Mr. Speaker, I would like to congratulate my colleague from Joliette. We know he is an experienced economist. If the Conservative government had bothered to consult him about the economic crisis that was developing during the last election campaign, we would not be here today. The crisis was in fact hitting hard in the United States, Europe and virtually the entire world. Only in Canada did the government put on its rose-coloured glasses to persuade the public, in the middle of an election campaign, that we would be immune to the crisis.
A moment ago, my colleague referred to the ideological statement that came after the election campaign, in which this visionless government included no measures to combat the economic crisis. After that, it was politics as usual, with measures that addressed only very specific problems, like auto workers in Ontario. Again, I want this to be very clear: we are not opposed to providing assistance for auto workers in Ontario.
But how is it that this government has acted so inequitably toward workers in the manufacturing and forestry industries in Quebec, while it has been so generous to Ontario workers?
It is not just the Conservative government that has no vision, there is also the party that claims to want to replace it and that is saying today it no longer has confidence in this government, with good reason, by the way. That being said, the Liberal Party of Canada also has no vision, since it has not proposed any kind of measure to combat the effects of the economic crisis, while the Bloc Québécois has made serious proposals.
I would like my colleague to give us a few examples of what could be done to help Quebeckers who are dealing with this economic crisis, the crisis whose existence the Conservative government was still denying not so long ago.