Madam Speaker, it is my turn to rise to come back to a rather important subject for the people of my riding of Mégantic—L'Érable, particularly those who live in Lac-Mégantic. As everyone in the House knows, in 2013, they suffered a very serious tragedy, the worst rail disaster in Canadian history.
I am rising to ask the government what it plans to do next, what concrete action it intends to take, to support the people of Lac-Mégantic.
The Eastern Townships public health department has done a lot of research centred on the people of Lac-Mégantic, which has shown they are having a hard time recovering from the tragedy. This is particularly true for young people, who were the focus of the most recent study. We have learned that, unfortunately, more and more young people in Lac-Mégantic are talking about suicide. That was very unexpected, since four years have now passed since the rail disaster, and yet that is what is happening.
The Minister of Transport repeatedly reiterated his support for the people of Lac-Mégantic. We know that every member of the House wants to support the people of Lac-Mégantic.
Members of all parties have asked questions. I collaborated with members of the government on the Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities on coming up with solutions. However, what the people of Lac-Mégantic expect today is concrete action.
We have to translate words into a meaningful commitment to build a rail bypass in Lac-Mégantic, and soon. It is time we stopped saying that it is a priority and that we want to find a solution.
Why is this commitment so important? The people need this in order to truly start the healing process. That is where we are right now. As long as we keep saying that we have a priority or that we are waiting for the results of studies, those people will not be able to fully recover from the situation.
If the Liberal government could promise that there actually will be a bypass, no matter how and when it will be built and who will pay for it, that would be a good thing. We are hoping for a commitment that will allow the people of Lac-Mégantic to move forward, work on rebuilding this line, and move the train out of the downtown core.
This would ensure that the people of Lac-Mégantic would no longer hear the train whistle reminding them of this awful tragedy three, four, five, even eight times a day. We want to be able to say that there is finally light at the end of the tunnel because a bypass will be built.
I will repeat my question for the government member and I do so on behalf of other MPs as well. I have been trying to work on this file in a non-partisan manner with government members. However, time is of the essence. The time for civility and co-operation has almost run out. Someone has to make a move, someone has to make a commitment, and the government must stop playing ping-pong with the Government of Quebec and decide who is going to pay and how much.
It is time for someone to make a commitment. I believe the federal government should make a clear announcement as soon as possible that there will be a rail bypass in Lac-Mégantic. This is not for the sake of MPs or politicians, but for the sake of those who survived this disaster, the worst rail disaster in Canada.