Mr. Speaker, the statements made by the Quebec minister responsible for the Outaouais region, Sylvain Simard, concerning highway 50, generated confusion among Outaouais residents. The allegations made by the minister were not accurate.
I would therefore ask the federal Minister of Transport to inform the Quebec Minister of Transport that Quebec has the option of including highway 50 in the national highway system, since highway construction is a provincial jurisdiction.
Moreover, the Quebec government has not yet deemed it necessary to ask for the $108 million currently available under the strategic highway infrastructure program.
If Quebec wants to use the $108 million put at its disposal by the Government of Canada, it must have highway 50 included in the national highway system. Then, highway 50 can be included in the strategic highway infrastructure program.