Mr. Speaker, the hon. Minister of Natural Resources has indicated time and again that 25 per cent of her department's research and development budget goes to Quebec.
The time has come to set the record straight. When the minister says that 25 per cent of the funds are spent in Quebec, she is distorting reality by not including in Ontario's share the funds allocated to the national capital region, when in fact a large portion of this region is located in Ontario and 60 per cent of her department's expenditures in research and development are made in that region alone.
The fact of the matter is that, in 1995-96, only 14.9 per cent of Natural Resources Canada's research and development budget, or $7.8 million out of an overall budget of $52 million, went to Quebec.
And the big picture is not any brighter. According to Statistics Canada, between 1971 and 1991, only 18.6 per cent of the federal government's research and development funding went to Quebec, as compared to 50 per cent for Ontario.