Mr. Speaker, I listened with much interest to the presentation by my colleague, the hon. member for Shefford, with whom I have been fortunate to work in the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology. I also worked on drafting this unanimous report, which received support from the representatives from every party and was received favourably by the manufacturing coalitions in Quebec and Canada, and by labour unions such as the FTQ.
This report included 22 recommendations that allowed our manufacturing industries to cope with global competition, to structure themselves with tax support, tax credits for research and development, and refunds for companies that do not make huge profits. All the hon. members of this House who are members of the committee ratified this report. However, today, almost a year later, only one of the 22 recommendations has been implemented.
I would like my colleague to tell me whether it is because of ideology that the Conservatives do not want to carry out these recommendations. Do they not understand the message from the Quebec federation of chambers of commerce, that there is currently a major problem with manufacturing jobs in Quebec's economy? Jobs are disappearing by the thousands and are being replaced with other jobs that, unfortunately, pay far less.
Would it not be important for the Conservative government to implement the 22 recommendations in the unanimous report of the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology on the manufacturing sector?