Mr. Speaker, I am especially proud to be here in the House today. I would like to thank the people of Avignon—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia for placing their trust in me and electing me to be their MP. I am very grateful to them and I will work hard to represent all of my constituents during my term in office.

We promised to bring about real change, and that is exactly what the government is going to do by doing things differently. Canadians want a government that keeps its promises and focuses on the things that matter most to them, things like growing the economy, creating jobs, strengthening the middle class and helping those working hard to join it. Today's throne speech confirmed that we will do just that.

In practical terms, our government will cut taxes for the middle class. It will introduce the Canada child benefit, which will give families more than what they are currently receiving and which will also be tax-free. It will be money that stays in families' pockets.

We will be able to keep these promises because we are asking the richest Canadians to do a little more to help balance the wealth in Canada.

After a lifetime of hard work, the people of Avignon—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia and all Canadians deserve a secure and dignified retirement. We will help them reach that goal through a strong and stable retirement income plan. We will work with the provinces and territories, workers, employers, and retiree organizations to enhance the Canada pension plan.

We will also restore the eligibility age for old age security and the guaranteed income supplement to 65. We will increase the guaranteed income supplement for single, low-income seniors. That will put more money in their pockets. What is more, we are committed to establishing the seniors price index in order to measure the cost of living for seniors. We also plan to keep pension income splitting for seniors.

With regard to youth, we plan to get young people involved in government. We will create a Prime Minister’s youth advisory council to provide non-partisan advice to the Prime Minister on issues facing the country. This council will be made up of young Canadians aged 16 to 24 from across the country.

I have already received a letter from Samuel Perreault, a 16-year-old from Mont-Joli who wants to be part of the council. Samuel, Jonathan, Simon, Gabriel, and Christina, along with other engaged and dynamic youth, worked tirelessly to help us throughout the election campaign. These young men and women are the leaders of tomorrow, and I know that with them, my children—our children—are in good hands.

We will also strengthen the employment insurance system to make it more flexible, to provide Canadians with benefits when they really need them, to help people develop the skills they need for their next job, and to ensure that employment insurance reflects our labour market.

We will lower employment insurance premiums to reduce payroll costs for employers and employees. We will reduce the waiting period for employment insurance benefits from two weeks to one.

We will implement higher service standards, including reduced wait times.

As stated in the Speech from the Throne, our government will introduce measures to address infrastructure.

The timing has never been more critical: interest rates for new investments are at historic lows; our current infrastructure is aging; and Canada is in immediate need of a boost in economic growth.

Each year over the next decade we will steadily increase federal infrastructure investment. We will almost double federal infrastructure investment to nearly $125 billion over 10 years. This will be the largest new investment in infrastructure in Canadian history.

Our government will quadruple federal investment in public transit over a period of 10 years. Our funding will respond to what the municipalities need, to ensure that the maximum number of public transit projects are completed in Canada.

Part of the Liberal government's commitment to making an historic investment in social infrastructure is to make affordable housing and seniors' residences a priority. We will also be investing in recreational and cultural infrastructure.

Our plan will spur the construction of more housing and the renovation of existing housing. It will renew existing co-op agreements and provide operational support to municipalities.

We will invest in green infrastructure for projects involving water systems and waste water facilities. We will invest in climate resilient infrastructure, clean energy, and the remediation of contaminated lands for new construction.

We will also be investing in an innovation program. We will provide direct support to incubators and accelerators and research facilities, in addition to providing financing and other support for small companies wanting to grow and export. This funding will also help modernize and strengthen the technology transfer and commercialization functions at universities and colleges.

We will invest more annually to create sector-specific strategies that support innovation and clean technologies in the forestry, fisheries, mining, energy, and agricultural sectors. These strategies will be developed in collaboration with the private sector, government, and research institutions with the objective of producing real innovation that can be deployed in our natural resources sectors, and be commercialized, brought to scale, and exported.

We will invest in clean technology producers so they can tackle Canada's most pressing environmental challenges, whether with respect to our air, our water, or our land. This means we will invest more per year in organizations that have been successful at supporting the emergence of clean technology firms, including Sustainable Development Technology Canada. We will also work in partnership with the private sector to enhance the availability of venture capital for new clean technology.

As stated in the Speech from the Throne, our government will ensure that first nations have access to education and economic opportunities in a way that recognizes and honours aboriginal and treaty rights. We will also close the gap in funding for first nations education.

For instance, we will invest new funding each year in core funding for kindergarten through grade 12 programs. This will include money committed by the previous government that has yet to flow, plus additional incremental funding. Over the next four years this will represent a $2.6 billion new investment in helping first nation students learn and succeed.

