Madam Speaker, I am pleased to speak on this part of Bill C-17 and the amendment proposed by the Bloc Quebecois, that is, to designate a parliamentary committee to review the operation of this section on a permanent basis.
This section deals with the federal-provincial tax agreements on the Canada Assistance Plan, in particular the freeze on federal contributions to the CAP.
The Canada Assistance Plan has often been the subject of harsh criticisms, which were quite justified in some respects, especially since the CAP is a shared-cost program where costs are split 50-50 between the federal government and the provinces.
The main criticism expressed in recent years is that this formula favours the richest provinces, which can invest in assistance programs and initiatives in the hope that the federal government will pick up half the costs.
I can tell you that the changes made by the previous government were rather fair in some respects and more socially equitable or democratic that those of the current government, which calls it a general freeze.
What the Conservatives did is freeze federal contributions to the CAP for Canada's three richest provinces, and with good reason. Contributions were frozen for Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia.
Then the Liberal government comes to office and decides to freeze contributions for all Canadian provinces, whether rich or poor.
So I would say to you that the Liberal government is less liberal than the previous Conservative government. I would say that it is like what we have been getting since the morning of October 26, under the cover of social democracy or even socialism, in some respects. Rules that are not quite social democratic are imposed on us. As was mentioned in the previous debate, we are forced to put up with an attitude that is not quite open and not quite fair when it comes to equity between the provinces, for example, or fiscal equity in general.
Madam Speaker, just capping CAP and funds for post-secondary education will cost the Canadian provinces at least some $2 billion in 1995-96 alone.
I was telling you about the federal government passing the buck to the provinces because of the inability of this government, like its predecessor, which was strongly denounced by members of the present government, to regain control of the public finances in a responsible manner, not by shifting financial problems to the provinces as they have been doing since the morning of October 26, and when it is not the provinces, sovereigntists are blamed for the poor economic situation or the bad state of Canada's finances; sovereigntists are accused of creating instability and causing high interest rates, although it is the present Minister of Finance who cannot properly manage Canada's finances without passing the buck to the provinces, who is responsible for the economic crisis and the way the government's finances are headed for disaster.
We deplore this attitude of the present government, just as we deplored the ceiling on equalization payments when we had to debate that issue. In both cases, behind these shameless, ill-considered decisions, we find the same incompetence of those who are running this government.
In this regard, let me remind you that, in the House, we are constantly hearing government members, as well as Reform members, claim to be great Canadians while disregarding-and the debate we had on equalization is still clear in my mind-, sneezing at or dismissing offhand one of the fundamentals of Canadian federalism which is fiscal federalism. They want to limit expenses such as equalization payments, which constitute the underpinning of fiscal federalism, and they congratulate themselves for capping or freezing payments, knowing very well that they are destroying one of the fundamentals of the system for which they stand as great Canadians. That explains why the system is in total disarray.
Anyway, I think that the members of the Bloc Quebecois have made the right decision, which is to leave that system behind.
According to our motion on this clause, which limits federal transfers made under the CAP, each time a freeze, cap or cut is introduced on such basic programs, the matter would have to be debated, and the government would have to justify its support for the hateful measure and put up with our telling it that its so-called system based on equalization payments or transfers under the Canada Assistance Plan is faulty. This system attacks the provinces with impunity and it shamelessly off-loads the federal government's fiscal problems onto the provinces.
I also recommend a follow-up on these bad decisions, this government's shameful decisions, a follow-up on the impacts, because there will indeed be repercussions. To freeze all contributions to every Canadian province, including the poorest ones which are experiencing the most serious problems in terms of welfare recipients and underemployment in general and which include Quebec and the Maritimes, can only have disastrous consequences from an economic and social point of view.
This decision by the government follows another one which we will have the opportunity to debate this afternoon and which concerns the Unemployment Insurance Program where, once again, the government is prepared to totally destabilize and demoralize entire communities, particularly in Quebec and in the Maritimes, which are in no position to support such hardship.
We too could have proposed the deletion of this part of Bill C-17. However, unlike Reform Party members, we are responsible people. We know that tax agreements were signed by the provincial and federal governments and this is why we did not deem appropriate, particularly with a majority government, to ask that these clauses be deleted.
However, we are proposing transparency, honesty and, more importantly, we want this government to be accountable to the House and to Canadians for the shameful decisions it has been making since it took office, decisions which are in total contradiction with the agenda and the vision-because the Liberals think of themselves as visionaries- which it keeps referring to. I submit this amendment and ask all members to support it.