Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the hon. member for Matapédia-Matane for asking me this question. Education is my specialty, and although I do not think I have the answer, I may have part of the answer.
First of all, as he said earlier, at the post-secondary level students, like workers who have trouble finding a job, have to cope with overlapping programs and duplication, whether we are talking about federal or provincial programs.
I believe that as members of the Bloc Quebecois, we are more interested in education, which is a provincial jurisdiction, than members on the other side of the House, and I know why. They have other things on their minds, so let the government render unto the provinces what belongs to the provinces, like education, so they can get on with other business.
Now I would like to explain why young people are against national standards for education. As my colleague said, in Matapédia-Matane, for instance, they might need special emphasis on a particular sector, and that is what the états généraux de l'éducation au Québec are bound to conclude.
But how can we have national standards in an area that, when the Fathers of Confederation signed their agreement, was a provincial responsibility? Or so we are told. But how can we have similar standards for health care in Quebec, Ontario and Newfoundland? The federal government has imposed national standards for health care. What Bill C-76 wants to impose is the same medicine-no pun intended-this time for education. They want to set national standards for education.
When? Just when the government is going to cut funding. In other words, it gives less money to a province, gives more orders, and the province has to fall in line, otherwise funding for all programs will be cut: social assistance, education and health care. That is why we object.