Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for a great question, which has been asked of me many times.
Pontiac is a challenging riding because there are so many people living in Gatineau now who are represented in this riding, but also many small towns that have been decreasing in population and are looking for a new industry and a boost to their existing economies around agriculture and forestry.
Honestly, we need to accept the fact that we need to improve some aspects of our economy of the past, such as agriculture and forestry. We need to support those sectors and reduce interprovincial trade barriers for agricultural products. We need to develop the forestry processing sector in various ways, all across the Outaouais. We cannot overlook those aspects of our economy.
The reality of the situation in Pontiac is such that we need to look at both the economy of the past and the economy of the future, and marry them together. There is no one solution.
The greatest asset that we have in the Pontiac is the natural capital. We are bounded by the Ottawa and Gatineau Rivers. There are so many lakes and areas to go canoeing, fishing, and camping. Therefore, we need to build the Pontiac brand. If we can achieve a brand around wilderness, agriculture and forestry, and marry that to high tech and connectivity through the Internet, we can build small businesses that will help us succeed.