Mr. Speaker, I listened attentively to my hon. colleague's speech and I feel it would be worthwhile to broaden how we see things in terms of the government's economic involvement.
I believe she would agree that it is completely outrageous for the Conservative government to award $9 billion worth of contracts to an American company such as Boeing or Lockheed Martin, without any specific requirement to respect the distribution of the aerospace industry. In my view, this goes against any sense of responsibility, when we are talking about $9 billion, not from private money, but from taxes paid by Canadians and Quebeckers. In the case of the C-17s, this $9 billion is being given to a business with no tendering process, in the form of a forward contract. Furthermore, conditions are being imposed to the effect that a certain percentage of the benefits will go to the aerospace industry and the rest will go somewhere else.
Thus, this shows no respect for the existing structure of the aerospace industry in Canada, which means that a private company will now have total control over the direction of the aerospace industry, especially since the Conservative government has no official policy on the matter. It killed the Technology Partnerships Canada program. On the other hand, it is now going to the other extreme by awarding $9 billion worth of contracts without any tendering process, thus granting complete freedom to the company that receives the contract. Accordingly, this could mean investments that are not in the best interest of Quebeckers or Canadians.
As the Bloc Québécois motion proposes, in our view of things, would it not have been better to respect the geographic distribution and the importance to the economy?
For example, the automotive sector is important in Ontario, and a major investment in that sector has been accepted. Could we not have done the same thing for the aerospace industry and ensure that we reap the greatest benefits?
My hon. colleague from Argenteuil—Papineau—Mirabel gave the best examples. In his region, in the area of Mirabel, they are eager to develop the aerospace industry and Bombardier is already investing there. Is it not possible to have some sort of control over how this $9 billion will be spent?