Mr. Speaker, I would rather address my hon. colleague's opening remarks, in which he congratulates me on my speech, but he is very suspicious, very sceptical, very cynical even. I would simply like to talk about a fine example of a national blueprint for society in which Quebec has a very keen interest.
When I was chairman of the Standing Committee on Industry, I was asked to create a sub-committee to look at the defence industries and their conversion in Quebec. This is an example of an industry based in Quebec that depends enormously on the Canadian infrastructure.
At the meeting I mentioned a moment ago, I made a proposition concerning this technology, which I referred to in my speech, to create an urban bus system using a type of electrochemical cell, namely the Ballard system. This is a company that is creating a technology but has no partner in Quebec. And then there is Bombardier, a Quebec company specializing in aerospace and mass transit. Why not form an alliance between this company in British Columbia and the company in Quebec? That would be a form of partnership. That would be a national project in everyone's interest, because it would also entail the conversion of a defence industry. It would mean taking an existing asset, Bombardier, and converting it to environmental technology. That is why we must get involved in this sort of national project.