It is hard for me to talk to you about the industry as a whole, because I don’t have an ongoing conversation with its representatives every single day. What I can tell you is that there are concerns, because SDTC is a program that’s been in place for many years and it moved a lot of things forward.
I can talk about the impact these debates had on me. Being attacked by people telling lies is really not easy. When one builds a reputation over a period of 25, 30, 35 years, doing so with one’s heart, while asking one’s family to make sacrifices, it is truly a hardship to be destroyed by lies in the public arena. However, because I am a person who truly believes that we must move dialogue forward, I extend my hand to Mr. Perkins.
I often go to Halifax, Mr. Perkins. We have businesses in your lovely riding.
We are there to help. I am here to help you and help your entrepreneurs succeed.
I will never hold it against you, Mr. Perkins, but you’ve caused me sleepless nights. Because of you, I felt diminished; attacked. My spouse had never seen me like that before, but I am still here to help, because I profoundly believe in what I do. I dedicated my life to this cause, and neither political interests nor tweets on X will make me give up.
As we say back home, in my family in Baie‑Comeau, what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger. So I will seize the opportunity to thank you, Mr. Perkins.