Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to speak on behalf of the government on these Group No. 3 motions.
Unlike some of my colleagues, I am going to try to stick as much as I can to the actual motions before us and talk about what they are rather than talking about everything else.
First, government Motion. No. 120 deals with clause 262. Clause 262 of Bill C-70 adds new provisions to the Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements Act that set out the statutory authority for the federal government to make payments to the participating provinces equal to their respective share of the provincial component of the HST determined in accordance with the harmonization agreements. This motion amends new section 8.4 and 8.5 of that act to provide that, for government accounting purposes, the revenues from the HST shall be recorded net of these amounts payable to the participating provinces. I point that out in support of the government's motion.
I will respond to some of the remarks that have been made in the debate on this group of motions. I oppose the opposition motions that are a part of this group. My first comment is with respect to some comments made earlier this morning by the Bloc Quebecois.
As I said this morning in English, Bloc members are opposed to harmonization and this is very odd. It is odd indeed, since there is already harmonization in Quebec. Could it be that opposition members want to keep the benefits of harmonization all to themselves, their businesses and consumers?
The reality is that members of the Bloc Quebecois know the value and merits of harmonization. They are not suggesting that
Quebec cease, unravel and turn back the clock on harmonization in Quebec. They are not saying that at all. However, they are saying to the maritimes: "Don't harmonize, this is a terrible thing".
I wonder whether they want to preserve the advantages of harmonization for the businesses of Quebec, particularly because they border on other provinces, while they would deny those advantages of lower prices to consumers and the simplicity to retailers that would come from harmonization in provinces contiguous with Quebec. It is a little surprising to see the Bloc stand up hour after hour and attack harmonization.
I will turn to members from the third party and the spectacle we have seen in the House. They are from one regions of the country and they are once again saying to another region: "You don't want this. We know better. Don't do this. This would be terrible for you," while consumers are telling us overwhelmingly, "this is what we want," and the provincial governments agree.
We hear a great deal from members of the third party about respecting local governments and regional decision making. When regional governments have made a decision it is only okay if that decision agrees with the views of the members of the third party, but if they take a decision in the interests of Atlantic Canada, in the interests of business and principally consumers, that is not good enough for the third party.
I really do not want to get into this debate. I want to speak precisely to the motions before us. It is really incredible that they keep speaking about retailers but I have not heard them speaking for the consumers. This harmonization measure will benefit consumers immeasurably and enormously. People in those provinces know that, which is why they are going down this route.
No doubt this is a complex bill. There are adjustments in any tax legislation. That is why we are debating these motions, why we had very good and effective amendments at the finance committee and why we are debating a number of government motions again, to make the bill work better.
I welcome this opportunity to speak to this. This is a big and complex country. It is possible that one region of the country might decide for the moment that one course of action is more in the interests of their people than another. It is unfortunate when members from one region presume to tell the people of another region what is good for them. They are perfectly capable of making up their minds, and they have done so in Newfoundland, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.