Mr. Speaker, in the past four weeks, one job in seven in the manufacturing sector has been lost. In spite of his optimistic statements during the election campaign, the Minister of Finance was aware of the situation, because on page 27 of his October 2007 economic statement, he himself referred to the decline of manufacturing.
Does the Prime Minister understand that the current crisis is dealing a direct blow to an industry that has been ailing for years and that his budget is not nearly enough to help overcome this crisis?