Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the hon. member for his question and comments. I may say that the main reason why I did not speak at length about the economy of Quebec is that we happen to be in the House of Commons where, as parliamentarians, our priority should be to discuss the public finances of the federal government.
As for their impact on the finances of the Government of Quebec, I referred to this a few moments ago, but as far as Quebec's public finances as such are concerned, I think this is a subject for the Quebec National Assembly.
I would also like to say to the hon. member that when he makes allusions to political uncertainty, what keeps political and economic uncertainty alive, both among the general public and among investors is more likely to be the messages sent by federalist spokespersons like the hon. member than the situation as such.
The public and investors are not afraid of a second or a third referendum on the political future of Quebec.
People are far more afraid of the uncertainty or the messages being spread around by people like the hon. member, who wonders what might happen in a sovereign Quebec and tries to frighten people or scare away international investors. The problem is more the kind of talk we are hearing than the fact that a third referendum is scheduled to be held in Quebec in three or four years time. I think that is the problem.
The hon. member also mentioned the governor of the Bank of Canada and monetary policy. I want to tell him that as far as I know, until Quebec becomes a sovereign state, Canada's monetary policy is still determined by the governor of the Bank of Canada.
The federal Minister of Finance also has an opinion to give, which he does every year and which does, of course, influence the governor of the Bank of Canada. What has been very hard on Quebecers so far, especially on the people of Montreal, is the tendency to keep inflation very low, as soon the economy shows the slightest sign of overheating in Toronto or Vancouver, and what we have seen in the past 15 or 20 years is that Quebec, and especially the Montreal region, is always the first to lose jobs when interest rates are raised. As soon as the economy gets up steam again and the Bank of Canada lets interest rates go down, Ontario and the Toronto region are always the first to benefit.
In the end, the Montreal region is always the first to lose jobs and always the last to recover them when interest rates are brought down again.
Actually, I think the hon. member put us on the right track. Once again we have seen why Quebec must become sovereign. It is because Quebec is not the master of its own monetary policy. As long as Quebec is a part of Canada, it will always be the governor of the Bank of Canada, supported by the Minister of Finance of Canada, who determines the cost of borrowing. Quebec and especially the Montreal region will always be at a disadvantage.