bill C-39 is not going to make them feel more included. I want to give an example. In my neighbour’s riding, in Kapuskasing, the department of innovation and industry awarded funding to the paper industry, the forestry industry. My riding got no funding, so 425 jobs were lost at RYAM last weekend. That is bad. The minister, like her colleague at natural resources, is aware of the situation, and yet the government refuses to take action. There is a project of national interest in a region close to both of us. It is the Crawford nickel project proposed by Canada Nickel Company in Timmins. The federal government has recognized it. Funding has been provided for it. However, a project by Dumont Nickel in northern Abitibi, in my riding, is still waiting for recognition from the federal government. Another example is a cobalt processing plant in the Cobalt area. The municipality is clearly appropriately named. The Horne smelter in Rouyn-Noranda is still awaiting investment to the tune of $149 million. That is peanuts for the federal government, which, as we all know, is running a massive deficit. This money is needed to invest in gas capture and modernizing the plant. It would be a game-changer for air quality issues in Rouyn-Noranda. Where is the federal government, and why does it want to pass laws that will stifle community engagement and override environmental legislation?”