Mr. Speaker, I am always fascinated when members of the Bloc talk about fiscal matters because they certainly are inventive and imaginative about the way they restate the books and the public accounts of Canada.
I share with the member for Elk Island the frustration that we have in constantly having to rise to point out the fact that Quebec does quite well by this country. That does not mean that it is favoured or pampered, but Quebec certainly gets its fair share. Having people say that it does not, that it is discriminated against, is, quite frankly, untrue and an insult to our country.
The member talked about moving toward a unitary state. There is no one who has studied political science or social policy, not only in Canada but throughout the world, who would not say that Canada is the most highly decentralized federation in the world.
I want to address the issue of tax points. The member went on and on about tax points. It was once again creative economics. A lot of people do not understand tax points. Let us say that the federal tax was at 40%. I will use that figure for simplicity. The federal government, in agreement with the provinces, including Quebec, said that instead of the government taxing the provinces at 40%, it should reduce the tax by 3 or 4 percentage points and the provinces would take that back. Individual taxes would be the same. The federal government would reduce its share of direct taxation on individuals and the provinces would be able to tax directly. This was done and I am sure the province of Quebec felt it was a wonderful thing because it could tax the people directly to raise money for its social programs.
I would be very interested in knowing if the member is suggesting that we reverse the original concept of tax points and have the federal government reoccupy that level of direct taxation, with the province of Quebec similarly reducing the amount which it taxes Quebecers directly.