Thank you, Mr. Speaker and all members of this House. I am pleased to rise today to speak to Motion M-314 put forward by the Reform Party. Allow me to read the motion in question:
That, in the opinion of this House, the government should immediately pursue negotiations with the provinces and agri-food industry in order to re-assign jurisdictional responsibilities in agriculture and eliminate overlap and duplication.
There is no need to reiterate my party's position regarding overlap. It goes without saying that the Bloc Quebecois has been fighting against all these unnecessary and, above all, extremely costly cases of overlap since its arrival in this House. That is why the motion put forward by my Reform colleague is quite acceptable and even desirable.
Yet, common sense seems in short supply in this government. We find ourselves repeating over and over again why it is essential to eliminate overlap between Ottawa and the prov-
inces. The Minister of Finance should listen to us instead of going after the most disadvantaged and the middle class when he tables the budget in a few days. It is never too late to make amends.
In agriculture as in all other sectors, the federal government's presence in areas of shared jurisdiction creates unnecessary and costly overlap, as I was saying a moment ago, not only in terms of administrative costs but also in terms of duplication of policies, which often compete with or contradict each other. This, in turn, reduces the effectiveness of government measures. Measures adopted by two different levels of government regularly cancel each other out. Each level wants its priorities and objectives to prevail, and the tugging back and forth is endless as neither will let go.
But Quebec has been asking for years for control, not only over agriculture, but also over regional development, natural resources, manpower training and so on. There are also problems in areas other than areas of shared jurisdiction. The federal government does not respect the provinces' exclusive jurisdiction over areas of provincial jurisdiction, and never did.
The Reform member's motion is relevant, but does he realize that the federal government has always been, and continues to be, centralizing? Quebec knows that this government turns a deaf ear to even the most sensible suggestions when it comes to decentralizing powers to the provinces. Let us be wary of transfers of administrative responsibilities in lieu of jurisdictions. With the former, the provinces are at the mercy of the federal government which can, at any given time, cut budget allocations. In the present situation, the Liberals are likely to suggest such transfers, when we know full well that it is just passing the buck to the provinces.
The provinces are asking for responsibility, of course, but also for the income tax points that come with it. We know that the so-called flexibility of the federal government is nothing but a sham, an empty word that the big guns of federalism use to deceive us once again.
Only by becoming sovereign can Quebec exercise any real control over its socio-economic development. So, when I say that we support the motion, this means that we realize that the federal government never paid any attention to this.
The federal-provincial division of powers issue will become irrelevant once Quebec has achieved sovereignty. However, you will agree that, for some provinces, including Quebec, a federal Department of Agriculture and Agri-food is more of a burden than a benefit.
In Quebec we have two departments of agriculture, each with its own farm income stabilization scheme; we have federal and provincial involvement in marketing board systems; and we have two levels of government involved in agricultural research and farm credit. The result? The kind of overlap that causes constant fiction between both levels of government, with federal decisions being made at the expense of Quebec, and that generates major costs in the agriculture and agri-food sector, a sector that has to live with two regulatory levels and meet the requirements of programs that do not reflect the same policies.
To support this motion means putting an end to the friction caused by unclear jurisdictional divisions. For years, Quebec has received from Ottawa only half or as little as one third of federal taxes earmarked for the agricultural sector.
The several hundred million dollars foregone annually could be used to create jobs in an industry that is responsible for 11 per cent of total employment in Quebec. In 1993, Quebec received $372 million of the $3 billion budget of the Department of Agriculture and Agri-Food, a meagre 12.4 per cent, and this was better than usual.
Between 1986-87 and 1991-92, Quebec's share was 8.3 per cent, according to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. Interestingly, Quebec's revenues in the agricultural sector represented 16 per cent of total Canadian revenues in this sector. Furthermore, in terms of added value, the Quebec food industry represents 25.4 per cent of the Canadian food industry, according to Statistics Canada.
The following is an example of the utter confusion caused by the involvement of two levels of government in health standards and meat inspection. At the present time, at least three inspectors visit farms to get exactly the same information, which is then transferred to Health Canada, to Agriculture and Agri-Food and to the Quebec Department of Agriculture, respectively.
