Mr. Speaker, I would like to say what I think of the speech of my colleague, the member for Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik.
Like my friend from the Liberal Party, I come from regions and I stand for the regions of Quebec. The area I live in is next to my colleague's. It is true that this bill implementing the December 2001 budget will squeeze the regions more than ever.
I do not know if the government is aware of what is going on in the regions. For Canada, regions are comprised of Quebec, the maritimes and Ontario. I would like to talk about sub-regions, and in particular those in Quebec, the area where my colleague lives, my own region of Saguenay—Lac-Saint-Jean, the Abitibi, where I had the privilege of living for three years. Therefore, I am very well aware of the situation in the Abitibi.
I believe my colleague has identified the problems. However, I deplore the fact that the hon. member is not taking his argument to its logical conclusion. When one is against three quarters of a bill introduced by the Minister of Finance, one should be logical and say “There might be something good in it, but all the rest is bad; therefore, I will vote against it”.
I call upon my colleague to say “I am part of your government, but I will vote against this bill, because it penalizes the regions. This bill implements measures that are detrimental to the regions”.