Madam Speaker, I will do just that and ask the member for Jonquière whether she received a response from Mr. Clinton to her letter.
I was elected to represent the Saguenay—Lac-Saint-Jean area. It does not seem possible to me that the federal government can be held responsible for all the problems in Quebec.
In that vein, I would point out that this year the federal government is going to make $14 billion in equalization and Canada social transfer payments. The problem does not always lie with the federal government. The problem is that the Bloc Quebecois does not direct the equalization and social transfer payments to the regions in accordance with objective guidelines.
I will give an example. It is too bad that the member has fled the House of Commons.
In the area of health, our region has an annual deficit of $75 million. This is not the federal government's fault; it has been going on for years and years, to the point where I would like to tell the member for Drummond that more and more people in our region would like the federal government to transfer less money to the government of Quebec and invest more money directly in the region, so that we can manage our own development.
The losses we are suffering in the management of natural resources, such as aluminum and lumber, are occurring in sectors that do not come under federal jurisdiction. We have lost 8,000 jobs in the aluminum sector. It is not the fault of the federal government if we have not yet begun to process aluminum.
I would like to take this opportunity to point out that the federal government is going to invest $52 million in an aluminum processing research centre.
Would the member for Drummond agree to let the federal government invest more directly in resource regions, because everyone agrees that the government of Quebec is neglecting the resource regions in all sectors? As for regional development, all it is doing is creating committees, such as the CRCD, and the CSD. The PQ has a bad case of committeeitis.
Enough of saying that the federal government is responsible for all Quebec's problems. One might wonder whether the problem did not lie with the government of Quebec's management and its lack of respect for the regions. I am in favour of the federal government investing directly in the regions.