The federal government spends $275 million each year on inspection and regulatory procedures, in an area that is covered almost identically by the Government of Quebec. For Quebec, this outright duplication means an annual loss of $64 million.
If the provinces were given jurisdiction over agriculture and agri-food, Quebec could stop subsidizing the central government, whose policies are based on the needs of the west, as we have repeatedly pointed out in the House. These policies are based on the needs of a grain export industry, whereas Quebec's supply management policies are designed to support the livestock industry. One advantage for us would be not having to invest so much energy in Ottawa any more to establish the legitimacy of our own programs.
At this point, the short sighted view of the federal government would indicate dark days ahead for agriculture. We remain at the mercy of Ottawa's unilateral cuts. The upcoming budget provides for major cuts to the Department of Agriculture and Agri-Food, cuts that are likely to affect service to the industry and to the public.
These cuts are the result of Ottawa's wastage of public funds. This is what happens when unnecessary overlap continues unchecked.
It would be appropriate to recall here the position taken by the Union des producteurs agricoles du Québec in its brief to the Bélanger-Campeau commission in December 1990. It stated that, in the area of agriculture, Quebec wanted to take its legitimate share of federal funds and invest it according to its own priorities, policies and programs. It wanted to continue to develop agriculture in the province with the federal funds granted to it on the basis of the four forms of support to agriculture: supply management, income stabilization, farm credit and crop insurance. Each time, energy was wasted in confrontations, for the most part to no avail, trying to assert its point of view on this matter.
Obviously, Quebec is entirely prepared to assume its responsibilities in respect of agriculture and agri-food. We have all the tools to develop our industry and a strategy to do so. I myself have described this strategy to the House on more than one occasion. I would like to review its main points.
The stakeholders and parties in Quebec interested in regional development and agri-food matters met in February 1991 in Montreal and decreed that the community should take charge of its own future. The following objectives were identified during these rural estates general: respecting and promoting regional and local values; dialogue with regional and local partners; protecting and renewing resources; redistributing political power from the top down.
Thus round tables on the food sector were established in Quebec. During the conference in Trois-Rivières in June 1992, they came to an agreement on the main areas to be emphasized to ensure development of the agri-food sector in Quebec. These included, in particular, recognizing, developing and supporting human resources training; ensuring continuity, development and growth in agri-food companies; readjusting current income security programs on the basis of production costs; developing income security programs consistent with the rules of international trade; promoting funding for agricultural businesses and their transfer without incurring massive debt; providing for support for non-viable businesses likely to be reorganized within the sector and providing assistance to persons getting out of the agricultural business. Stakeholders in the Quebec agricultural community have taken measures to control decision-making in their area.
All the while, the federal government is gearing its agricultural policy to the needs of farmers out west. The agricultural bills that have been introduced in the House over the past year all dealt with the grain sector. In addition to Bill C-61, there has been Bill C-49 to amend the Department of Agriculture, Bill C-50 on the Canadian Wheat Board, Bill C-51 on Canadian grain and, now, Bill C-66 on western grain transportation.
Yes, Quebec is ready to assume full responsibility for its agricultural and agri-food sectors, but we need adequate financing, which we can only get by recovering our share of taxes earmarked for those sectors.
If by some miracle the federal government should adopt the motion and agree to transfer jurisdiction over agriculture and agri-food to provinces that want it, the provinces will have to be involved throughout the process. Therefore, the governments which will assume responsibility for the jurisdiction will have to be included in discussions on the transfer of responsibilities and in negotiations with the industry.
We must be on guard: the federal government cannot enter unilaterally into negotiations with the industry to make major changes in responsibilities between it and the industry while it is in the process of transferring jurisdiction to the provinces.
And the government should make no mistake: we are not talking about a transfer of responsibilities, but of jurisdiction. We will not be dumped on. In the case of agriculture, the power will be strictly provincial when administered by the provinces.
In Quebec, we know from our experience with fisheries that a transfer of responsibility can be unilaterally cancelled by Ottawa. We must avoid, at all costs, repeating this catastrophe in the agricultural sector.
Thus, we say yes to the motion. We would also like to say that we, the Bloc Quebecois, are able to say yes to any motion that is good, whether proposed by a Reformer, a Liberal or a Conservative. Yes to a transfer of jurisdiction, but no to transferring responsibility without transferring tax points.