Mr. Speaker, the long speech made by my colleague, the member for Lac-Saint-Jean, shows how sensitive most of my colleagues and I are to the issue of the importance and vitality of small and medium size businesses. Be they established in the Lac-Saint-Jean region, in the Lower St. Lawrence region, in the Gaspé region, or in my riding, Lotbinière, in the heart of Quebec, they are all important.
The Lac-Saint-Jean region has benefited much from Alcan. However, if we want to create jobs now, if we want to rebuild the social fabric, the collective fabric of each and every one of our regions, we must count on small and medium size businesses.
Frequently, a small business with ten or twenty employees will allow a small community to survive. How many times have we seen a community lose a school? But the arrival of a new investor who created jobs and made possible the coming of new families can allow a community to survive. It is a part of Quebec's history that must be preserved.
I believe that this heritage depends on the creation and survival of our small and medium size businesses.