Madam Speaker, I listened closely to the speech by the hon. member for Matapédia-Matane. If I understood correctly, he was speaking not only about the treatment of Quebec in Canada, but also about the way his region is treated by the province of Quebec. We find that to be a very interesting point.
Does he believe that in the case of federal programs such as the equalization provisions in this bill, if the federal government were to change the formula, the Quebec provincial government would be encouraged to spend some of the equalization funds it receives in the poorer regions of the provinces. I think that is the aim of programs such as this. Does the hon. member believe it is important that the provincial government spend equalization funds in his region, and not only in the large urban centres such as Montreal or Quebec?