Madam Speaker, it is a pleasure to speak for the first time in the House. I hope I will have a chance next week to speak at length.
Working in business in Canada we hear interest rates have been reduced to a level at which the spread between interest rates in Canada and in the United States has moved to a favourable position. Interest rates in Canada are now lower than in the United States, which is creating a huge potential for investment in Canada and in the province of Quebec.
I will echo to some extent the comments of the member for Edmonton Southwest. The difficulty we have is that investment capital is coming into Canada but with the instability of Quebec we see businesses leaving Montreal, we see more people leaving Quebec. As a person born and raised in Montreal, I think that is tragic.
We have an opportunity to attract capital into Canada for the well-being of Quebecers and Canadians.
Contrary to what the member for Longueuil said, the budget dealt with innovation in a very large way. I will try to capitalize on that opportunity in my riding which has a large innovative sector. I know we can produce some good results. I ask the hon. member to consider that for the province of Quebec and his riding as well.
The member talked about transfer payments. In this budget the transfer payments were reduced but the provinces were warned many years ago. The transfer payments were reduced in the order of 3 per cent to 4 per cent at a time when we were cutting the machinery of government by 8 per cent or 9 per cent.
When is the member's party going to recognize that the prosperity of Quebecers is tied to keeping Quebec in Canada and getting investment in the country?