Alexis Deschênes

C-39 Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for her contribution to the debate, and I want to draw her attention to an issue that goes beyond Bill: the centralization of power. In several sections of the bill, authority that previously rested with cabinet, for instance, will be delegated to a minister. This will result in fewer and fewer people being involved in decision-making. When it comes [more]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his insightful remarks. C‑39 Listening to him contributes to our collective understanding of Bill. One issue that we have homed in on is the possibility of pre-approving projects. If we think about the regions of national interest, and I would like to hear my colleague's views on this, it is apparent that the regional assessment would be conducted in [more]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for her contribution to this important debate. Yesterday, there was a lot of discussion about creating regions of national interest. One of the government's responses is that there are a dozen laws and seven regulations, that authorizations are deemed to have been granted in those regions, and that a regional assessment will take place. If we dig a little [more]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his contribution. I hold him in high regard. I would like to hear his perspective on the idea that the minister could conduct regional assessments and then designate a region as being of national interest. Once that happens, authorizations would be deemed to have been granted. C‑39 Under Bill, all the minister would have to do to designate a region as being [more]

Madam Speaker, I believe my colleague has a lot of political experience, and his comment is informed by his observations of what is going on. Prime Minister Thewill define what is in the national interest and what constitutes a region of national interest. Those that gain his favour, if I may put it that way, will enjoy a special legislative regime that requires relatively few approvals. [more]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his contribution. C-39 I get the impression that they are trying to sell us apple pie, but that is not what is on offer in Bill. The government tells us that the bill does not lower standards, but that is not what Bill C-39 says. Bill C-39 says a lot of things, but among other things, it states that regions of national interest are now being established and [more]

C‑39 Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his contribution to this debate. I want to hear his thoughts on a subject that really troubles me. I am talking about this step forward in Bill, or rather this major step backward, to identify regions of national interest in which several laws will not apply when the projects move forward. What is a region of national interest? That fundamental [more]

C-39 Madam Speaker, as fall sets in here in the House of Commons, one bill is set to authorize the destruction of the environment in Quebec and Canada, at the whim of 28 people, namely, the Carney government's cabinet. Billdoes a lot of things, but I will focus on what I think is the most dangerous one: From now on, authorization will be given to destroy the environment not only for projects of [more]

Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague, who represents a riding next to mine, for his well-researched question. Environmental assessments will have to be done beforehand, but it is up to cabinet to designate a region as being of national interest. The legislation says it may do so based on whatever factors it considers useful or relevant. A token assessment will be done beforehand, but ultimately, [more]

Madam Speaker, thank you for calling me to order. You were quite right to do so. C-39 If the current government decides that this electricity transmission line project is located in a region of national interest, then itcan go ahead under Bill, even if the project will jeopardize a species at risk or lead to that species' extinction and would have normally been prohibited. Let us look at [more]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his speech and his contribution. In his speech he said that the environmental assessments were used to hold up projects. I find that fascinating and I would like him to elaborate on that. Is that what he really thinks? Does he think that environmental assessment processes were put in place to calculate the environmental impact of projects such as pipelines, [more]

Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for her contribution to this debate. C‑39 I want to ask a question about something that is planned or proposed in Billthat is, in my opinion, absolutely mind-boggling, and that is the government's ability to pre-approve development projects. In other words, it could allow a development project to go ahead without even doing an environmental assessment. The [more]

Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for that excellent question. I have no comment. I am simply overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of this discretionary power. C-5 C-39 Section 4.1 of Billstates that cabinet will, by order, define what is in the national interest. Those 28 cabinet ministers were going to tell us that. However, that order was never issued. Before even defining what the national [more]

C-39 Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for his contribution to the debate. I am interested to hear his thoughts on something that comes up a lot in Bill. I am referring to the message being sent to the minister. The minister is told that he will have the authority to impose conditions determining whether a project moves forward, yet he already has that authority. The new spin with Bill [more]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for her contribution. I have a very simple question for her: What is a region of national interest? C‑39 Can she define it? That is one of the major changes that Billmakes. When a region is determined to be of national interest, all projects in that area will be exempt from complying with 20 or so laws and obtaining authorizations. What is a [more]

Madam Speaker, I would like to take a brief step back and remind my colleague that Conservative prime minister Brian Mulroney, who was considered one of the most pro-environment prime ministers, signed the Convention on Biological Diversity on Canada's behalf. C‑39 What does my colleague think of Bill, which will allow projects located in regions of national interest to move forward even if they [more]