Mr. Speaker, my colleague was absolutely right when he said that the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec is very important. It is vital to the development of our regions and to job creation.
However, it is scandalous that $131 million from the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec's budget was returned to the consolidated revenue fund. That $131 million could have been used to support the regions of Quebec, including Drummond, and to create jobs there. However, since the Conservatives did a poor job of managing the economy and their finances, they had to put that money back into the consolidated revenue fund to pay down their deficit.
We think that the Conservatives' strategy to pay down their deficit and hide their poor performance on the economy and job creation is unacceptable. As my colleague said, it was important for that money to be put to good use for job creation and our regions. That is not what happened.
In Drummond, supporting economic players is important. For example, we have great plans to expand and modernize the Drummondville airport, and all of the economic stakeholders are ready to participate. We want respect for the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec, and we want that money to be channelled into our regions.