Madam Speaker, it has been interesting listening to the debate on the motion this morning. The motion is basically in support of the provincial premiers and the provincial governments that met in Saskatoon in drafting up the social union and then coming to an agreement.
The debate seems to have narrowed down to wanting more money for health care. I do not deny that is an important issue, however I feel this is far greater than just a debate on whether or not we get more money for health care. This is a debate on the future of our country and the relationship between the federal and provincial governments.
I suggest that the relationship we have had over the past 30 years has not worked very well. What we are looking for is a relationship between the federal government and the provincial governments that will be progressive, that will be futuristic and that will work in the 21st century.
It was interesting to listen to my colleague across the floor, the Minister for Human Resources Development talk about this government modernizing and being progressive. I suggest that just is not so. This government is dragging its feet. It is looking at the old way of doing things, the old way of domination. It is not looking at a new progressive partnership with the provinces. It is incumbent upon the government to listen to the debate today on how we are looking for a new progressive partnership with the provinces.
The Liberals are not showing leadership. They are not showing Canadians that they know what leadership is all about when they refuse to accept the premiers' outreach in changing the relationship between the federal and provincial governments so that it will work better in the future.
The Liberal government really should reconsider its opposition to what is being proposed by the premiers. I find it amusing that even the separatist party in the House of Commons, the Bloc, seems to be doing more for national unity than the Liberal government of the day.
I would like to introduce to the House some comments out of the new Canada act which the Reform Party presented to the House in the spring. This is an attempt by the Reform Party to deal with some issues to modernize our government so it will be ready for the 21st century. We suggested a few things and in Saskatoon the premiers seemed to agree with our intent.
We suggested that there should be limits on federal government spending power. The federal government should not just walk in and take over provincial jurisdiction because it has money to spend. We felt that the federal government should not be financing new programs unless there is support from the provinces. We used a figure of seven provinces having over 50% of the population. The premiers have agreed to a lesser mark than that. The premiers are being very generous in saying it just needs the majority of the provinces.
We feel that any province that chooses not to participate should receive a grant equal to the population of the province multiplied by the per capita spending of the federal government for that new program. The provinces have agreed to something even more controlling and more definitive than that. The provinces are being very generous in agreeing to this partnership with the federal government.
We go on to mention other things in this resolution. We mention a dispute resolution mechanism. We feel it is necessary to establish the parameters of how a disagreement is going to be handled up front before getting into that situation. Again we are far more stringent in our presentation than the premiers. The premiers have agreed to something that is more generous with the federal government.
I find it very interesting that the premiers seem to be reaching out. They seem to be willing to accommodate. The premiers are willing to be flexible, to use the minister's word. I find no flexibility in the federal government's approach. I find no flexibility in this old way of doing business with the provinces, this old concept that someone has to be in charge.
The government talks about partnerships. A partnership is when people work together on an equal basis, respect each other's authority under the constitution and respect each other's position at the bargaining table. That is missing from the federal government. It does not seem to be willing to be a true partner.
My colleagues have talked about the cuts to transfer payments and that is a fact. That is something the other side cannot argue. It is a fact that in the last four years this government cut 23% of transfers to the provinces.
I do not consider that to be a fair partnership. When the federal government originally got into the Canada Health Act, a fair partnership was an agreement of 50% funding. The federal government said to the provinces “We want you to do this; we agree to do this and we will fund you 50%”. Now the federal government is only funding 23%.
Where is the commitment to that partnership, to that relationship? I would suggest it does not exist. Because it does not exist, because the federal government is fronting less than a quarter, it has lost the moral right to place demands on the provinces. The federal government has lost the moral right to have the controls it insists on. The government has no moral authority to be taking the leadership position when it is only a minor shareholder in that partnership.
It is time for this government to take some leadership, to recognize the fact that 10 provincial premiers met and discussed this social union and lo and behold all 10 of them agreed. That must have been a very momentous occasion, something we do not see very often in this country. Ten premiers, 10 provinces agreeing to look at the fundamentals of an agreement.
Ten provinces have recognized the need to work together not for power or control, but because that is the best way they see of providing services to their people. Like all of us, they have to seek election, seek the support of their electorate. They are accountable to the electorate for their actions.
Ten premiers have reached a consensus and what do we have? A federal government holding out and saying it does not care what the 10 have agreed on. It is unbelievable what our Prime Minister has said. To quote the Prime Minister, he said “If they”—the premiers—“do not want to take what I am offering, they take nothing”. For somebody who is negotiating and trying to get a partnership working, that kind of an attitude does nothing for co-operation.
The government has to change its attitude. It has to be more willing to change the way it does business with the provinces. If the federal government wants to show leadership to keep this country together, in developing new meaningful partnerships with the provinces not only on the social union but in other things as well, it will have to have the attitude to make it work. If it will not let it work and if it is going to turn its back on something that 10 provinces have agreed to, I do not consider that to be a partnership at all.
I would like to caution the Bloc members. I think that they are using this as an attempt to show that Canadians will not support them when the government, hopefully does not, but it looks like it is not going to be co-operative. I caution the Bloc because what I see here with the 10 premiers coming up with a consensus is that the process does work within confederation.
The process of negotiating for the best for our citizens does work. The problem is the players. The problem is people like the Prime Minister and his cabinet and the people on that side of the House who refuse to modernize their thinking and change the way of doing things, of governing the country.
I would suggest to the Bloc that there is a process. Canadians can work these things out within confederation. We can be equal partners. We can respect each other's positions and it can happen within Canada. We need to make sure that we have a government on the other side that respects that position and is willing to work within it.