Madam Speaker, I was thanking you for giving me the floor after interrupting me so abruptly earlier. I do acknowledge your sense of fairness.
Earlier, before I was interrupted, I was saying that this new Business Development Bank of Canada will be used for patronage and propaganda purposes, including the promotion of federalism by the members opposite. I urge them not to make the same mistakes as did the former Quebec government with the Société de développement industriel. Indeed, we recently learned-with the arrival of a responsible provincial party in office-that $950 million had been wasted on all kinds of unnecessary projects, because of the intervention of some ministers who were urging the corporation to grant loans which should never have been made. However, because of the authority exerted then by the responsible minister, or the Quebec Premier, over that agency, it ran up a bill of $959 million. So, there is a real danger.
That danger also exists with Bill C-91 now before us. For example, if you look at clause 6, you will see that the minister appoints the chairperson and president.
I am tempted to say that I support this bill, because it will make the number of independentists swell. Indeed, this is the kind of legislation which explains why an independentist such as myself is here to speak on Quebec's behalf. I have seen too many measures like this one.
I read literally every bill tabled in this House and I realize that the government, although it has not publicly said it and will not do so, is currently trying to destabilize the provinces and really infringe on fields of provincial jurisdiction. I am not referring only to Quebec. The other provinces are also affected. However, the danger is greater for Quebec than for the English speaking provinces, because the infringing authority if you will is English-speaking.
Westerners and easterners recognize this government as their primary government, while Quebecers, because of their different language as well as other factors such as culture, consider the Quebec government their primary government. The fact is that the Quebec government did not only do bad things, quite the contrary. Just think of the Quebec Deposit and Investment Fund, created in 1964. We literally got rid of the Canadian capitalists who were using the pension plans of Quebec workers, both in the public and the private sectors. Some people have become immensely rich playing with the money of others like that, without our governments paying any attention to the security of the investments made.
So, the Quebec Deposit and Investment Fund was established, as well as the General Investment Corporation of Quebec. The government has created several instruments that have met their objectives. We now have before us Bill C-91, with its Federal Business Development Bank renamed Business Development Bank of Canada. When we say that there is duplication in personnel, that is what is happening. One can only wonder what changing the role of the FBDB to give it complementary status is meant to achieve.
I can remember, back in my days as a notary, when I was very involved with business financing, seeing people go to the FBDB although their investment was no less safe than others. The bank refused to lend money when it knew the project would not get off the ground. The exception, I must admit, was slightly out of the ordinary projects, where the entrepreneur wanted to set up a business in an area less familiar to traditional bankers but still had a fair chance of being successful. Then, the FBDB got involved.
We are now debating a bill to turn it into a complementary bank. We know the criteria used by banks. For instance, in business financing, you do not lend more that 75 per cent of the investment value. Does complementary mean lending the remaining 25 per cent? Will the bank lend 75 per cent and the Business Development Bank the rest? I think not. At least, I hope not, because it would be terrible.
Giving the bank this complementary status will mean that anyone who wants to market or commercialize a new product and, as a last resort after being refused everywhere, goes to the Business Development Bank will get the answer: "Sorry, friend. Your application was rejected everywhere else. Even if we wanted to, we could not help you. We are no longer qualified". I can understand giving a complementary role to this institution,
but it is a bit difficult to complement what does not exist in the first place.
I do not want to accuse the people who tabled this bill of having bad intentions, but I do have to say that this will serve only to increase political intervention in loans, which would not have been granted by any other institution anyway. Talk about political intervention-