Madam Speaker, I would also like to make a few comments on the speech made by the hon. member representing Matapédia-Matane, which is the riding next to mine.
The hon. member more or less wanted to make a case when he squarely put the blame on federalism for the hardships and problems encountered in remote regions.
However, I would ask him to take a look at policies implemented by recent provincial governments in Quebec, not only the Liberal one in office since 1985, but especially the Parti Québécois before that. I do not think that the federal government is necessarily the one to blame; the province is also responsible for the situation in rural areas.
In any case, more and more young people and business people return to the regions to get the local economy going again. I believe that to get regional and local economies going again, we must invest more in individuals, and not necessarily in states. Whether it is the state of Quebec or Canada, I think we should do more for small business people.
Over the years, especially under the Conservative government but also under the Parti Québécois before, not enough was done to help small businesses, for example with loans. It is mainly because of government agencies, or because of the lack of co-operation of financial institutions, that we were not able to improve the situation of small businesses and, consequently, the quality of life in rural Quebec. But it is wrong to say that the federal government is the only one to blame.