National Council for Reconciliation Act  It being 1:30 p.m., the House will now proceed to the consideration of Private Members' Business as listed on today's Order Paper.

National Council for Reconciliation Act  Is the House ready for the question?

National Council for Reconciliation Act  The question is on the motion. If a member participating in person wishes that the motion be carried or carried on division, or if a member of a recognized party participating in person wishes to request a recorded division, I would invite them to rise and indicate it to the Chair.

Questions on the Order Paper  Is that agreed?

Seniors  Madam Speaker, in their budget, the Liberals like to illustrate their measures with tangible examples of fictitious citizens. Let us give them a dose of their own medicine so that they can understand what seniors are going through. Rose is 72 and is hard hit by inflation. She cannot afford groceries anymore and cannot drive places because of the price of gas.

Housing  Madam Speaker, there is not a penny more for seniors in the budget. Let us talk about housing. Imagine a Quebecker who is looking for a one-bedroom apartment in July but cannot afford the $1,600 in rent. He does not have access to affordable housing because the federal government has invested only 6% of the money in Quebec.

The Budget  Mr. Speaker, we are against jurisdictional interference. If the Liberals want to be involved in Quebec politics, they should run for the Quebec Liberal Party. Otherwise, there is no shortage of work for them to do at the federal level. We want them to transfer the housing money now so we can build homes now instead of negotiating until 2025.

The Budget  Mr. Speaker, the Liberal budget does not just mark the end of respect for jurisdictions. It also marks the end of competent policy management. Ottawa is imposing its priorities everywhere, without even knowing whether that is a good idea. It is calling for the construction of 40-storey apartment buildings next to schools in neighbourhoods where it has never set foot.

The Budget  Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my new colleague on the Standing Committee on Finance. It will be a pleasure to work with him, I am sure. Obviously, there are many major health care needs. Yes, I would like to know that everyone who needs medication can get it. Quebec has a partial prescription drug insurance plan; it has limited coverage for people who do not have access to private insurance.

The Budget  Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question and for sharing his outlook with us. I agree with him completely. Before I talk about housing, I will speak to infrastructure. The municipalities are asking us whether Ottawa is finally going to renew the gas tax and Quebec's contribution program, or TECQ, and distribute the funds, with no strings attached, on a per capita basis.

The Budget  Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Nepean for his multi-pronged question. First, we recognize that the federal debt-to-GDP ratio is among the best, except that goes back to what the Parliamentary Budget Officer said. Members will recall that, in the 1990s, the federal government solved its debt problem by increasing the fiscal imbalance, or in other words, by reducing transfers to the provinces.

The Budget  Mr. Speaker, first of all, it will be up to Quebeckers to decide who represents them in the next election, as they have done in every other election. That is how it works. We set a very clear criterion to determine whether we vote with or against the government: When it is good for Quebec, we vote in favour, and when it is not good for Quebec, we vote against.

The Budget  Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleagues for actively listening to my speech—

The Budget  Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned, the erosion of Quebec's autonomy, and of Quebeckers' ability to make their own choices, is a strong trend. I quoted the Institute for Research on Public Policy, a Canada-wide research group based in Ottawa, which found last June that “the present trend is toward a more directive use of the spending power”, and that “the degree of federal-provincial collaboration in defining policy challenges has declined”.

The Budget  Madam Speaker, with its latest budget, the federal government has launched an unprecedented attack against Quebec and the provinces' powers. We saw it coming with the striptease leading up to the budget, when the Prime Minister, worthy successor of Pierre Elliott Trudeau, proclaimed that Canadians did not care about jurisdictional matters.