Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yesterday, our friend Mr. McCallum, on behalf the Liberals, tried to get the minister to say that everything, every comma in the bill, should be seen as a question of confidence. That would mean that the government would feel free to go to see the Governor General to call an election—I suppose that is what he is hoping for. With a leader as weak as Mr. Ignatieff, I would not blame him for doing so.
However, the Liberals are inventing fears. There are some matters in a budget that are not questions of confidence. Removing such a condition is acceptable in your opinion, Mr. Chair, because this does not involve any expenditures. So the Liberals can vote for that.
However, yesterday, the Liberals managed to invent some fears when they questioned Mr. Flaherty on this. They are afraid to be afraid. If they're not afraid enough, they will invent a fear so that everyone continues to be afraid and to provoke the Conservatives. I dare say that my friends in the Bloc are inventing a fear this time, because all we are trying to do here is to remove the requirement placed on municipalities with a population of less than 100,000 to spend an amount equal to the amounts to be spent by the federal government.
If we make this change, the municipalities in question—and there are many of them in the various regions—will be able to get these funds without having to contribute the same amount of money. We can almost understand for the other levels of government. In the case of the provinces, or more generally the federal government, we could follow their argument that this was not clear. However, they cannot argue that in the case of clause 302. It is legally impossible to claim that in clause 302 there is a concern about a lack of respect for provincial prerogatives and jurisdiction. It is impossible to seriously claim that there is such a concern with clause 302, because Quebec has legislation which absolutely prevents municipalities from dealing with the federal government. It is written quite clearly, in black and white. That cannot be changed. They cannot change that. So there is no reason to be afraid.
So this is a case where the Liberals are inventing fears in order to support the Conservatives. They are afraid of defeating the government; that is quite a feat! This is unique in Canadian political history. We have an official opposition that has become the official abstention here today. We have seen them do it. They are afraid of being afraid, of failing to live up to their own record of voting with the Conservatives. I think their record of abstaining today will be equal to their record of voting with the Conservatives in the past. It is sad and pathetic to see people elected to stand up for their communities just lying down and playing dead. We knew they were sell-outs, but we didn't know that their price was zero.
However, I'm looking again at clause 302; that is what we are talking about here. I will call on my colleagues in the Bloc Québécois to realize that municipalities with fewer than 100,000 people will not get any money at all for their projects if we do not pass this amendment. I do not think we have to get into far-fetched constitutional arguments to vote against an amendment that would simply make things easier for these municipalities. We are trying to make things easier for them. That is the objective. This would remove the condition that the government could impose through Treasury Board regarding matching funding. I have the right to present this motion because it does not involve any additional expenditure of money. I would suggest that my friends in the Bloc think about clause 302, which is different from clauses 300 and 301, and vote for the amendment.
Who knows? There may be some hope. Life is all about hope. The Liberals may find their backbone and vote with us to remove from municipalities the requirement to match federal funding in order to have access to these funds which, as the minister constantly reminds us, are being spent.
He says that this is real money. He cries it from the rooftops. He says he has complied with the demands of the G7 and G20, but he has not, and this has been proven here today.