Madam Speaker, I listened very carefully to my hon. colleague's presentation. She is very concerned with helping young people pursue their education; she is a teacher and I was one too. Everyone agrees with this. The situation of a 20- or 21-year old student who has not yet found a job and has accumulated between $25,000 and $30,000 in debts is truly difficult. It makes no sense and I agree.
However, everyone knows that, in Quebec, we have had a grants and loans system for 30 years. Why add to something that already exists in Quebec and is extremely well managed? This is a relatively simple situation. Had the government agreed to give money, say 25%, back to the Quebec Ministry of Education, our young people would still have received the money and their debt load would have been lighter. That is what we want. I hope my hon. colleague will address this aspect in her answer. I agree with the objective, but not with the way it is achieved.
This budget is touted as a wonderful thing. Last year, I sat on the Standing Committee on Natural Resources. We did some work on rural areas. In my riding of Matapédia—Matane, we have fishers, foresters and farmers. These are the three main classes of workers in my riding.
Unfortunately, most of their jobs are seasonal jobs. Some of these people need another 10, 20 or 30 weeks of work to qualify for employment insurance. As you know, new claimants are required to accumulate 910 hours of work. It is nearly impossible for fishers to accumulate 910 hours of work.
Forestry workers in my region are as proud and hard-working as anyone else in Quebec. Sometimes, they are short a few hours. There are people in my riding who lost their homes.
This is supposed to be a wonderful, an extraordinary budget. Come and tell the people in my region that this is a wonderful, an extraordinary budget, that there is hope. No. The rural community had suggested that a department of rural development be established, but I, as the Bloc Quebecois spokesperson, said: “No, let us not complicate things and cause further duplication; let us just invest in agriculture”.
Here is my question to the hon. member: Can she tell me if there is anything in this budget for fishers, farmers and foresters? That is my question.