Mr. Speaker, absolutely, I have a reply for my colleague, a reply to his three questions. Regarding inconsistency, because we are proposing cuts at the same time as we are asking for an increase in the national defence budget in Quebec, I would say that if there is any inconsistency, it is on the other side, not here. We have always been consistent with ourselves, with our option and, above all, with our analysis of the situation.
At the present time, 17.4 per cent of national defence spending takes place in Quebec. We represent very close to a quarter of the population, or, if you consider it in terms of taxes paid, we pay almost 23 per cent of the taxes collected by the federal government, but we receive only 17.4 per cent of the spending. This means that there are others receiving more than they should in terms of population or in terms of their contribution to the federal coffers.
What we have always said is that cuts should be across the board, but with an adjustment for Quebec. This is what happens in the case of agriculture, it is what happens in most areas. So, that dispenses with the first inconsistency.
The second point was family trusts. My colleague claims that I have no idea of the importance of family trusts, but neither does he. And do you know why? Because we repeatedly asked the Finance Committee, senior officials in the finance department, the finance minister, the revenue minister, and senior officials in the revenue department to provide us with an exhaustive evaluation of how much money is in family trusts and the resultant losses in tax revenue to the federal coffers. So he can stop talking about the importance of family trusts, because he is just as much in the dark about them as we are.
We have estimates and are at least trying to give some thought to the magnitude of tax losses resulting from trusts and from tax agreements. My colleague prefers to turn a blind eye to these fiscal inequalities. If we are going to talk about credibility, I would say that the Liberals should look in their own back yard. There has been no sign of credibility for a year and a half now.