Thank you, Madam Chair.
I also want to say that I have a very good relationship with the local employees at my local office.
There are two issues that I've raised every year since I've been a member of Parliament, which Madame Bonsant has raised also. One is the deadline. It's practically impossible, whether it's for high-school students, college, or university, for a non-governmental organization with very few resources to try to budget when they get the answer from our local offices at the end of May. If I'm really good, I can do it in one day. As a member of Parliament, I'm sure everybody tries to rush through the recommendations that are made by public servants. But I've asked that the deadline...and I've done it in writing, both to the minister and the local director. We do a consultation together with the public servants once a year; I meet with them in September, and we go over what works in the program and what doesn't work. So I have put it in writing.
But the deadline is definitely a problem for non-governmental agencies, and even businesses, and students themselves, because there will continue to be real insecurity for them in not knowing where they're going to work in the summer if we do not, in my opinion, move up that deadline to January and give them an answer by March. So I fully agree with my colleague, Madame Bonsant, that we have to change the deadline.
This year, yes, it was late, I accept that. It did cause problems, both in my riding and in others.
I want to go over the formula that you've used. I'm going to look only at my province. When I looked at Quebec, for example, I looked at Abitibi, Gaspésie, and Jonquière.
During your opening remarks, Mrs. Achimov, you said there was a shift from rural to urban. Well, I'm in an urban riding. I know that I'm in Montreal, and that is another dynamic place. But when looking at the figures, based on what you said, Abitibi gets 507,000 and my riding is about 270,000. When you know that the migration is going to urban areas, are you telling me that there will be a shift next year, because it was the first year that we had to adapt?
If I'm to understand, I suppose they're leaving Abitibi and coming to Quebec City, or perhaps Montreal, or one of the larger cities. I have students from Abitibi studying at Collège Ahuntsic and at some other colleges in my riding. In fact, I have two colleges.
The numbers do not reflect what you said. Am I wrong?
I'll ask those two questions, and I'll come back, if there's time.