Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise today in reference to the question I asked on December 13, 2007, regarding the importance of an action plan for the manufacturing and forestry industries. At that time, the Minister of Finance was telling us that all was going well, that everything was rosy, that all measures in place were perfect and that there was no need for additional measures.
As for the Prime Minister, he came to Rivière-du-Loup during that period. He talked a little about the fact that the situation maybe was not quite as rosy and that perhaps announcements should be made before the budget. In January, he announced that $1 billion was available for economic diversification of the regions.
Until now, this could be considered interesting news. However, there is a problem. Two things are unacceptable. First, the amount is definitely not enough. $1 billion in Canada to resolve the entire issue of economic diversification and to deal with the crisis in the manufacturing and forestry industries is just not enough. What made Quebeckers really angry was that the Prime Minister decided to tie this to the next budget even though he had been told for several months that it was important to make monies available quickly.
Then the Conservative government decided to announce that the money will be made available if the next budget is passed, and that an agreement will have to be reached with the province. Yet the crisis has now been going on for months.
Why did the government not do what it did in December following the economic statement, when it tabled a bill to cut the GST and follow through on a number of other things in that statement? The opposition cooperated, and everything was passed before Christmas.
Why did the Conservative government fail to take such quick action to help communities, businesses and older workers who need help and who have been affected by the crisis in the forestry and manufacturing sectors? Why is the government unwilling to demonstrate the same degree of flexibility and speed of execution in this case? That is unacceptable.
The Leader of the Bloc Québécois suggested bringing the House back earlier in January, but that suggestion was rejected. Now we are back in the House for the first time this year, and the government is still in a position to move forward and announce that it will introduce a bill and debate it to see how much money should be invested in this plan.
The Bloc Québécois is pleased that its persistence has finally resulted in an announcement. However, the plan has to be reasonable, logical, sufficient and, most importantly, it has to be implemented quickly. That is my goal in raising the issue once again.
The Conservative government should heed the angry protests of the people affected by the crisis in the manufacturing and forestry sectors, reverse its decision, announce that the money will be made available quickly, and introduce a bill in this House so that we can pass it without delay, as we have done in the past for measures that we believed to be essential.
It is possible for members of the House to cooperate on issues like this. The Conservative government has no reason to make this promise contingent on the next budget being passed. The current proposal is for $1 billion from the $243 billion budget for all of Canada. Will the government introduce its bill, open the debate on increasing that amount, and ensure that the money will be made available as soon as possible?