Mr. Speaker, investors may be nervous, but I think some members here are getting a little too nervous.
Seriously, let us consider the investments made in Quebec in the last few years. There has been a sovereignist government in Quebec not for the last two weeks, but for the last several years. In fact, so far, we have had two sovereignist governments.
Alcan decided to invest not millions but billions of dollars on the north shore. Bombardier has developed a major aerospace industrial complex, and its board members are not known as sovereignists. Federalists have determined that Montreal would be a great location because of its huge workforce. The best water in the world can be found in the city of Amos, in Abitibi. Do you think that people considered not investing there because they are sovereignists? An Italian corporation has decided to move there to develop that market.
I can also tell the House that I have a Geo Metro, that is a very small car made by General Motors. When I went to buy it, the car dealer—a rather well-known federalist—did not tell me, “I am not selling you that car, because you are a sovereignist”. He sold me the car.
What we are talking about here is the economy, the markets. We are not talking about the separation of Quebec or the Constitution, but rather about the government's inaction on this issue. We are making a heartfelt appeal today, because the government has not done its job. It has not sent the much needed lobbyists to talk to General Motors. It has not done all it should have done, because, in its mind, the auto industry belongs in Ontario and it is just a fluke that one plant is operating in Quebec.
This is totally unacceptable. It is not a fluke. I have not seen many Liberal members from Quebec stand up today to say that this plant closure does not make any sense. This is what the debate is all about; a plant providing more than 1,000 jobs is about to close, and we are still waiting for the federal government to do something to ensure it stays open.