Absolutely. No wonder this country is in such a mess.
Madam Speaker, the amendments passed yesterday by the liberal majority say the following: "The Minister of Human Resources Development shall invite representatives of all the provinces to consult and work together to develop, through mutual consent, a set of shared principles and objectives for the other social programs referred to in paragraph (1)( d ) that could underlie the Canada Health and Social Transfer''. Other social programs include not only health but also post-secondary education and welfare.
First of all, what is meant by "mutual consent"?
We have heard it over the past 15 or 20 years; "mutual agreement" has meant that as soon as seven provinces with 50 per cent of the population agree, there is mutual agreement. Not only is the agreement mutual, but it becomes a Canadian consensus, no matter what Quebec believes.
This is the route we are going with Bill C-76, and the provisions regarding the Canada social transfer if they are adopted under their present form. Mutual agreement could mean the agreement of seven provinces with 50 per cent of the population. The federalists opposite with their blinders on will see it as a Canadian consensus. They used to be called the 74 fools. I do not know how many of them there are now, I did not count them, but I do not think anything has changed. Even they will accept that Quebec is made to toe the line if there is mutual agreement with seven provinces accounting for 50 per cent of the population.
This is what is meant by mutual agreement, it becomes a Canadian consensus and must be abided by, and it says right here that if it is not, they will cut funding. "Canada health and social transfer may be provided for a fiscal year for the purpose of-" Among the listed purposes are the following: "promoting any
shared principles and objectives that are developed, pursuant to subsection (3), with respect to the operation of social programs, other than a program for the purpose referred to in paragraph (b)."
What this means is that because these types of consensus have been arrived at through mutual agreement, as I explained earlier, if one province does not abide by these mutual agreements, these sorts of Canadian consensus, its funding will be cut in a drastic manner and without warning.
Picture this. A Canadian consensus is arrived at regarding post-secondary education, with seven provinces accounting for 50 per cent of the population, excluding Quebec, and they say: "From now on, this is the way education is going to be, and this is the route all provincial governments are going to follow". If Quebec refuses to toe the line, because of its distinct culture and because it is a distinct nation, it will lose billions of dollars in transfer payments. This is what is called co-operative federalism according to Bill C-76.
We have a suggestion to make to the government: it should immediately abolish all provisions concerning the Canada health and social transfer and, before anything else, meet with the Quebec government to discuss its withdrawal. It should withdraw from any area of provincial jurisdiction like health care, post-secondary education and welfare. It must leave those areas to Quebec. It must transfer tax points to the Quebec government as a compensation and stop annoying Quebec with those darned national standards, those Canada-wide standards.
That is what Quebec wants and that is the essence of Quebec's message.