Thank you.
Good morning, members of the committee.
I agree with Éric. Municipalities as a whole share this vision.
We elected representatives often inherit situations from the past, but we nevertheless have the responsibility of preparing the heritage of tomorrow. In our municipalities we sometimes experience situations that are quite difficult.
I'll give you an example. Here in Témiscouata-sur-le-Lac, in 2002, a factory burned down which was not rebuilt; this caused the loss of 450 jobs. We had to deal with that, as well as with municipal budget cuts of 18%. Despite all of that, we had to continue to invest in our aqueduct infrastructure, and that is what we did.
People in our milieu decided to act. We created a municipal association with our neighbour. People voted in favour of that initiative. We are continuing to develop. Today, we are building our regional arena, which has to be upgraded. This is an $8-million construction project.
We want this project to generate leverage and to be a sort of regional event hub to attract private investment to the region. Our objective is to create a new economy, to create at least 50 jobs, and, in terms of the regional economy, to help all of the businesses in the surrounding area. We want this to be an energy-efficient and very innovative building.
I would like to make one last point. You need to look at the whole issue of cellular telephony, connectivity and broadband technology in the regions. That is important because the service is clearly deficient in our area.
Thank you.