Mr. Chair, last fall, after the Bloc Québécois repeatedly asked the government to provide more support for the manufacturing sector—particularly in Quebec where the large majority of Canada's manufacturing jobs have been lost—the Minister of Finance and the Prime Minister announced a $1 billion trust to benefit the communities that lost jobs.
This $1 billion trust was announced for a period of three years. Many people thought this would be sufficient. But in Quebec, there was still a significant outcry; in fact, almost everyone was in agreement that the amount was still not sufficient given the number of jobs lost in recent years. We then realized—the numbers were subsequently revealed to us at the Standing Committee on Finance—that the government had allocated this amount on a per capita basis.
This was completely unfair not only because the amount was insufficient, but mostly because of how it was allocated. If this amount had been allocated based on manufacturing jobs lost, it would have been much more advantageous and profitable for Quebec. Allocating it on a per capita basis meant that Quebec received $2,275 for each job lost and Alberta received $20,000 for each job lost. This is inexplicable. Quebec has been shortchanged, as have all of the people who lost their jobs.