Mr. Speaker, I am rising to make a few comments following the speech by my colleague from the Bloc Quebecois, having heard and read carefully the speech from the throne presented by the Governor General in the Senate and having heard what various ministers have said over the last few days. A while ago, we heard the Minister of the Environment talk about job creation and reaffirm red book promises. I do not know whether the minister has looked at his government's performance over the last two years, but it is imperative that the government, which was elected to create jobs, start doing so without further delay.
The current government has done exactly the opposite after taking office by laying off 35,000 employees, in the public service alone. Believe it or not, these 35,000 jobs that were cut were in the area of services to the public. Let me just mention, among other things, that a number of employment centres were closed and that a number of air traffic controllers were laid off.
You can be sure that, by cutting jobs, especially in the public service, not only does the government not save any money for the Canadian taxpayer, but it increases its deficit. Contracting out to the private sector by the federal government amounted to $11 billion in 1995, compared to $1.4 billion in 1984.
By closing the Collège militaire royal de Saint-Jean, the government has caused the number of unemployed workers to increase. As for the closure and the privatization of federal infrastructures, we see more and more of that in the House.
I also heard the Minister of the Environment talk about duplication, an issue that we also talk about regularly. My colleague just said that the government should get out of areas under provincial jurisdiction.
I am concerned about duplication in environmental matters. Will we have a situation where the federal government manages water quality while the provincial government manages fish stocks? I am afraid that, if it comes to that, the fish in Quebec will be swimming on their backs in a few years.
Will the federal government manage air quality while we manage the birds? I am afraid our birds will start flying backwards because of the pollution.
I would like to ask my colleague whether he sees in the speech from the throne, between the wishes of the government and reality, some hope of a promising future for workers and for the unemployed, for our youth and our seniors.