Mr. Speaker, the Conservative government's third progress report is nothing but smoke and mirrors. The government is boasting that 90% of the funds promised have been committed, but it is impossible for us to find out exactly what is happening on the ground. The government's progress report provides no clarification about who might benefit from extended employment insurance benefits. They are just trying to avoid making it obvious that the measure was intended specifically for Ontario and western Canada. They do not care about Quebec workers.
The Canadian government could have followed the Obama administration's example; it has made detailed information available to all citizens about exactly what funds have been spent and which initiatives have been put forward as part of the American economic recovery plan. Instead of giving us a credible report, the Conservative government chose to produce this propagandist update trumpeting the government's achievements as the basis its $30 million-plus ad campaign paid for out the public purse.
The report does clarify two things. First, it reminds us that the government's action plan was clearly devised to help Ontario and its auto sector, not to do anything about the forestry crisis that has been hurting Quebec for years. The recent announcement that AbitibiBowater's Beaupré mill was closing its doors for an indefinite period of time was a reminder that Quebec's forestry sector is going through a serious crisis. In its progress report, the Conservative government responded by giving the Ontario auto industry $9.7 billion and the crisis-ridden forestry industry just $57 million. Furthermore, it confirms the federal government's strategy of chipping away at the deficit at the expense of unemployed workers by once again pillaging the employment insurance fund and cutting off Quebec's lifeblood, just like their Liberal predecessors did.
The Bloc Québécois did give the government realistic, costed suggestions to promote recovery, deal with the deficit, and give the privileged few who benefit from the Liberal-Conservative system what they deserve. It is time for the government to shrug off its ideological straitjacket and start working on the solutions proposed by the Bloc Québécois to ensure that the Quebec nation can make a strong recovery from the economic crisis and that middle-class, working Quebeckers do not have to pay the price for the government's lack of vision when it comes to fighting the deficit.