Mr. Speaker, after the federal budget's prediction that the deficit would be eliminated, Statistics Canada has released some interesting figures on investment forecasts.
Businesses and public administrations predict record investments of $120 billion in facilities and equipment in 1998, which is 5.5% more than last year. Quebec's performance should exceed the Canadian average. This is a good argument in favour of keeping Quebec within Canada.
In the private sector, the situation will also be favourable. For example, shipping companies project investments of $6 billion in 1998, $1 billion more than in 1997. In Quebec, investments will exceed the Canadian average for the first time in three years, and should increase by 8.4% this year, compared to 6.2% for the country as a whole.
Such reports destroy the sovereignist myth that the Canadian economy—