Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for Hochelaga for his very good questions. You know he is a hard worker, always present in the House as much as possible, except when he is called outside to discuss matters from his riding.
My colleague's first question was about the work of the hon. member for Outremont, the new Minister of Transport. It was no accident that I said that, when the Liberal Party decided not to transfer all international flights from Dorval to Mirabel but to divide them, it was during an era when there were 75 Liberal members from Quebec. The present member for Outremont and Minister of Transport was one of those who could not keep his pants on and did not have enough backbone to respect the promises made by all the previous Liberal Party leaders.
That is why I was saying that Mirabel is under Liberal governance. It was the Pearson government that made that decision. I will say that it was very wise in 1965 to build an airport outside the major urban area, and it is an even better idea in 2004, especially since September 11, 2001. The problem is that there have been other Liberal governments who let the West Island of Montreal play rough with the rest of Quebec. The West Island would rather do business with Toronto than with the rest of Quebec. Such are the hard facts.
The hon. member for Outremont, now the transport minister, was one of those 75 spineless MPs of that time who were not able to say that a decision had been made in 1965 and that it should become reality by closing Dorval and concentrating everything at Mirabel, in a brand new airport away from Montreal. In comparison to new airports built around the world, in terms of their distance from the downtown, Mirabel is about average. It is comparable to the new facilities constructed in the major industrialized capitals of the world. Once again, the Liberal MPs regressed. Just moving forward in time is not progress. Pearson was right in 1965. It is the Liberal MPs since then who have regressed. It is no accident that there are fewer Liberal MPs this time than the last time.
To answer the question of my colleague from Hochelaga, I repeat that the famous Technology Partnerships Canada program is very relevant. This money is needed for research and development. The money available in this program today still corresponds to the money that was available at the time it was created in 1996, while the industry needs are increasing by 8% every year. Is it $150 million more? I would tell you very quickly that the industry as an association can sit down with the government and tell it what it needs for the next five years. I encourage the government to do so. All members of the Bloc Québécois are willing to help, to participate with the industry and to meet with members of the other parties in the House so that we can arrive quickly at an appropriate investment for the industry.
My colleague finished his intervention by wondering how the Bloc Québécois was relevant in this issue. I just told him. I just reached out to other members in the House. The Bloc Québécois is willing to sit in committee with members of all political parties. Choose the committee that you want; we will be there to be able to invite the industry to appear and tell us what it needs. This can be done the following week. We will be there to see that the budgets necessary for the revitalization of this important industry for Quebec and the rest of Canada are adopted as quickly as possible.