Mr. Speaker, I certainly agree that a number of things have been done, but it is also true that many, many farms have disappeared.
To expand, some farmers bought big farms adjoining their own land. They modernized their operations and they used technology, of course, but I say this is not necessarily a good thing for rural communities. In a parish of 3,000 souls, if there are now only four farmers when they used to be 40, this is not necessarily a good thing. It may be the modern way of doing things and perhaps this is inevitable. That means rural communities will gradually disappear.
If they do, small towns will disappear as well. Anyone who is familiar with our part of the country will notice that, starting at Mont-Joli, it is very hard to keep rural communities alive, because most farmers have left the area, and although dairy production has increased or remained stable, people are not there any more. I think agriculture should be compatible with rural communities, and I have no answers right now, although there must be a solution and we must find it. I am sure that, when we become a sovereign nation, we will find it more readily.