Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition has just accused me of being undemocratic, of accusing him of wasting the time of the House of Commons. Let us be perfectly clear: of course, the Bloc Quebecois has not only the right but also the obligation to enter the debate on the government budget.
They certainly have the right to present their views but when, instead of discussing the budget, they create a phoney issue and make up their own budget that has nothing to do with the one we presented, I certainly agree that they are wasting the time not only of this House but also of the Canadian people.
You see, Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition is starting to change his tune somewhat. Today's opposition motion reads in part as follows: "-by imposing on them new national standards for all social programs-" That is patently untrue. The motion goes on to say: "-through the introduction of the Canada Social Transfer, which will enable the federal government to interfere even more in such areas as health, post-secondary education and social assistance". That is patently untrue, Mr. Speaker. As I said in my budget speech and in the budget itself and as I reiterated again today, there is no intention of imposing anything on the provinces or to interfere in provincial matters.
To make things even clearer, this morning, I submitted to this House the amendments we intend to refer to the committee that will consider the budget.
Let us set the record straight. The Bloc Quebecois's motion is a sidestepping tactic and has nothing to do with the truth. When I say that you are wasting the time of the House, it is not because you do not have the right to discuss the budget but because you are making up your own budget to better attack it. I think that we have just received a compliment. You have just shown that it is impossible to attack our budget by making up your own budget so you could attack it.
Second, the Leader of the Opposition raised the issue of transfers to the provinces. Let me tell you that when I met with provincial finance ministers, they told me, "Give us notice. Do not take us by surprise like the previous government". So we gave them two years to adjust.
Third, they told us, "If you are going to hit us, make sure that you will be hit harder". That is what we did. We made deeper cuts at the federal level than at the provincial level.
Fourth, these cuts represent less than 3 per cent of provincial revenue and less than 20.5 per cent of Quebec revenue. It must be said that, at a time when all governments must put their fiscal houses in order, we simply fulfilled our obligations.
I hope that the Leader of the Opposition will talk to the head office, because he obviously exerts a great deal of influence there, and that the next time he talks to them he will suggest that they bring down a budget designed to put their fiscal house in order to create in Quebec a climate that would help the federal government create jobs.
Since the Leader of the Opposition has so much influence on the head office, perhaps he will talk to them about their own cuts, because he is blaming us for the cuts they are making in money areas.
I think that they should not say two different things. But perhaps it is possible for the leader of the Bloc Quebecois to say one thing and for the leader of the Parti Quebecois to say another thing. We face real economic and social problems. We know that. We know about the poverty problem and we see how painful it is. We know what is happening and we want to work together.
In closing, I ask the Leader of the Opposition and the Bloc Quebecois, instead of creating phoney issues and provoking empty debates, to help us tackle the real problems of Quebec and Canada.