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MONT-LAURIER/VAL D’OR — Coalition Avenir Québec Leader François Legault is promising to boost rural economies with more direct financial support for businesses and expedited environmental reviews.

The CAQ, if elected, would also look at relaxing protections for wetlands and might invest in real estate development in the rural areas, he said Monday.

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While much of Quebec has a shortage of labour, he said it’s not the case everywhere.

“When Mr. Couillard is saying that he created 200,000 jobs in the last four years, he forgot to say that if you exclude Montreal and Quebec City, it’s only 15,000. In some places, like in Mont-Laurier here, the unemployment rate is at 11 per cent,” Legault said.

Yet, even at the Uniboard Canada factory Legault was touring, there are open positions.

“Here, they have a few jobs that they can’t fill because they don’t have a program for professional training here in Mont-Laurier,” he said. “We have to make sure that we have a faster adjustment between training and the needs of the companies and right now, it’s not done.”