Mr. Speaker, if I were the minister, I would feel somewhat embarrassed about alluding to equalization payments, given that his first act in January 1994 was to cap equalization payments thereby depriving the provinces of $1.5 billion over the next five years.
The minister acknowledges that the federal government is hastening its withdrawal from transfer payments for social programs. Under these conditions, how can he talk seriously of a cost effective and flexible federal system, when he will be depriving Quebec of $2.5 billion over the next two years and when Ottawa will no longer pay a cent to fund social programs by 1999, all the while maintaining its tax base and claiming to set national standards in Quebec?