Mr. Speaker, I was very interested to hear what the hon. member for Kamouraska-Rivière-du-Loup had to say, and, of course, he conforms to the separatist rhetoric. I agree that the Constitution provides for the rights of the provinces in certain jurisdictions.
In this particular case, the federal government has made it very clear where the difference lies between the two jurisdictions in Canada.
One of the elements of the federal government's agenda is in fact the rebuilding of Canada's social security system. Creating jobs and growth requires the modernization of our social labour market and learning programs. One of the key principles of the reform that has been proposed is to provide greater clarity, as I indicated, in the roles of the federal and provincial governments.
The federal government has taken a major step towards a new partnership on labour market programs. The federal government's main objective is to improve services for Canadians, to make those services more effective and to eliminate any duplication and wasteful spending.
As a result, in June of this year the Minister of Human Resources Development invited interested provinces and territories to assume increased responsibilities in the labour market sector. The federal offer entails implementation of a three year interim labour market agreement with each province which could be put in place immediately. The federal-provincial discussions are currently under way across this country.
However, we are still waiting for a reply from the Government of Quebec. The federal offer includes:
Provincial planning of $480 million worth of federal labour market programs in Quebec, about 60 per cent of the federal labour market program budget; provincial management of federal purchase of institutional training, valued at $140 million in the case of Quebec; provincial planning and implementation of a network of single window offices that would put together under one roof the programs and services of both levels of government; and provincial management of certain other federal programs such as co-operative education, stay in school programs and Canada employment centres for students, valued at $12 million in Quebec.
With regard to the estimates of massive wastage, although the federal government has heard a number of such claims over recent years, there has never been any serious analysis to support these kinds of numbers. These huge claims have no basis in fact.
I invite the hon. member to consider the federal proposal and urge the Government of Quebec to support it.