Mr. Speaker, my question is for the minister responsible for the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec.
The closure of the pulp and paper mill in Chandler and the cessation of mining activities at Mines Gaspé have hit the Gaspé particularly hard. The Government of Quebec is doing everything it can to ensure that a previously signed investment agreement is honoured, which would prevent the mill from having to be shut down definitively.
Is the minister prepared to come up with funding for the operation of the “Baie des Chaleurs” railway, as the Chandler municipal council is requesting, and thus provide transitional support while the Chandler mill is being converted?