Mr. Speaker, the hon. member talked about the cuts in transfers to provinces under the Liberal budget. He talked about them as being downloading, which they are.
In the Reform taxpayers' budget, the alternative budget Reform presented, we also had reductions in transfers to provinces. We transferred the tax points along with the reductions. We transferred the ability of the provinces to raise the revenue to compensate for this reduction in transfers to provinces.
Let us use the analogy of a chicken and an egg. The government now transfers eggs to provinces so they can pay for some of their programs, done through transfer payments. Instead of transferring individual eggs to the provinces, the Liberals transferred a carton of eggs except they removed two. Therefore they transferred 10 eggs instead of the dozen. They cut the transfers.
There are also strings attached because of the regulations under the Canada Health Act. Instead of transferring the carton with fewer eggs Reform transferred the whole chicken. That is the program. We transferred the revenue producing ability to the provinces. Instead of transferring individual eggs and keeping the chicken as the Liberals have done in their program, Reform transferred the whole chicken so that revenue is in the hands of the provinces. They can fund these programs.
This would be popular in Quebec. Quebecers want more control of their future. Quebec generally is in favour of decentralization to the provinces.
I would like the hon. member to respond to what the Liberals have done in cutting transfers and not cutting the revenue producing ability as compared to what Reform proposed in the taxpayers' budget of cutting transfers to provinces but giving provinces the power to collect that revenue instead of the federal government and therefore giving provinces much more control over their own programs and their own resources.