Madam Speaker, it is very interesting that we meet here today to discuss a Bloc Quebecois supply motion which attempts to get even more Canadian dollars to spend in Montreal.
On the basis of the number of dollars that have been sent to the province of Quebec from the so-called have provinces, Alberta, British Columbia and Ontario, one would think there would already have been a recognition of the tremendous amount of support there has been on the part of all Canadian taxpayers to the idea of the old line parties of attempting to buy the loyalty of the people, and I think of them as being in the minority in the province of Quebec, who would see Quebec secede from Canada.
It is also interesting that on this particular day we also note that the leader of the Bloc Quebecois has decided that he is going to continue in the House of Commons as Her Majesty's official loyal opposition, working his attempt to break up Canada, all the while waiting to become the premier of the province of Quebec.
I seriously doubt the sincerity of the motion being brought forward by the Bloc Quebecois. Indeed, in its own way it is rather mischievous.
Furthermore, after taking a look at the issue of whether there should be a Canadian content to our military procurements, it strikes me that it runs a very strong parallel to the attitude of this old line government, the Liberals, and their predecessors, the Conservatives, relative to regional economic development grants. It falls into exactly the same category.
There seems to be a will on the part of the old line parties to create a national level playing field. In a matter of about 25 minutes, the auditor general's report on regional development grants will be released. It will be very interesting to be able to focus on a dispassionate review of how these grants have worked and whether a national level playing field has been created.
With respect to the issue of taking military product off the shelf, there is an over-arching issue. The over-arching issue is that Canada, at the federal level, is not taking into account the non-funded liability of the Canada pension plan, which is already over half a trillion dollars in debt. It is approximately $550 billion to $560 billion in debt. Much to the amazement of people when they actually take the time to think about it, the government is borrowing about $100 million every day to pay the interest on the money which has been borrowed. Therefore, when talking about necessary military equipment procurement, if there is a greater value for Canada's tax dollars, that must be paramount in the decision making process.
The idea of being able to intervene in the Montreal economy, or for that matter to intervene in the Canadian economy, is appealing. It certainly has been shown to have a tremendous appeal to members of the old line political parties. The $100 million which is borrowed daily will destroy our ability to fund health care, post-secondary education and the Canada assistance plan. Even old age security is under threat as a direct result of the desire of the government and its bedfellows, the Conservatives, to intervene in the economy.
If an off the shelf policy for these procurements can be created and achieve the savings which Canadians are looking for, then the question is: What would that do to business in Canada?
As a proud Canadian I am constantly impressed with our ability to compete. In the world there is no nation of people who are better able to adapt and compete. Canadians do not need this kind of over-arching government intervention to help competitiveness.
It also drives home the issue with which we were faced during the latter days of the referendum. I recall being told that the majority of Canada's CF-18s were at Bagotville, Quebec. I also recall being told that the vast majority of armaments, that is, the munitions for the Canadian Armed Forces, are in the east end of Montreal. When the Bloc defence critic, on the letterhead of the leader of the Bloc Quebecois, advised people in the Canadian army to desert and join the new Quebec army, I really have to wonder about the sincerity and the depth of thought which has been given to this issue by the Bloc Quebecois. Why in the world would we permit ourselves to fall into the situation in which there is even more investment in that field in Montreal when the people who are proposing this legislation are talking about separating Quebec from Canada?
The defence critic, I presume, is shepherding this motion through the Chamber on behalf of the Bloc Quebecois. His comments, in my judgment, were nothing short of sedition. You cannot be telling people in the Canadian army to desert. That is absolutely and totally unacceptable. I understand that a legal action has been commenced. I rather hope it has some success.
It is just about time to call a spade a spade. If the Bloc Quebecois was serious about this motion, if it really wanted to see Canadian procurement and if it is talking about taking Quebec out of Canada, how in the world can it not be seen as being totally contradictory? As a matter of fact, the two things are absolutely diametrically
opposed to each other. They simply do not fit. In all good conscience, how could any Canadian go along with this motion?
To get back to the smaller issue of procurement, because truly the larger issue is that of the Bloc attempting to smash Canada, Canadians, because of the size of the debt, must demand value for their tax dollar. This motion simply would not achieve that.