Thank you, Mr. Therrien.
I think I was fairly direct in my statement. I was also direct in my answer to Mr. Fergus' question.
Obviously, this would be an enormous loss. How can we imagine being as effective for the same territory? I understand the population is smaller, but apart from the mathematical calculation, there is a territory, there is a surface area, there are hours of driving that have to be done.
I reiterate: there were seven federal members in 1960. In 1997, that number was reduced to four in eastern Quebec. Now, the 2022 redistribution proposal wants to give us three. But there are still the same tens of thousands of kilometres to travel. I reiterate: we don't have planes, we don't have helicopters. We travel around the territory by car. Most of the time, our assistants come with us, and sometimes it is volunteers who help us do our work. Reducing the number of representatives in that territory would therefore have enormous consequences.
How are we supposed to stimulate regional development, the development of our territory, when people who are there to support the economic, social and cultural development of those territories are being taken away from us?
How can a region move forward when it is constantly being pulled backward? It's inconceivable.
To add to what I said, I will also say that the loss of geographic identity is another factor. Mr. Généreux alluded to this when he talked about the fact that the RCM of Rivière-du-Loup has been removed from the new proposed name. I don't want to start a debate about riding names, but I believe you know that when an RCM is no longer included in a redistribution proposal, its RCM name is erased, and it is difficult for that RCM to feel that it belongs.