Mr. Speaker, I never would have thought that a region of Quebec could be the object of such contempt on the part of the federal government.
Yesterday, the member for Chicoutimi—Le Fjord and Parliamentary Secretary for the Minister of Transport—a department whose negligence resulted in the Les Basques ferry season being put on hold—dared to say that workers and tourists would able to take the ferries in Rivière-du-Loup and Rimouski, without showing any concern for the devastating impact on the regional economy of Les Basques and Les Escoumins of the Department of Transport's incompetence.
Yet, 52 municipalities in the riding of Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup—Témiscouata—Les Basques warned the department, over a year ago, that the wharves would be dangerous if the minister did not have them repaired.
The federal government must accept the Quebec government proposal and transfer the wharves to the municipalities, pay for the repairs and let stakeholders clean up the mess created by Ottawa.