Jean-Yves Roy

[Regional Economic Development, June 10th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, today, Quebec's Minister of Economic Development, Innovation and Export Trade, the mayor of Quebec City and the president of PÔLE Québec Chaudière-Appalaches are holding a press conference to condemn the decision by the Minister of the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec to stop funding non-profit organizations such as PÔLE. Yet this organization has an impressive track record: tight management, 12 major structuring projects and 10,000 specialized jobs.

Will the minister be humble enough to admit he made a mistake and restore funding for these organizations, which are vital to regional development in Quebec?

[Regional Economic Development, June 9th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, the minister is showing an absolutely incredible lack of respect.

Raymond Bachand, the Quebec minister of economic development, innovation and export, has accused his federal counterpart of contempt in cutting funding to non-profit economic development organizations.

Instead of ignoring what Quebec is asking for, will the minister agree to transfer all the money to Quebec so that it can have all the tools it needs for its own economic development?

[Regional Economic Development, June 9th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec seems to be more interested in finding jobs for his friends, like Norman Forest at the Immigration and Refugee Board, than in defending Quebec's model for economic development. This is just another example of favouritism by the minister, who wants everything to go through his hands.

Instead of stubbornly trying to destroy the Quebec model, will the minister reverse his decision and reinstate the necessary funding for organizations devoted to economic development?

[Regional Economic Development, June 5th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, since the days of Jean Lesage, Quebec governments have demanded complete control over regional development, but the federal government has always refused. The minister is saying that the federal government has its own policies, and that it is just too bad if they are not in line with Quebec's development strategy.

Is the minister telling us that municipalities, the business sector, the community sector, and regional conferences of elected officials—in other words, everyone in Quebec—are all wrong and that Ottawa knows best?

[Regional Economic Development, June 5th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec is being disrespectful to people in the non-profit sector when he says that their funding requests are to cover the cost of paper and pencils. People who care about Quebec non-profit organizations, people like Pierre Boivin of the Montreal Canadiens, Daniel Lamarre of the Cirque du Soleil, and the president of Ubisoft, are investing in the sector. The minister does not understand anything about Quebec's economic structure and is doing his level best to mess it up.

Will the minister come back down to earth and restore funding for non-profit organizations?

[Regional Development, June 4th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, everyone in Quebec is worried about the negative impact of the decision by the Minister of the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec.

Did the minister consult the Government of Quebec before making his unfortunate decision and did he listen to Quebec?

[Regional Development, June 4th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, over the past few weeks, a number of regional conferences of elected officials, including those of Lanaudière, the national capital and Gaspésie—Îles-de-la-Madeleine, have adopted resolutions denouncing the decision by the Minister of the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec to eliminate recurring funding for not for profit organizations and they are calling on him to overturn his decision. According to the regional conferences of elected officials, these organizations offer direct services to businesses and generate significant economic spinoffs for the regions of Quebec.

Will the minister step out of his ideological bubble and overturn his decision, as everyone in Quebec is asking him to?

[Regional Development, May 28th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec asked for a review of the Pôle Québec Chaudière-Appalaches file to ensure that the organization was not treated unfairly. The minister's decision to stop providing financial support to non-profit organizations with an economic development mandate has raised a number of concerns throughout Quebec.

Will the minister step back from his Conservative ideology, tell the people of Quebec what they want to hear, and restore funding for all such organizations to previous levels?

[Regional Economic Development, May 14th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, when we debated Bill C-9 in February 2005, the Bloc Québécois had proposed an amendment that would make Quebec the sole authority for its regional development and allow it to recover the money that the federal government spends there. The Conservatives voted against this amendment.

Is the government's ideological intransigence not proof that Quebec must repatriate all these powers?

[Regional Economic Development, May 14th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, the bad decision made by the Minister of the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec will be disastrous for a large number of regional high-tech hubs such as the maritime technopole in Rimouski, the Saint-Maurice valley and Chaudière-Appalaches technopoles, and the Lanaudière bio-food development board. Such cuts will cripple these economic development agencies and, in the worst case scenario, they may disappear altogether, which will have a negative impact on all regions in Quebec.

In light of these facts, how can the minister be so intransigent and ignore the Quebec consensus?