Madam Speaker, the hon. member referred to the transfers to provinces and said that, in his opinion, provinces would not be really affected, considering the cuts involved. This raises the whole issue of national standards. What will happen to standards?
The budget makes several mentions to such standards, but they are not very clear. I wonder if the hon. member could give us his own view on that issue. In his speech, the Minister of Finance said, and I quote: "Provinces will now be able to design more innovative social programs- programs that respond to the needs of people today rather than to inflexible rules".
Thus, and that is a step in the right direction, the minister does confirm that, in the past, there were some inflexible rules. But the sentence which follows is the one for which I would appreciate an explanation. It reads: "However, flexibility does not mean a free-for-all". That sentence appears in italics in the budget speech. What does the minister mean when he says: "flexibility does not mean free-for-all"?
It means that the federal government will continue to exert some control. Yesterday, the Minister of Human Resources Development, who was participating in a radio show with me, said that before the government had no control over funds but that would now change because the federal government would define standards, in co-operation with the provinces.
We all know what joint standards mean. Therefore, I wonder if the hon. member could explain the statement to the effect that flexibility does not mean free-for-all.