Mr. Speaker, first of all, I would like to respond to the question of the hon. member for Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot as to where the figures come from. I too would like to know. I think the Liberals just pull them out of the air before they come here.
When we look at the future of R and D investment—we are in an increasingly wired world, and the future belongs to the most productive R and D people—federal R and D investments in Quebec represent 14.4%, which is more than 10% less than our population share.
I can hear my hon. colleague from Saint-Lambert say it is not so. These figures come from the Minister of Finance's own statistics, her minister, who says that 14.4% of research and development expenditures go to Quebec. The most flagrant example is that of the federal capital—the only national capital in Canada is Quebec City—where all R and D centres in the greater Ottawa region are on the Ontario side. There is not a single one on the Quebec side.
I challenge the hon. member for Saint-Lambert to find a figure other than 14.4% for federal R and D expenditures in Quebec and to show me an R and D centre in the Outaouais region on the Quebec side as opposed to the Ontario side. I send her this challenge. Let her take the floor to tell us what the figures are, if they are other than the ones I have given.