Mr. Speaker, since its establishment by Falconbridge Inc., the Raglan mining company has contributed to the economic development of two airports, one in Val-d'Or and one in Rouyn-Noranda, in the latter case through its chartered plane, which transports miners to the Raglan mine in Nunavik.
Lucien Bouchard's PQ government has put several million dollars into the construction of Raglan's building at the Rouyn-Noranda airport.
Now, the Government of Quebec and the City of Rouyn-Noranda want to extend the airport's runway by 1,000 feet at a cost of several millions of dollars so that they can stop contributing to the economic development of the Val-d'Or regional airport, which is located a mere 15 minutes away from the Rouyn-Noranda airport.
Once again, Quebec's PQ government, through its regional minister, Rémi Trudel of Rouyn-Noranda, is riding roughshod over the economy of the Abitibi-Témiscamingue region. It no longer wants the Raglan mining company to contribute to the economy of Val-d'Or.