We will also invest more money in first nations school infrastructure. We will inject more money in the post-secondary student support program. We will provide new money to aboriginal communities to help them promote and preserve their language and culture.

It is time for Canada to have a renewed nation-to-nation relationship with indigenous peoples, based on recognition, rights, respect, co-operation, and partnership. This is both the right thing to do and a sure path to economic growth.

I never imagined that I would get into politics. That was never one of my goals. I am here today because my riding, Avignon—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia, which is in the Gaspé, is facing an extremely difficult economic situation. My region is among the 10 poorest ridings in Canada. My region includes seven of the 10 most disadvantaged cities and towns in Quebec. Our unemployment rate is nearly 17%, and the further east you go, the higher the rate is.

In my riding, we have two great Mi'kmaq communities, Listuguj and Gesgapegiag. I thank them for their support, and I say to them wela'lin, which means thank you.

However, in these communities, the unemployment rate has reached almost 40%.

Families are leaving our region because they are having a hard time finding work. They are leaving our beautiful region and moving to large urban centres like Quebec City and Montreal, where they have a better chance of finding a job. Our industries have slowed to a crawl. Our businesses are shutting down on a regular basis and have been doing so for too long now. Family businesses that had operated for 40 years have shut down. We had a fantastic, established bicycle company located downtown, but it no longer exists.

I got involved in politics to help my region. I worked for the Government of Canada for 17 years, in departments like Justice Canada, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and Health Canada here in the national capital region, as well as Public Works and Government Services Canada in Matane, where I later ran the CEGEP.

My wife and I have four young boys. I can assure the House that I was not seeking a new challenge or looking for a new job. I truly loved my job, my staff and my students. With my wife Hélène's support, I decided to get involved in politics in order to put my experience and knowledge to work for all our citizens. My riding, the Gaspé and many other regions across Canada like ours need tools and a strong helping hand.

We need to create an environment that will foster the economic development of our region. We need sustainable jobs. We need investments in infrastructure in order to ensure, for example, that the port of Matane is viable in the long term so that we can continue to reap all the benefits of our marine assets; to support the Carleton-sur-Mer wharf overhaul project so that boaters, tourists, and fishers have access to quality infrastructure; and to extend the runway at Mont-Joli airport and decontaminate the land so that it becomes a true regional airport that will support development in the north.

Since 2006, the number of federal jobs in my riding has dropped by nearly 28%. The two ridings that make up the Gaspé and the Îles-de-la-Madeleine have lost more than 100 jobs, which is equivalent to 1,000 jobs in major centres. Jobs have been lost in New Richmond, Gaspé, Pointe-à-la-Croix, Rivière-au-Renard and Mont-Joli. Here is one example of the impact of these cuts. A resident of Mont-Joli had to drive eight hours to Quebec City this week to ensure that her son's passport was renewed in time to travel in mid-December. This woman had initially submitted the forms by mail.

They were unfortunately returned because information was missing. She had no choice but to miss a day of work and drive to Quebec City, in December, so that she could get her application fast-tracked at the Passport Canada office.

This is just one example of how important it is to keep Government of Canada services in the regions. These jobs are important to us. These public servants contribute to our region's economic, social and cultural development. These women and men help employment insurance claimants get their benefits. Workers in the regions digitize documents. These men and women help preserve Canadian archives and make them available. They process all the payments issued by the Government of Canada. They are conscientious, committed, dedicated workers who provide high-quality services to Canadians. These organizations exist because we believed they had potential in the regions.

I would like to create new opportunities to bring back these jobs. I also hope to support the development of various sectors and contribute to them. The government's directions, as set out in the throne speech, are directly connected to my constituents' needs.

I have faith in our region, our young people, our artists, our creators, and our entrepreneurs. I have worked hard in recent years. I will continue to work hard in my new role, with the same energy and determination.

I am proud to be part of this government, and I have faith in it.

I move, seconded by the member for Brampton North, that the following address in reply to the Speech from the Throne be presented to His Excellency the Governor General of Canada:

To His Excellency the Right Honourable David Johnston, Chancellor and Principal Companion of the Order of Canada, Chancellor and Commander of the Order of Military Merit, Chancellor and Commander of the Order of Merit of the Police Forces, Governor General, and Commander-in-Chief of Canada.

May it Please Your Excellency:

We, Her Majesty's most loyal and dutiful subjects, the House of Commons of Canada, in Parliament assembled, beg leave to offer our humble thanks to Your Excellency for the gracious Speech which Your Excellency has addressed to both Houses of Parliament.

Rémi Massé

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