Madam Speaker, I find the comments by my distinguished colleague from St. Boniface very pertinent. But before talking about environmental assessment and the construction of entrances, fences, and drainage culverts in farmland, I would like to get back to yesterday's election results, since he raised the question.
Last night on CBC, my dear colleague from St. Boniface also probably watched a special two-hour program on the state of the nation. Did he look at the poll results on voters' intentions at the federal level? His party would get 50 per cent of the votes across Canada, but only 35 per cent in Quebec, less than what it got in 1993. The Bloc Quebecois would get 53 per cent, or 4 points more than in 1993. What is going on? I do not want to be called a racist, but he knows where his party's strength is in Quebec. In francophone ridings, it gets walloped.
Look at what happened in the riding of Lac-Saint-Jean with a 22-year old candidate. Whether you like it or not, Madam Speaker, he is going to be the youngest member in this House. He got 76 per cent of the votes. It is a lot more than your leader in the riding of Saint-Maurice where he got a mere 54 per cent, in spite of his joining forces with the Conservatives.
Just yesterday, a liberal member who worked tirelessly in the riding of Lac-Saint-Jean told me: "Of course, we do not expect to win, but it will be a good indication. Watch the results in Lac-Saint-Jean, the Liberal Party is going to shoot up". It did not shoot up, it slipped on a banana peel.
In Quebec, the Bloc Quebecois is working hard, with dignity and modesty. This is the reason why-