Madam Speaker, the Bloc separatists keep saying that the people of Quebec want all
these things, that they want to separate, but they did lose the referendum. The people in Quebec said they do not want to separate. If this government had done its job, of course the margin would have been far greater than it actually was; however, we will leave that debate for another day.
They always seem to get back to the issue of money and how they have missed out on the billion dollars that has been given to Atlantic Canadians by the Minister of Finance. They feel that they are entitled to the same or more because they are in Quebec and have harmonized voluntarily with the GST. They feel that shucks, why do they not get money as well?
Let us look at it. The Prime Minister signed an agreement with the province of British Columbia a few weeks ago to pay it more money for immigration. I do not exactly have my numbers right but I understand a lot more new immigrants are going to British Columbia than are going to the province of Quebec. However, the province of Quebec is getting a lot more money to handle immigration than the province of British Columbia. I do not hear Quebec members saying that it seems they are getting too much money and maybe they should give some of that money back. We do not hear that.
The great equalization program has been part of our Canadian way of working with the provinces and has been around for about 40 years. The provinces that are more prosperous pay money to those which are less affluent. As Reformers we do not disagree with that philosophy.
The province of Quebec has always been one of the have not provinces and the money has been flowing to it. The have provinces are primarily Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia. Quebec and Ontario are right next to a fabulous market with 100 million people on the eastern seaboard of the United States. Across the Atlantic, there are 250 million people in Europe, a phenomenal market for the manufactured goods of the provinces of Quebec and Ontario. Markets are opening up around the world but Quebec is still a have not province. It is a perennial have not province.
The politicians in Quebec should say that they want to be part of this great country Canada and that they want to play their part in creating jobs for the people of Quebec and trade with the eastern seaboard of the United States through the free trade agreement. They should say that they want to trade with the rest of Canada and bring down the barriers that have been built between provinces, so that they can expand jobs, create jobs, create wealth, create opportunity and create hope for their children, rather than just saying that they want a subsidy too.
When will the Bloc and the separatists start to see that there are far greater opportunities within Canada through participating in economic development rather than keeping the old, old story that they have been hard done by and please send them more money. That story will not work. I think the people in Quebec and the rest of the country want jobs, an opportunity and an education. They want to prosper. That is what they want.