That is highly unlikely. In this instance, Mr. Minister, can you ask your colleague responsible for Canada Economic Development in Quebec, Mr. Lebel, to retract his remarks? On several occasions, he stated publicly that the federal government invested $20 billion in the lumber industry last year. He made that statement as recently as last week in La Pocatière and Rivière-du-Loup. It was repeated and reported by all media outlets in Quebec.
Mr. Minister, such statements are unacceptable when we know full well that the federal government invested $80 million in the lumber industry. These data and these numbers are in your document.
I would like your assurance that this type of behaviour will not be repeated and that this is completely unjustified from a minister who has no financial responsibilities.