Mr. Speaker, while the Minister of Finance is preparing his budget, I hope that the federal government gave due consideration to the recommendations contained in the fifth report of the Standing Committee on Natural Resources. As you may recall, these recommendations were made in light of the evidence given by all those who took the trouble of appearing before our committee to describe the situation in the mining sector.
I especially want to remind you of the second recommendation in the report, namely that the federal government should include in its February 1995 budget tax measures to stimulate mining exploration in Canada. It has been demonstrated that mining exploration is an investment rather than an expenditure.
Implementing this tax recommendation will have a direct beneficial impact on job creation that will be more than welcome in my region of Abitibi, in Northern Quebec and in all mining regions of Canada.