Madam Speaker, my colleague for Outremont is probably dreaming. He said so himself. I think it is just wishful thinking. As for us, we are having a nightmare listening to such remarks from a member who comes from Quebec. I would ask him to go back to his riding and ask his constituents, who also pay taxes to the federal government, if they agree that these services should be paid for by the Quebec government alone.
Can his constituents and mine say that they will give Ottawa $300 million less to pay this bill? The present system does not allow it. Therefore, it is Quebec which must pay and which comes up short. I find it sad that a member from Quebec would make such remarks.
The Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs is really acting in the public interest. I think he is acting in Ottawa's interest and that, as a member from Quebec, he is forgetting that, when the people of a province pay taxes to the federal government, they are entitled to certain services in return. That is what today's debate is all about.
We claim, with good reason, that Quebec was willing to honour this gentlemen's agreement but that the federal government has not honoured it. It owes Quebec $300 million and it must pay its bills. That is what it must do in the public interest. It has been five years in one instance and eight years in the other that all audits have been completed. Now the time has come to pay, and we are asking the federal government to do so.