Thank you, Madam Chair.
Hello, esteemed colleagues.
I would like to pick up on what my colleague from Lac‑Saint-Jean was saying earlier. I think we have serious grounds for opposing the commission's proposal. I will start by saying that the commission's decision involved blatant procedural unfairness.
The commission came up with a proposal that was presented to our constituents on July 29, 2022, but the proposal to merge Jonquière and Alma was never presented to residents. If it had been, the regional backlash would have been much stronger than the one we saw against the first proposal.
There is no community of interest between Jonquière and Alma. The proof is that there is a Facebook page for people who are from Saguenay, not Lac‑Saint‑Jean, and another Facebook page for people who are from Lac‑Saint‑Jean, not Saguenay. It's like comparing someone from Montreal to someone from Quebec City, or someone from Toronto to someone from Montreal. These are two fundamentally different communities of interest that this proposal would lump together.
Earlier, my colleague from Lac‑Saint-Jean told you about the letter from Jean-Pierre Blackburn, the former MP. He served for a long time as the MP for the riding of Jonquière—Alma, which existed from 2004 to 2015. Claude Patry also represented this riding as a Bloc Québécois MP. I was his political attaché. Mr. Patry got the electoral map amended in 2013 at the request of Alma's business community and elected officials, who did not want to be part of the riding of Jonquière—Alma anymore. At the time of the 2013 redistribution, this was presented as a historical error.
It was even reiterated that this historical error should not be repeated in this redistribution. That is why the member for Lac‑Saint‑Jean and I were so stunned to see this proposal resurface at the request of a well-meaning resident, Marc Perron, who now says that it was a mistake he wants to retract.
This motive is clearly valid. We have the support of our community. While the riding of Jonquière—Alma wasn't presented to the public, which is obviously extremely unfair from a procedural standpoint, I can confirm that the Jonquière—Alma proposal did come up for discussion in 2013.
During the 2013 redistribution, a number of people said they disliked the riding of Jonquière—Alma, because it created such a hassle for the MP and for socio-economic and political stakeholders. That's why this historical mistake or blunder was fixed. Now the commission is making the same mistake all over again.
Will our proposal have a domino effect on other ridings? I should note that when the commission presented its first proposal, the MP who represents Alma and I opposed it, while the MP for Chicoutimi supported it.
As far the riding of Jonquière—Alma goes, the lesser evil would be to revert to the initial proposal. It has its flaws, to be sure, but at least in that proposal, Alma, which is the cultural and economic hub of Lac‑Saint‑Jean, wouldn't be tacked on to another region, Saguenay—Lac‑Saint‑Jean.