Madam Speaker, I rise in this House to strongly support the motion put forward by the leader of the official opposition, on behalf of my constituents and all those who will be affected by this bill, because these
are the people who will fall victim to the questionable schemes of the current government.
In his motion, our leader denounces the will of the federal government to restrict the provinces to the role of mere consultants by imposing on them new national standards for all social programs. He also denounces the interference of the federal government in the health, post-secondary education and social assistance areas.
Federal interference in these areas is not just another Constitutional issue, because it will have very real consequences on the daily lives of our constituents. Let us examine how this will come about.
Bill C-76 is the statutory instrument the government intends to use to implement its budget. So, it is a very important piece of legislation even though it looks daunting at first glance. When you analyze it, you realize that it can have a tremendous impact on programs. This year, however, the government had quite a surprise in store for us. It slipped into Bill C-76 some words which will have significant consequences on Quebec and on the rest of the provinces.
For example, the part concerning the Canada health and social transfer deals not only with health and social assistance, but also with health, post-secondary education, social assistance and social services. This is important. The federal government is interfering in areas which, as you all know, come mostly under provincial jurisdiction, as defined in the Constitution Act, 1867. The federal government must have a reason to act this way.
When you read the other provisions found in this bill, you realize that this type of interference is pernicious. It allows the current government to control provincial activities and programs. If a province implements a policy or a program the federal government does not agree with, parts, or all, of its subsidies will be cut. This is a disgrace, because, as I said before, all the areas affected by this bill come under provincial and not federal jurisdiction.
Under this bill, the government will also have the right to determine what represents a good program. That is right, to make things a little worse, the federal government will be able to decide, all by itself, what is a good program that deserves to be financially supported and what is a bad program that deserves to be condemned.
I remind the House that we are talking about a whole set of programs-education, social assistance, social services and health-which directly concern the public. We might as well abolish provincial governments and let the federal run everything.
Let me remind the House and my constituents that the subsidies about to be cut come from tax revenues and that these revenues come from the taxpayers who live in the provinces.
Let us look at the strong possibility that the federal government will not like the programs that the Quebec government puts in place. In the current scenario, the outcome is very simple. The federal government will inform Quebec, and if the province does not get in line, deciding, on the contrary, to keep its programs, Ottawa will cut its funding. This money will have come from the pockets of Quebecers, but would be used to fund other provinces' programs because the patriarchal federal government will have decided to punish the prodigal son, Quebec.
Quebecers want nothing to do with a wholesale delegation of powers to Ottawa. At the very least, the federal government should respect the distinct character of the Quebecois people. On this issue, 50,000 witnesses who appeared before the commissions on the future of Quebec requested more autonomy for Quebec. In concrete terms, this federal invasion is already damaging for Quebecers; if Bill C-76 is passed, the situation will be even worse.
In my riding, 25 per cent of all families are headed by single parents. And 79 per cent of the population in my riding lives in rental housing, and three quarters of these rental units were built before 1960. Of these households, 38 per cent sink over 30 per cent of their income into housing costs. In my riding, 29 per cent of the families are considered to have low incomes. In the downtown core, one person in three lives below the poverty line. The life expectancy of people living at the foot of the Côte d'Abraham is 10 years shorter.
That is reality according to taxpayers, some taxpayers in my riding. These people need assistance programs: employment, housing and daycare assistance, income supplements. The taxpayers in my riding will be taken hostage, despite themselves, by a government which has set its sights on job training and employment assistance programs which only confuse and discourage the unemployed and cost taxpayers a fortune.
Just think of all of the educational programs which interfere with the ministère de l'éducation's mandate. They are legion and, above all, cost the taxpayers of Quebec a lot of money.
Where did this obsession with controlling everything come from? Does Ottawa believe that Quebec is unable to take care of its own affairs and its population? If so, it should be said loud and clear: it will get a response from the population.
In closing, I would like to say to the members of this government: "Hands off, you ultra-centralists. Let the provincial governments, which know their populations and their needs better than you, handle their own affairs. Until the whole issue is settled once and for all, you had better listen to Quebec".