Mr. Speaker, Statistics Canada announced yesterday that Canadian businesses continued to benefit from the 1997 economic expansion. The corporations' seasonally adjusted operating profits increased by 3.1% in the fourth quarter of that year.
According to Statistics Canada, it is the first year since 1994 that profits increased in each of the four quarters. As we can see, Canada's economic life is not as bad as sovereignists would have us believe. In fact, economic growth would be even greater if separatists stopped spreading myths about Quebec's separation from the rest of Canada.
Twice, in 1980 and in 1995, Quebeckers chose to remain part of Canada. If sovereignists stopped trying to make us believe that Quebec is always the big loser, it would only benefit our country, both from an economic and political point of view.