You are more than the Minister of Industry for Canada; you are the member for Beauce.
And I am the member for Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier.
People in Quebec know about the similarities between Portneuf and Beauce. Both are ridings where small industry is extremely dynamic and is based to a large extent, in both cases, on exports, allowing both employees and investors to make a good living. Entrepreneurs in both of our ridings are fiercely independent people. A member of Parliament who served before you was an independent by the name of Gilbert Bernier. Our two ridings have this in common: they're the victims of programs put in place by the Government of Quebec that discriminate against resource regions, resulting in significant job losses. Our two ridings also have in common the fact that, for a very long time, they were ruled by Québec-Téléphone, which became Telus Québec, something that probably significantly hindered economic development in both of our regions.
Our two ridings probably also have in common their lack of access to deregulation, which is kind of a shame, based on the standards you have just put in place or are preparing to make official. When that happens and as competition becomes more and more widespread, you will need to find competent and dynamic adjudicators, so that the competition is fierce and ruthless.
In recent weeks, I have noted that Liberal members of Parliament who sit on this Committee do not have a great deal of confidence in the Competition Bureau. They have the impression that everything always takes too long when you're dealing with the Bureau. As for our Montreal colleagues representing the Bloc, they feel that if the Competition Bureau were truly effective, every oil company executive would already be in prison. So, they can't possibly have any confidence in the Competition Bureau.
Ms. Scott showed courage in coming here to deliver her message, which was to reclaim a mandate and to declare herself capable of fulfilling that mandate expeditiously if real problems emerge.
What do you intend to do to restore people's confidence in the Competition Bureau and its ability to take quick, draconian action if there are abuses?