Welcome to all of you. It is a pleasure to be able to meet you today.
As concerns sovereignty, I want to mention that we talk very much in Quebec about countries like Norway and Iceland, because they are small countries, much smaller than Quebec in terms of population, except Switzerland, whose population is similar to ours. These countries took their place on international markets through various agreements. The standard of living and the score of these countries on the human development index are very high et and even much higher, for example in Norway and Iceland and other neighbouring countries. I think sovereignty is profitable because you can negotiate your own international agreements. This is the direction Quebec is taking right now.
Mr. Thordarson asked us what was the attitude in Quebec towards the Doha Round, the World Trade Organization, NAFTA, and various other agreements.
My questions to you deal with all your countries. Even if Quebec — which is not a country yet, but nonetheless — and Canada export a great deal, the free trade agreement and the WTO agreements have a impact on certain industries and contribute to the impoverishment of an important segment of our population.
In Quebec, there is a crisis right now in the agricultural industry, and our farmers are burdened with huge debts. Our small traditional family farms could disappear and be replaced by megafarms that are more productive and competitive. This crisis is affecting just about all our rural areas. Personally, I live in a rural area. We have problems with the recruitment of a new generation of farmers and with the heavy debt load. Some agricultural sectors are vulnerable. You may know the supply management regime, a Canadian agricultural model which is now threatened. Quebec has 50% of all dairy farmers in Canada. These are vulnerable sectors we want to protect.
Our manufacturing industry is also threatened by foreign competition and globalization. In some manufacturing industries like textiles, Canada as a whole has lost roughly 50,000 jobs. The furniture sector in Quebec has lost 5,000 jobs over three or four years. So, we have a number of sectors that are in a difficult position. The aircraft manufacturing industry will also have to expand more.
My question to you is on your trade with Quebec. But first, I would like to ask you about the situation of rural areas in your countries, even if they are in a very good economic shape. Are you losing some industries? What do you do about it? How can you manage these losses with the gains you make thanks to various free trade agreements? What is the outlook as far as trade with Quebec and development opportunities are concerned?