Speech

From the Prime Minister's Web Site (http://www.pm.gc.ca/)

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PRIME MINISTER ANNOUNCES SIX HIGHWAY PROJECTS IN NEW BRUNSWICK

June 25, 2007
Ottawa, Ontario

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Thank you for that warm welcome, and thank you Minister Thompson, Greg, for that kind introduction.

Premier Graham,

Minister Landry,

Members of the Legislative Assembly,

Fellow Members of Parliament, mayors and municipal councillors,

Members of the Road Builders' Association of New Brunswick.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Thank you for joining us today for this important announcement.

Last Friday Budget 2007 was finally passed by the Senate and given Royal assent. It was a historic moment for a couple of reasons.

In the first place, it has been 40 years since a minority federal government passed two consecutive budgets.

Second, and probably more importantly, it allows Canada's New Government to get on with renewing and strengthening our national economic infrastructure. In our first two federal budgets, we earmarked a total of $33 billion for investment in infrastructure over the next seven years. It is the largest infrastructure development program our country has seen in over half a century.

This investment in our infrastructure represents a national renewal of the foundations of Canada's economy.

We're investing in our future by upgrading our national highway system, unblocking our border crossings and improving our gateway facilities on the Pacific and Atlantic coasts. Our goal is to ensure that every part of the country has the chance to benefit from the enormous economic opportunities that lie before Canada. Our main partners in this great enterprise are the provincial governments.

The provincial governments know the unique strengths of their respective economies, and they know what must be done to take advantage of these natural strengths and to optimize their competitive advantages.

Our new national government is committed to open federalism. That means we respect provincial jurisdiction and acknowledge that provincial governments have primary responsibility for hospitals, schools, roads and many other important priorities. Our job is to make sure we coordinate our resources with them to get things done for all Canadians.

That's what brings us here today. I am pleased to announce that the Governments of Canada and New Brunswick have finalized our agreement to upgrade highways across the province and that preliminary work on three of the projects will start this summer.

This agreement builds on the preliminary arrangements we struck last year by expanding the range of projects to be funded. All this means that Route 8, the key provincial artery linking Fredericton to Miramichi, will now see major improvements. This includes construction of the long-overdue 36-kilometre Nashwaak-Marysville bypass to be completed over the next eight years. I want, if you don't mind, to recognize the work of Member of Parliament Mike Allen, for Tobique-Mactaquac, who has been a tireless advocate for this important project.

This summer we will begin work on the eight-kilometre expansion of the Route 11 bypass from Tracadie-Sheila to the Six Roads area. During phase two of the agreement, we will share the costs of a bypass on Route 11 at Caraquet and improvements to Route 17 near Black Brook.

The remainder of the funding will support much needed improvements to Route 1 and Route 7. On Route 1 we will build the One Mile House interchange near St. John, complete the 24-kilometre bypass in Southwestern New Brunswick, and create a four-lane divided highway from Penfield to Lepreau.

This agreement will also see construction of a new ten-kilometre bypass on route 7 at Welsford.

Together, these improvements to New Brunswick's transportation infrastructure will smooth traffic flow, increase the efficient movement of goods and people and stimulate jobs and opportunities in the road construction sector.

This large-scale enterprise represents only a part of the national infrastructure renewal, and we owe today's announcement to the cooperation that exists between our new national government and the Government of New Brunswick. We want to work together on the true priorities that count for the citizens of this province.

And I want to thank Premier Graham and his government for the role they played in making this announcement a reality. Indeed, today's announcement is a testament to what can be achieved when Ottawa and the provinces embrace a true spirit of the federalism of openness and work together to make Canada stronger, safer and better.

So thank you, and I look forward to your questions.

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The Prime Minister's Office - Communications
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News Release

From the Prime Minister's Web Site (http://www.pm.gc.ca/)

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PRIME MINISTER STEPHEN HARPER WELCOMES JOE COMUZZI TO THE CONSERVATIVE CAUCUS

Thunder Bay-Superior North MP latest in a long line of former Liberals joining the Government Caucus

June 26, 2007
THUNDER BAY

Prime Minister Stephen Harper today welcomed veteran Member of Parliament Joe Comuzzi as the newest member of the Government Caucus. Mr. Comuzzi becomes the Government's first M.P. from Northwestern Ontario.

"Joe Comuzzi supported our recent budget and our historic deal which resolved the Canada-US softwood dispute," said the Prime Minister. "So it feels very comfortable to stand here today with Joe and welcome him to the Conservative Caucus."

Mr. Comuzzi is the latest in a long line of former Liberals who have joined the new Conservative Party. They include Lawrence Cannon from Quebec, David Emerson from British Columbia and Wajid Khan, from the Greater Toronto Area.

