Thank you, Mr. Morin.
Going back to what you said in your remarks, I can tell you first-hand how important it is to have access to a pharmacy in a rural community. I proudly represent 39 municipalities in the Bas-Saint-Laurent region, and I can tell you it's essential to have a pharmacy when there's no hospital nearby.
You mentioned that the federal government's present program jeopardizes the pharmacy model, and even community pharmacies, and you cited the example of New Zealand, where 371 pharmacies shut down. I'm very concerned by your remarks. This makes no sense to my mind. We're talking about local services, individual welfare and keeping people in their communities, especially with an aging population as we have back home, the second fastest aging region in all of Quebec.
What should we do to prevent these closures, which would be a real problem?