Mr. Speaker, as I listened to the secretary of state explain his borrowing authority bill, I was very touched, but not in a positive way.
Contrary to what the hon. member just said, what is costly to the state is not the delay in passing this bill but, rather, the federal government's inability to make decisions that should have been made since it took office. It is also the lack of a true and sound management of public finances, with a determined effort to eliminate waste. It is the inability to make decisions that should have been made two and half years ago, so as to put our fiscal house in order with a real tax reform and not the smoke and mirror scheme proposed in the last budget.
It is also the inability to develop policies that would truly stimulate employment. All this is costly to the Quebec state and to taxpayers. What is also costly to the Canadian state is to have a government that does not do its job in its fields of jurisdiction and, moreover, continues to want to interfere in areas which come under provincial jurisdiction. This is costly to the Canadian state, as well as to the taxpayers of Quebec and Canada.
Earlier, the opposition leader lambasted the government because the Prime Minister will not make a decision and comply with Quebec's unanimous request concerning manpower training and active employment measures. The Prime Minister refuses to comply with the wish of 800,000 Quebecers who are waiting for a true labour market policy to rejoin the workforce, earn a living with dignity.
All this is costly to the Canadian state, but it is particularly costly to those who have been paying since the finance minister took over, and I am referring to the unemployed and the poor in our society.
The government is asking us to authorize it to borrow $18.6 billion on behalf of Quebecers and Canadians, while it is plagued by chronic incompetence. This is asking a lot from the official opposition. We will, therefore, oppose this bill.