Mr. Comuzzi thanked the Prime Minister for welcoming him into the Conservative Caucus and said he looked forward to serving his city, his region and his country as part of Canada's New Government. "I gave 18 years to the Liberal party," said Mr. Comuzzi. "But it's not my party anymore. Mr. Dion is taking it down a road I cannot follow."

"What unites these new members of our team is their recognition that Canada's New Government represents the way forward for our country," said the Prime Minister. "I would like to extend a hand to other grassroots Liberals to join the new Conservative Party and work with us to build a stronger, safer and better Canada."

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The Prime Minister's Office - Communications
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Speech

From the Prime Minister's Web Site (http://www.pm.gc.ca/)

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PRIME MINISTER UNVEILS MEMORIAL DEDICATED TO THE VICTIMS OF AIR INDIA FLIGHT 182

June 23, 2007
TORONTO

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Thank you Diana for your kind introduction.

Premier McGuinty.

Mayor Miller.

Justice Major.

Secretary of State Kenney.

Members of the Parliament of Canada, of the provincial Parliament of Ontario, and of Toronto City Council.

Mesdames et messieurs.

Ladies and gentlemen, I would first of all like to start this morning by thanking the members of the Air India Victim Families Association for their presence here today. In particular I would like to recognize head of the Air India's Family Memorial Committee for her work in making today's ceremony a reality.

I would also like to thank the Chair of the Air India Victim Families Association, Mr. Bal Gupta, for his perseverance and hard work over these many difficult years. Your efforts, Bal, along with the efforts of your colleagues, have ensured that the search for truth and justice has continued over the past two decades. So please accept my thanks to you and to all members of your association.

Ladies and gentlemen, our country has long served as a model of a prosperous, peaceful, pluralistic society. But as everyone here today knows all too well we are not immune to extremism and its evil twin, terrorism.

Twenty two years ago today Air India Flight 182 exploded in the air off of the coast of Ireland. The bombing followed an explosion earlier that day at Narita airport in Japan. All together, 331 lives had been lost. Our country was stunned and the families of the 280 Canadian men, women and children who died aboard flight 182 were pitched into an unimaginable abyss of grief.

Then we learned it wasn't a tragic accident but rather a deliberate act of mass murder. It was the worst act of terrorism in Canadian history.

Planned and executed in the name of a cause that had nothing to do with Canada – nothing to do with the people who were killed. On that dark day we got a shocking glimpse of the malevolence that lurks at the core of some of our fellow human beings.

We truly understood that no political ideology is so important, no religious dogma so righteous, no ethnic grievance so just, that it can ever be used to just such barbarism.

Flight 182 may have flown that fateful day under the flag of India, but the murder of its passengers was singularly a Canadian crime and tragedy. And worst of all, most Canadians didn't realize this until much, much later. Like bystanders at a public assault, many initially looked the other way and thought it was none of their business.

This was a terrible, hurtful mistake. One that Canada will always regret. But thanks to the efforts of the Air India Victim's Families Association and many other brave and tenacious Canadians, light is finally being cast where previously there were only shadows.

That is why we are gathered here today on this third annual National Day of Remembrance for Victims of Terrorism – to commemorate these men, women and children, these Canadians, who were murdered aboard flight 182, by unveiling a memorial that bears all of their names.

It is fashioned after the sundial in Ahakisia, Ireland that overlooked flight 182's final resting place – a place which I had the solemn experience of visiting during the 20th Anniversary Memorial in 2005.

Like other plaques or existing memorials in Ottawa, Vancouver and Montreal, this peaceful setting would be a place where the victim's families and descendants – and all Canadians – can come to pay their respects and to remember these victims. Canadians will never live such adversity.

Ladies and gentlemen, remembrance is crucial, but it isn't enough. We must act to ensure that such an outrage is never again visited upon our fellow citizens. That is why our government established the commission of inquiry into the investigation of the bombing of Air India flight 182.

Under the wise leadership of Justice Major, the commission is finally revealing how and why our security systems failed us. The commission's eventual final report will guide us to the creation of new and better systems to protect us against terrorist threats in the future.

But our best defence lies in convincing all Canadians no matter what their background, to set aside the political religious and ethnic conflicts that have darkened the lands and times from which they came and to embrace our future together.

There is no doubt all of us, no matter where we came from, are among the most fortunate people in the world. We share country that is strong and united.

A nation of freedom and democracy, a land of prosperity and hope.

It is little wonder that millions of people from around the world have been attracted to our shores. With each wave helping to further enrich diverse and unique society. And while our country has been an unparalleled success to date we can't take anything for granted.

Indeed Canada's future is only as strong as our commitment to each other. Therefore as Canadians we must put aside the differences that darken our past and work together to build the stronger, safer, better country. That will serve as our legacy for the generations to come.

I want to thank the victim's families for inviting me today. And God bless our great country.

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The Prime Minister's Office - Communications
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