Mr. Speaker, today and tomorrow, representatives of Canadian agricultural cooperatives will be here to submit to members of Parliament and other stakeholders their plans for funding and capitalization.
There are cooperatives in western Canada, Ontario, the Maritimes and Quebec, representing in all thousands of members, and thus having a finger on the agricultural pulse.
In Quebec alone, there are 37,000 members. They rank seventh in Quebec in job generation, generating 14,700 jobs. As well, they generate $4 billion of business, ranking them fourth in Quebec. Last year alone, they created 700 more jobs. The cooperatives deserve to be listened to in their search for funding and capitalization, as it will involve investments in excess of $1 billion and will create thousands of jobs, without any direct cost to government.
I invite my colleagues to support them in their endeavours.