Mr. Speaker, I wish to inform you that I will be sharing my time with the hon. member for Bonaventure—Gaspé—Îles-de-la-Madeleine—Pabok.
On October 15 in Vancouver, the Minister of Finance presented his government's economic policies to the Canadian public. The finance committee held fifty or so meetings with socioeconomic stakeholders and members of the public in order to find out what they thought, but the democratic process ends there.
Having being rushed along on a tight timetable and having seen large extracts of the finance committee's report in the Toronto media, we realized that all that was missing from the committee's document was the cover page from the Liberals' last election campaign red book.
Once again the Liberals have shown that they have no respect for democracy and could not care less about the opposition parties, including the Bloc Quebecois.
The Liberals used the pre-budget consultations to try to show that the public was in favour of their economic policies. This Liberal report is just another step in the maple leaf marketing plan announced with great fanfare in the Speech from the Throne.
The Bloc Quebecois is familiar with the Liberals' partisan tactics and made sure to table a dissenting report so that our party's opinion would be known and not drowned out in this vast federal operation.
As we all know, we are here solely to defend Quebec's interests. We in the Bloc Quebecois again call on the Minister of Finance to pay the provinces, particularly Quebec, what he owes them. Before going ahead with other measures involving national standards that would interfere with provincial areas of jurisdiction, this government must treat its provincial partners fairly and return to them the amounts it has relieved them of since 1993, significant amounts despite what the Minister of Finance says.
For Quebec, this means that, if the Minister of Finance wanted to be generous, he would write out a nice cheque for $5 billion. Dream on. We no longer believe in Santa Claus or in the federal government's little helpers. We know that, even though this government comes dressed in the traditional red of the jolly gentleman himself, it is a Santa without a heart.
Over the last few months, this scrooge in Santa's clothing has deprived dozens of Quebec parents of their fundamental rights by slashing EI benefits. Even as the holiday season approaches, the Minister of Finance and his side-kick in human resources development are all in favour of these decisions, which I still describe as inhumane. They still refuse to budge and admit that their wonderful employment insurance scheme is a failure and that they should start calling it poverty insurance.
Instead of having compassion for the least well off in our society, this government continues to listen to Toronto's Bay Street magnates. The Minister of Finance keeps saying that his government is doing a good job and that, next year, it will have a surplus. What he does not say is that this accounting operation has been accomplished on the backs of the provinces and the most disadvantaged.
The federal government ought to stimulate job creation and to lead an all-out attack against poverty. The Bloc Quebecois and the numerous stakeholders in Quebec are demanding an in-depth reform of personal and corporate income tax.
The last major review of corporate tax dates back to the 1960s. I hardly need tell you that the tax measures are out of date and unsuited to the present economic context. The Minister of Finance, however, is content with it. The same goes for personal income tax. The minister is operating with measures that no longer meet the needs of individuals.
The Bloc Quebecois proposals, in a spirit of re-establishing social justice, would allow the majority of taxpayers to benefit from a tax reduction. For example, the creation of a reimbursable credit for child care expenses would allow a single parent with one child and an income of $20,000 to save an additional $600 plus. That is a concrete social measure.
The Reform Party is talking of decreasing income and other taxes. First of all, it shouldo do as the Bloc Quebecois has done, and demand a major reform of a federal tax system that is very ill suited to the current economic context.
Every time the auditor general tables a report, he points out to the federal government the shortcomings of its taxation system. We need only think about the scandal of the family trusts and the use of subsidiaries in tax havens, which the Minister of Finance in fact uses to reduce his taxes.
The prebudget consultations clearly show, once again, that there are two irreconcilable visions. The federal government wants to centralize everything, establish national standards and continue to infringe on the exclusive rights of the provinces. Quebec wants to fight for its independence and speaks out increasingly in an effort to force the Liberal government to respect provincial jurisdictions.
The current situation is as follows, and I will recall it for you: Canada comprises two peoples, the Canadian people and the Quebec people. However, the people of Quebec are making themselves heard increasingly, and Quebeckers are living in hope. They know that very soon they will no longer be part of this completely outmoded federal system, a Trudeauist government whose grand master never hid his disdain for the provinces. Trudeauism is personified in this House by the minister of provincial interference.
In conclusion, this government takes every opportunity to twist its own Constitution and meddle in fields under Quebec jurisdiction. It is obsessed with making its presence felt. In Quebec, however, the fleur de lys is engraved on the hearts of Quebeckers and with this symbol of pride they will fend off the underhanded attacks of the federal government saying with one voice: “Yes to a sovereign Quebec; yes to all economic powers serving Quebec”.