Madam Speaker, as I read the outline of the debate we are faced with today, I note that once again political disinformation is being put before us as an object for debate and vote. Members of the Bloc Quebecois blame everybody but themselves. They blame the whole world, including the weather. They do not recognize what is going on in Quebec society or the problems that Quebec is living with today. It is really a travesty. It also happens to be untrue, unfounded and unrealistic.
I really think that when ideology takes over from reality we really have a very serious issue before us.
One thing we need to remember is that Canada, Quebec and, in particular, Montreal has a population that is a reflection of the country we have built together. It is built on a series of values, policies, programs and philosophies which are shared by the majority of Quebecers, except for one small ideological group which is stuck on language and nothing else. I should not say they are only concerned with language. They are also concerned with culture and cultural issues which are important and valuable.
However, we also want this reflected in the House. This culture is reflected through you, Madam Speaker, as a francophone from New Brunswick, through our new minister of la francophonie who is a francophone from Ontario and through a number of our ministers and secretaries of state who are francophones from Manitoba, British Columbia, northern Ontario and elsewhere. We also have, by the way, anglophones from Quebec who sit in this House.
We have many representatives in this House who show the diversity of the country. We have aboriginal people who are representative of Quebec and this country. One of the problems members opposite have is a lack of recognition of the diversity and multicultural nature of the province of Quebec.
They also lack the desire to recognize the fact that this government under the Prime Minister, the Minister of Finance, the ministers and all the members of the caucus have expressed support for the views put forward a red book. This is an excellent red book and covers over 189 issues. We have been very frank and forthcoming about what the issues are and what we have accomplished. Over 75 per cent of the promises that we made have been accomplished. We are an open government that is fair, honest and very concerned about the well-being of Quebec.
There is no magic formula for attracting investors, whatever the sector. There is only one reason, and it is the big companies or the small and medium size ones that decide how, when and where they wish to invest. For the most part, with the changes that occurred in the era of communication, of market globalization, businesses must find the niches where they can really acquire the expertise and become the best in the world. We have this here, in Montreal.
I am saying this as a Montrealer as well as a member for a riding that has two industrial parks where big retailers and even small and medium size businesses were established. These businesses received Quebec-Canada partnership grants to be more successful.
To attract investment, there is a whole set of factors, such as a positive business environment, and the quality of life that we can find in Montreal. When businesses, big private companies have to make a decision on the location of a new research facility, they think about the stability of the Canadian economic climate. Inflation and interest rates are low. This is why the member of the Bloc Quebecois who spoke before me should realize that we have put in place the groundwork for attracting investors.
What is this groundwork? It is low inflation and interest rates. The Government of Canada is committed to a reduction program that should bring the deficit to 1 per cent of GDP by 1999. I think that we also recognize that our legislation protecting intellectual property and innovation is essential for investments in R and D.
The tax incentives granted by the Government of Canada for R and D are the most generous in the world. That is why investors come to our country. And the Minister of Industry encourages them to do so. I must admit I told him that I was very happy he should come to my riding to invite three major companies to choose our industrial park and to give them assurance regarding the money and the support they will get from the Government of Quebec and the Government of Canada, through the Quebec-Canada agreement.
The minister assured that Ericsson, Biochem and the National Research Centre that they are welcome in my riding. This implies huge amounts of money, but I will talk about this later. Thanks to these high technology industries, Montreal now has the critical mass necessary to be one of the major centres in the world-and they say that we have done nothing-in many leading sectors.
Montreal has reached this point through partnership agreements with the private sector, the academic and research communities, provincial as well as federal governments and people from 85 countries who have the knowledge and the expertise required and who decided to come to Quebec, people who speak many languages, who know the work and the business cultures in other sectors of this country.
The immigrants who have come to Montreal have been the greatest innovators in many ways. Not only are they entrepreneurs who have created small and medium size businesses, they are people who come from different cultures around the world. They understand the cultures and the languages and how business is done around the world. They are a precious asset. They are a hidden asset. They know how we can seek business and become entrepreneurial in this new globalized world where competitiveness is the key. They know how to produce manpower at a cost per unit of production which is the lowest in the world in many fields, the field of pharmaceuticals, the field of aeronautics, the field of technology and the field of telecommunications.
I only have one minute left. I wish I could talk about all the wonderful dollars which we have invested. I have a wonderful speech and if I had time I would be pleased to tell hon. members about the millions and millions of dollars which have been invested.
I would like to cite two or three examples. We have approved 77 projects, which represent an investment of more than $3.8 billion. Both governments, with an investment of $575 million, have created more than 8,500 jobs. I would like to know how the Government of Quebec or more particularly the Bloc Quebecois finds that difficult.
The increase in sales from these investments has amounted to more than $5 billion. That money went into the economy and was taxed in the province of Quebec, like it is in the rest of Canada.
The major part of this growth and development is as a result of international sales and Team Canada. I hope the premier of Quebec goes with the Prime Minister. Then he will see what the advantages of co-operation are between leaders of government in the interests of the people and not in the interests of an ideology based on culture and language. That is not enough for a country to grow on. There has to be an open spirit. There have to be open minds. Everyone is welcome and everyone is equal. That is a fundamental characteristic and a value of the dignity of human beings and work.