Madam Speaker, I was interested to hear what the hon. member had to say. I will also speak on the amendment put forward by the Bloc Quebecois, which calls for the review by a committee of the administration and operation of this clause.
What we call CAP for short is in fact the Canada Assistance Plan. This plan, also funded by the taxes paid by all Quebec and Canadian citizens, was established during the major economic recession between 1957 and 1961, when we noticed a significant increase in the number of poor people, including unemployed workers.
In fact, in its first three years, the plan was called the Unemployment Assistance Program. This program, which was created in cooperation with the provinces, but still comes under a federal law, ensures that the federal government will finance 50 per cent of a number of expenditures. As the hon. member for Saint-Hyacinthe said earlier, to a certain extent, this program was of a greater help to the richer provinces, which could incur more expenditures, knowing that the federal government would cough up 50 per cent of the costs, as was the case, for example, for daycare and social housing programs.
As far as social assistance is concerned, the amount to be paid by the Canada Assistance Plan varied according to how generous the individual provinces were. On the one hand, you had people living below the poverty level, and on the other hand, you had individual provinces deciding upon the kind of programs they could afford.
This budget completely changes the terms and conditions of what could be called the moral contract between the provinces and Canada, because, from now on, the subsidies given to the provinces will not exceed what was granted as of March 31, 1995.
I must add, Madam Speaker, that the Canada Assistance Plan is subject to many more changes, since, for all practical purposes, the same budget also announced the end or the overhaul of the Plan. The consultations to be undertaken by the Minister of Human Resources Development, which, as we know, are also announced in the same budget, concern the social assistance reform. And yet, social assistance unequivocally falls within provincial jurisdiction.
When the federal government freezes the payment transfers for the Canada Assistance Plan, it changes naturally, first, the situation the provinces are in and, second, the rules governing the other programs which exists under this Plan. Moreover, and this is extremely important, we will speak a little later of the changes to the unemployment insurance. These changes to the unemployment insurance will mean a heavier burden for provinces as far as social assistance is concerned.
Thus, in two very important ways, the budget and this omnibus bill will make things worst for the provinces when it comes to dealing with poverty-and this is what it is all about-when it comes to helping people without any revenue whatsoever to survive. With what poor people are given in each of the provinces, they can barely live.
We are talking here of distributing the contribution of the richer provinces to the poorer to help people who have no revenue not to live but, as I said, to barely survive.
Under these circumstances, the amendment is very modest. We would very much like the Reform Party and the government to agree to incorporate it into the omnibus bill. It will allow us to look more closely at the operation of this act, to examine the means available to each province to fight poverty.
I must add that I have the feeling that, given the reform undertaken by the minister, these sums will be used for other purposes and that we will have heated debates in this House over the next few months if I am right about the changes that I think are forthcoming. But I will wait.
I would like to respond here and now to those who wonder why Quebec sovereigntists want to separate from the Canadian federation when Quebec benefits from equalization and from the Canada Assistance Plan. Yes, we want to separate because we are not only convinced but certain-because we have studied all these issues very carefully-that if Quebec had all the powers of a sovereign state to develop its economy and fight poverty, it would be in a better position to help those in need, to provide social housing and child care services to Quebecers. Quebec would do better as an independent state than if it continued to receive transfers that are constantly reduced and subject to more and more conditions. It would do better than if it continued to be deprived of the means with which to develop a strong economy, with workers who have all the job training they need. The fact of the matter is that the federal government does not give the province enough money, money it collects from Quebec taxpayers in the first place.
So, this is a modest amendment which will hopefully allow us to continue to demonstrate that the operation of this act makes no sense.