Mr. Speaker, Quebec university presidents announced that they will not participate in federal hearings on social program reform. Denouncing the federal project, they said that they agreed with the Government of Quebec, that education was strictly a provincial matter.
Unanimously, Quebec university students opposed the federal reform. They condemned it saying, and I quote: "When they choose a country, students will remember that the federal government increased their tuition fees and their debt load against the will of Quebec".
Yesterday, the National Council of Welfare denounced the federal proposal to create two classes of unemployed, and urged the government not to widen any further the gap between rich and poor.
The Bloc Quebecois demands that the minister go back to the drawing board. He said the reform was prompted by public opinion. Yes, Quebecers and Canadian want a reform, but not the one he proposes.
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