Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Orr, might I remind you that at the start of the 20th century, one million Quebeckers moved to New England to work in the manufacturing industries. If, at that time, we had had policies to enable us to keep them at home, the population of Quebec would probably be about 12 million people today. I understand that you have an economic approach, but at the same time, people are neither chairs nor rats. We cannot decide that they will move just for a job; many other factors need to be taken into account.
In my riding, for example, the city of Montmagny lost 500 jobs when Whirlpool closed its doors. There isn't anyone in that part of the country who will tell people that the solution is to move to Alberta. That is not acceptable socially, it is totally inconsistent with our reality. Choices must be made. I understand your proposals. In economic terms, what you are saying is very interesting, but I did, nevertheless, want to make that comment. However, I have some brief questions for you.
You spoke briefly about the importance of natural gas. I would like you to elaborate on the importance of natural gas, and particularly, the issue of investing profits. People are currently making a lot of money in the energy sector. Are they reinvesting enough of it? In the end, if that is left up to the corporations, will there be enough reinvestment in the right places to maintain a balance in Canada? If a significant tax were placed on profits in the petroleum industry, governments, that are concerned with the common good, would perhaps have better tools to redistribute the investments.
I would like to hear you on that.
Finally, I want to talk about employment insurance. I just want to point out that there used to be an agreement in Canada: the people in the Maritimes and Eastern Quebec used the system and provided the raw materials. At one point, the system broke down. It has been tightened up to such an extent that people are starving, but at the same time, they are not receiving any money to help them transform the economy. When a decision is made to re-establish a balance in Canada, that should be taken into account. To date, it has not been done.
I have asked several questions, but there are all important issues.