Mr. Speaker, the statements made yesterday in the Outaouais by some supporters of federalism are beyond comprehension.
How can the mayor of Hull, Yves Ducharme, seriously claim that the loss of 14,000 jobs in the Outaouais, as announced in Monday's budget, will stimulate the economy, after saying to the Commission sur l'avenir du Québec that independence would be catastrophic because it would result in job losses in the public service? How ironic!
The chairman of the Outaouais urban community, Marc Croteau, went even further by claiming that the federal budget would force the region to diversify its economy. Either these gentlemen do not understand anything about the economic issues in their region, or else they are trying to fool the public by
promoting federalism in the Outaouais to further their own interests.