It is absolutely wrong, because some positive attempts were made by the federal government to get regional economies going again, for example with the Federal Office of Regional Development. Quebec has been talking about the one-stop concept for years, but I would like to hear the Bloc Quebecois tell us exactly why federalism was so bad for rural economic development.
I think that by talking about sovereignty and by making it an obsession in the eastern part of Quebec, we jeopardize the future of our young people and our remote regions. I do care for my region; I am first a Gaspésien, but I object to this claim that federalism is to be blamed for our high unemployment rate.