Madam Speaker, it is a pleasure to speak to the motion of my colleague from Kamouraska-Rivière-du-Loup. It is the first time since I have been in the House of Commons that we talk about regional development. The motion moved by a member from the Bloc aims at making the public aware of the sad situation that exists in the regions of Canada, and particularly of Quebec.
The motion says: "That this House condemn the federal government's ineffective regional development interventions". Today, I heard our Liberal friends speak highly of Canadian federalism. I heard them speak about grants, about money given everywhere in Quebec and in Canada. According to them, that is a godsend for the good people and everyone should be happy and say "thank you, my good government". But if we look at what is presently going on in Quebec, particularly in the regions, what do we see? We see unemployment, regions that are stagnant, populations that are not growing and, most of all, we also see, and that is dramatic, young people who are leaving their region.
I look at my region of Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean, and particularly my town. Ten years ago, in Jonquière, there were 62,000 inhabitants; now, there are perhaps 58,000. What happened? The young people do not like their region any more? That is not the case. What happened is that people have to leave their region in order to survive. There are regions in Quebec that have almost become under-developed countries. Why are people leaving their region to go elsewhere? It is because they want to eat. And that is what are presently doing many Quebecers who are leaving their region to go to Quebec City or Montreal because they are hungry, they are hungry for work and for opportunities.
Let us look at our regions. What happened? Is it because people who work there are inefficient? There is a considerable number of development programs both at the federal and provincial levels. Some people work on the development of those programs as administrators or regional sponsors. Those people act as volunteers and give their time and their energy
because they are committed to the development of their region. There are also federal and provincial civil servants working.
Since my election I have been in contact every day with a lot of federal civil servants. I know they are competent and committed to their work but if we look at the results we can see that nothing works well because of the endemic unemployment in the regions. In my own area of Chicoutimi-Jonquière, the unemployment rate is about 17 per cent, or 15 per cent in the greater area. There must be something going wrong. I cannot see what our Liberal friends have to brag about or congratulate themselves for. They should meet the unemployed and the students who cannot find work and tell them that everything is going well; and we will see what answer they get.
Let me give you two examples of the inefficiency of regional development in my region. I blame that situation on the inefficiency of Canadian federalism. In my own region, an incredible story has been going on for about fifteen years and it is about the famous Alma-La Baie Highway.
This is a highway which was to link the towns of Alma and La Baie. There was a federal-provincial agreement for the construction of this highway. The federal agreed, the provincial agreed, the municipalities agreed, everybody agreed, but there is still no highway. Every two, three, four or five years we add three or five kilometres. When we want to go ahead there is always someone to object.
At times it is the provincial government which objects, other times the federal government which asks for delays. There is conflict, and discussion, but no construction.
This is an example of a non-functioning federal-provincial agreement endorsed in good faith by local governments which did not realize that there was a fundamental flaw: there were two decision-makers. When important decisions can come from two different places, very often none are made.
This is an example that shows that Canadian federalism does not work in the area of regional development. A divided highway is essential for a region, but we still do not have one because Canadian institutions are flawed.
Let us take another current example. There is a passenger train service between Jonquière and Montreal which is managed by VIA Rail. Some people in Canada say that rail service is not cost-effective. They say that some lines make no profits, and that cuts are needed. But where should we cut? Of course they are going to make cuts in the means of transportation between the large centres and the remote areas. They want to eliminate one mode of transportation which is important for my area, in several respects.
First of all, it is important because an area like mine, which is quite remote, needs a variety of means of transportation for its development and to be connected to larger centres. We have the Laurentian Highway, which is not yet a divided highway, in spite of several projects which might come to fruition some day, for our grand-children to see. We have a deep water port and we have the railroad.
An essential and fundamental aspect of rail transportion is that it carries passengers. The Jonquière-Montréal train is a very well kept secret. There is no publicity. People think it does not exist any longer. They believe it is gone for good. So, nobody takes the train, and since nobody takes the train, it becomes easier to eliminate it.
A rumour is circulating to the effect that the railroad is going to be closed. It may be more than just a rumour. I can tell you that people in my area do not agree. The CRDE, municipal councils from Jonquière to Montreal, people in Joliette, in Shawinigan, the Prime Minister's own town, have been sending petitions asking that the train be kept running. What has the federal government done? It does not have a regional development policy and it does not see how important and fundamental this train is.
It will be even more important in the future. Right now, road transportion is in. Trucks carry very heavy loads through the Parc des Laurentides and ruin the road. It would be better done by train. If the railroad is used less, and if there is no passenger service any longer on that line, what are the great planners in Ottawa going to say? Your train is not being used. Let us also eliminate rail transportion of goods, remove the tracks, and build bicycle paths instead. Where we come from, bicycle paths are the major projects.
In the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean area, the biggest development project is the construction of a bicycle path around the lake. We support the bicycle path, it is important, but when in a area, the major project, the highest priority, is to build a bicycle path, it means that something is wrong with regional development policies. We are going to have to solve the problem. How are we going to do it?
The Bloc Quebecois has a solution. We will not talk about sprinkling grants around, but we will say that someone in the regions must be responsible for regional development. Who should that be? We believe that it should be the government closest to the people. And who might that be? The answer is the Quebec government and regional governments.
As part of the Bloc's sovereignty program, every possible decision-making mechanism would be handed back to Quebec. This is what a sovereign Quebec would do and this is how
regions would be treated. We want them to have decision-making and spending powers.
We have devoted this entire day to focusing on regional development with the intent of getting this message across to the House of Commons and to our regions. Our regions want to survive and to have effective policies. They want a future in which they can flourish and continue to build on past accomplishments. With the good will, ability and talents of the regions, I am confident that a sovereign Quebec will flourish and I am especially confident that this day will come very soon.