Madam Speaker, I want to thank my hon. colleague who appears to be highly sensitive to the plight of the regions. It is true that very often when we think of Canada, we think of large cities. Large urban centres are often represented by several members, and sometimes by several ministers. That is why I say that federalism has proven to be a failure for regions such as mine, and most likely for regions such as his.
Basically, federalism has proven to be an even greater failure in the regions. It has failed throughout Quebec, but especially in the regions. True, equalization and transfer payments are supposed to help the poorer regions. However, I have only one voice and compared to that of Toronto, Vancouver or Montreal, the voice of regional members is not heard because they represent a much smaller number of people.
When I decided to run in my riding, it was for a very special reason, namely to heighten the awareness of city dwellers of the poverty in our regions. We have a great deal of talent. We have tremendous human capital, but as we all know, when people leave to attend large universities, they do not return. On this point, I agree completely with my hon. colleague. We need to focus more on the regions and give them as much as possible.
Because, when towns cease to exists, cities decline and eventually disappear.
I want to thank my hon. colleague and let him know that I am very sensitive to his concerns. I agree that more has to be done for our regions.