Mr. Speaker, please allow me to stand beside the member, sop that I will not be speaking behind his back. In politics, you know, that is frowned upon.
This is a bill, as our colleague said, that raises many problems for us, not as much on the principle, as my colleague eloquently reminded us. In Quebec, there have been environmental impact studies for a very long time and no one wishes, once again, to a situation where, for the sake of economic development, environmental interests are sacrificed and people can do just as they please.
As I said, I have been representing the riding of Hochelaga—Maisonneuve since 1993. This used to be an industrial city. Hochelaga—Maisonneuve was a city that was annexed to Montreal in 1914. When it was a city, because of the port of Montreal, because of an industrial development policy, many labour intensive businesses settled there, and their presence can still be felt in Hochelaga—Maisonneuve.
There are two questions that I would like my colleague to comment on. Earlier, the motion that was adopted by the National Assembly in 1992, more than 10 years ago, was read to us. Is it not extremely disappointing, on the public policy level, to see that some people have fought long and hard, and is my colleague not discouraged to see that, more than a decade after an appeal was made unanimously by the members of the National Assembly concerning jurisdictions, they must still go on fighting?
Does he have the feeling that, if the Bloc Quebecois were not in this House, no one in the Liberal Party would express the concerns that he has been raising in the last few minutes?