Mr. Speaker, the people of Pontiac—Gatineau—Labelle faced considerable hardship during the days of the ice storm. We also witnessed extraordinary generosity, and I would like to tell you today how great it was.
We will not soon forget the generosity of the municipal leaders and other representatives of social and economic groups. We will long remember the spontaneous acts of solidarity, not to mention everybody's incredible patience.
We have also realized that the spirit of self help is our community's greatest asset in a fight to ensure our survival—nothing less.
The Government of Canada will spend some $250 million to help the victims. We will remember that, at the height of the storm, over 15,000 regular and reserve military personnel were deployed to help local authorities in all the regions affected.
In short, while I hope that no one will ever have to face a catastrophe of such proportions again in the future, I want to thank everyone—