Mr. Speaker, first, I want to make two comments on the hon. member's preamble regarding a winning referendum. Indeed, there is a fundamental difference between Ottawa's federalists and us, Bloc members and sovereignists in general. The difference is that we want a winning referendum, so that Quebecers can be a fully sovereign nation, like a normal people. We know full well that federal Liberals want a losing referendum.
The federal government hopes that Quebec will once again go down on its knees, so that it can satisfy its centralizing needs and finish the dirty job started in 1982.
As for social groups, the member tells us that they come in droves on Parliament Hill to urge the federal government to impose even more standards on the provinces. First, we did not see much of these groups and, second, I think the member is mistaken.
These groups are not asking the federal government to set bureaucratic rules and increase its bureaucracy to control the provinces. They are asking the Liberal government to pursue its efforts, so that provinces can maintain civilized social programs which make sense. This is what people are asking the federal government.
I have a suggestion for the Liberal member who just made that statement. When he meets with social groups making such complaints about the provinces while extolling the virtues of the federal government regarding social programs, he should provide them with figures indicating what the Liberal Party has done to them in the last two years. He should tell these groups that this Liberal government made drastic cuts in the UI program, that it also made cuts in social programs through transfer payments, that the situation will get worse year after year, and that his government is also about to target old age pensions. If the member tells these facts to social groups, they will go back to their provinces, because that is where their interests are best served. Indeed, the effort is primarily made at that level, thanks to the generosity and compassion of Canadians and Quebecers, not at the level of federal bureaucrats and politicians, who are constantly finding new ways to stop contributing to that effort.
Thirdly, the child care program goes back to 1988, which is some time ago, but I clearly remember it. The legislation included provisions giving full scope to the provinces, while respecting their jurisdiction. It is the Liberal Party which instructed its majority in the Senate to block this $5 billion initiative designed to set up a true child care program.