Madam Speaker, in his speech the hon. member talked about many things and nothing at all. He forgot to tell us that the federal government was having all Canadians and all Quebecers pay for harmonizing the GST with the maritime provinces. We will have to pay almost $1 billion for this harmonization. I repeat that Quebec, when it harmonized, did not get any compensation.
Another thing he could have talked about, because we did not learn anything, is that by harmonizing the GST the federal government is interfering directly with the provinces' autonomy since they will lose full control over the taxation rate and the tax base.
In preliminary discussions, the Bloc Quebecois had suggested to the government that it could solve two problems at once in this area. First, abolish the GST and give the whole field of indirect
taxation to the provinces, and then obtain some form of compensation for the federal government's losses. The federal's compensation could have taken the form of reduced cash transfers to provinces.
In this way, the federal government could have maintained its financial balance and the provinces would have regained control of their fields of taxation, therefore their autonomy. Then, we could have done away with the Canada social transfer and each of the provinces would have had the right and the power to manage, and manage completely, the areas of health, education and social assistance.
I would like my colleague to answer the following question: Why have they brushed aside this solution which would have been much more equitable for all Canadians and all Quebecers?