Discussion · Government Orders
Jean-Denis Garon Bloc Québécois
“The government is rushing to take land in Mirabel for its high-speed train project without proper studies or public support. The government should stop, study the costs and benefits, and rethink the project. It also still needs to apologize to the people of Mirabel as the House voted it should.”
“Mr. Speaker, I have a message for the people of Mirabel today. I will not do like the Minister of Transport, who had to hide when he visited the area. I will do it out in the open. What the government is doing today is accelerating the expropriation of the land in Mirabel, steamrolling over the people of Mirabel and moving its project forward more quickly, a project that has no social licence and no cost-benefit analysis. When cabinet picked the high-speed train option, the consortium submitted a different option without level crossings. Now, I can accept that they acted in good faith and were misled. With a proper cost-benefit analysis and proper assessments, this project could be re-evaluated. The government decided to forge ahead and infringe on people’s rights. It chose to reopen an old wound that is among the most painful ever inflicted in the history of Canada and Quebec. Allow me to point out that the House adopted a unanimous motion calling for the government to apologize to the people of Mirabel. In spite of this unanimous support, the apology has yet to come.”
Mr. Speaker, I have a message for the people of Mirabel today. I will not do like the Minister of Transport, who had to hide when he visited the area. I will do it out in the open. What the government is doing today is accelerating the expropriation of the land in Mirabel, steamrolling over the people of Mirabel and moving its project forward more quickly, a project that has no social licence and no cost-benefit analysis. When cabinet picked the high-speed train option, the consortium submitted a different option without level crossings. Now, I can accept that they acted in good faith and were misled. With a proper cost-benefit analysis and proper assessments, this project could be re-evaluated. The government decided to forge ahead and infringe on people’s rights. It chose to reopen an old wound that is among the most painful ever inflicted in the history of Canada and Quebec. Allow me to point out that the House adopted a unanimous motion calling for the government to apologize to the people of Mirabel. In spite of this unanimous support, the apology has yet to come.