Mr. Speaker, in recent years, the Minister of Finance has tabled budgets in which transfers to the provinces for health, education, and welfare drop, or will drop, from $30 billion to $25 billion in 1996-98, in other words cuts of $5 billion over two years.
Today, that same government is talking to us about creating programs and tax measures in the order of $2 billion to offset, very partially, the cuts to the provinces.
Will the Minister of Finance finally admit that the manoeuvring he is involved in at this time, this withdrawal from the funding of provincial social programs in order to create its own programs has but one objective, increasing federal government visibility? This is not done in order to help those who are truly in need, the victims, for the federal government is the one who made them victims and is now coming to their rescue.