Madam Speaker, this is quite a surprising speech on the part of the hon. member for Lachine-Lac-Saint-Louis, given the fact that he was a Minister in the Quebec National Assembly. I say a surprising speech because he confirms, he finally recognizes the failure of the federal government in the area of manpower training. He says there are jobs by the hundreds of thousands in Quebec that cannot be filled because there is a shortage of skilled workers in specific areas.
However, the discussion paper we have here offers no solutions to that shortage. If there is one topic on which all Quebecers agree, it is no doubt manpower training. Quebec must have jurisdiction in that area. The power to legislate on manpower training must be given to the Quebec National Assembly. Nothing in the government's handling of this issue, nothing in this document gives any indication that that is likely to happen. On the contrary, this project emphasizes centralization in Ottawa and confirms the refusal to hand control over to Quebec. This afternoon, while answering a question, the Minister said that Ottawa was the boss on that issue and that things would remain so.
Another thing. They say there are not enough skilled workers but this reform increases tuition fees. Is this the way to go if you are going to encourage people to get specialized training? Will people be able to afford an education after this reform? No.
The member's speech is astonishing and I would like him to explain where, in this document, in this reform, we can find evidence of a willingness to decentralize?