"-without the consent of the majority of the provinces". Which means that if the majority of the provinces consent, the federal government will interfere in areas in which it has no business.
Instead of withdrawing, of minding its own business, of simplifying its machinery, the federal government has chosen to interfere still further in areas of exclusively provincial jurisdiction.
How can anyone conceive of a country where the main occupation of a government consists in seeking out areas of jurisdiction that do not belong to it, just to stir things up? To my knowledge, the only government that does so is the government in Ottawa.
Evidence of this is easy to find. We have been told of the creation of a Canadian securities commission. This is an area in which the federal government has never been involved and in which it has no business being involved, one which will require it to rehire staff, to create a structure, to duplicate what is already being done in Quebec, to complicate things. And why? In honour of what? In honour of its so-called mission, or what it thinks is its mission.
The federal government has also announced its intention of creating a Canada revenue commission. "It would be good if there were only one collector for all taxes in Canada". In the course of history, not only has the federal government funded its war efforts through powers of taxation it did not originally have under the Constitution, but now as well it wants to collect taxes on behalf of all of the administrations in Canada. If this is how a government acts when it wants to cut back, to trim the fat, to mind its own business, my goodness, I wonder where we are headed. Over time, there is an increasing tendency for the government to want to poke its finger into areas where it has no business being.
Some may reply that it might be worthwhile to eliminate duplication. That could be the case, if there were only one department of revenue, one national commission. Have you noticed how the federal government is in a rush to do away with duplication if that means cornering all of the powers for itself, and how reluctant it is to return those powers to their rightful owners?
Not only is the federal government incapable of cutting its expenditures, not only is it incapable of staying within its own federal role and of leaving the jurisdictions of others alone, but on top of that it refuses to act in areas where it ought to have responsibility, employment for one. How many job creation measures-and this is another way of looking at the budget-did the Minister of Finance announce? Is the minister aware of the need to take action to create conditions that are conducive to job creation in this country?
"Jobs, jobs, jobs", as they were saying during the election campaign. So I checked. Did the minister announce major job creation measures? Although, in the budget document, the government claims to be investing in future jobs and growth, students and their families get nothing but crumbs: $165 million over three
years. In the last budget, the minister cut student funding by half a billion dollars. Last year, they cut half a billion dollars but this year, they are investing in jobs and setting aside, for example, $165 million for students.
Have you ever seen anything like it? On the one hand, they cut millions of dollars and, on the other hand, they give away a few crumbs while bragging: "We took action to stimulate employment. We are reallocating $315 million over three years to create new job opportunities for young people by, among other things, doubling the funds for student summer employment". The federal government is incapable of taking action, of making changes, of supporting provincial governments adequately in their efforts to promote economic recovery, but it keeps unemployment hovering around 10 per cent in Canada and it tells us: "We have allocated $165 million for students and their families, $315 million, over a three year period, for new job opportunities, including summer jobs".
The government shows a total lack of vision. This is a trim down budget. There is nothing regarding what was asked of the government itself. There is nothing about stimulating the economy. The only thing this government made in recent years was to ask other governments to make an effort. Indeed, the federal government asked provincial governments to absorb part of its deficit. It asked the provinces to absorb a total of $7 billion.
It is easy for the federal government to lower its deficit when it tells the provinces: "Look, you will no longer receive the money that you used to get from us". So much for that. This means a shortfall of $7 billion for the provinces. It also means $5 billion less each year in the UI fund. It is easy to tell the unemployed: "Listen, there is a surplus of money in your fund, even though the government does not contribute one penny to that fund. That surplus of $5 billion per year comes from your own contributions and those of your employers. Nevertheless, we want to put that money in our pockets. This is part of the federal government's budgetary effort".
Some $7 billion less for the provinces and about $5 billion taken every year from the UI fund. And the Minister of Finance tells us that these cuts will be maintained over a number of years. The minister says: "Look at how good I am. I reached my objectives. I am a remarkable administrator and, in addition to all that, I also injected a few million dollars into the employment sector. Let us hear it for me, after all I am the best finance minister this country has ever had
We are not fooled by the message that was delivered to us. The Minister of Finance has tried to disguise the bad news for the unemployed and for the women who will lose their financial autonomy when they reach retirement age, as a result of the changes the minister wants to make in a few years in the old age security program. So, bad news for the unemployed, for women, for young people too, who will be bearing the brunt of the sizeable cuts imposed upon them by the minister, despite the few millions announced. Bad news for those who were hoping the federal government would finally learn to mind its own business and stay within its own areas of jurisdiction. Bad news, too, for those who had hopes that the government would finally trim some of the fat and become more productive.
In short, this budget reflects one of two things: either the minister has totally run out of new ideas, no longer knows what to do, is running out of energy, sees himself as unable to do more and is settling for apologies about what he has done in his time as minister, or the government is getting ready to go to the people and is trying to butter them up a bit, to use a bit of subterfuge, to say "Well now, things may not be all that great, but neither are we all that bad a government after all".
Before I close, let me say that the people are not fools. We will never be able to accept a government that has put us into debt to the tune of some $3,700 per person in the past two and a half years still wants to invade areas of jurisdiction that do not belong to it, nor will we accept its refusal to trim the fat as it should, or that it is now coming to us with the explanation that the provincial governments need to do their part, need to reduce their deficits, need to assume the federal deficit, in short that it wants to direct things on behalf of everyone within the Canadian federation.
I will be frank: Quebecers cannot accept such a budget. It is a cosmetic budget, one hiding the truth, one which may help the Minister of Finance and his government to hold on for a few more months, but it does not address the underlying problem. It does not address Canada's true financial situation, which is a disaster from all points of view. I believe that people have more respect for those who have courage and who know how to call things by their right name than those who try to disguise them with politics. This is a lesson the Minister of Finance ought to take to heart.