Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to inform this House that the area of Drummondville, that I represent since 1993, is a huge economic success story.
Its industrial park contains 430 companies, including 26 new ones launched in 1996. For the last two years, investments have topped $100 million and they created almost 1,400 jobs per year. This is where the highest proportion of exporting companies in Quebec is. In 1996, the American magazine Site Selection ranked the two Drummondville industrial parks in the sixth place in the world for job growth.
The motivation of local business people has created a climate favourable to entrepreneurship. The local Société de développement économique, under the direction of Mayor Francine Ruest-Jutras, has been organizing for years Teams Drummondville to travel around the world.
Drummondville is viewed, and rightly so, as one of the engines of economic renewal in Quebec. Congratulations, Drummondville.