Madam Speaker, I have one comment to make following the speech by my colleague, who mentioned many interesting facts.
First of all, it is very important to note that my colleague is himself an accountant. Therefore when he speaks about the finance minister's accounting practices, I trust him fully. When the auditor general himself questions the way the finance minister applies accounting standards, we have every right to wonder.
My colleague also talked about millennium scholarships. I have worked on this issue, and I can say I have seen all kinds of weird things. First, education is an area under provincial jurisdiction. It is an area of jurisdiction over which Quebec has full authority. What is the federal government doing with its surplus, the result of cuts to the provinces? What it takes with one hand it gives back with the other in an area over which it has no jurisdiction. I find this totally absurd.
I believes it lowers efficiency. I said earlier that one of the problems with federalism is that it leads to competition among governments; they compete with their programs. The Prime Minister himself acknowledged this measure was aimed in part at increasing federal visibility. I had asked the question of the Prime Minister, who replied “When we send a cheque to students, we want them to know where it comes from”. It is sad to play politics that way.
I could say a lot more about the millennium scholarships, especially the fact that the management of something public is being entrusted to a private body. I wonder where democracy is going. The democratic deficit and eroding political power are things that concern me a lot, as I tend to see them in terms of globalization of the economy.
But when, in this chamber, elected representatives are voluntarily renouncing their powers, I think we have some serious problems.
I know this is not what this debate is about, but I wanted to point this out because when I hear about this it makes my hair stand on end.
The other point raised by my colleague is a crucial one. It deals with the physical and mental health of individuals, of our fellow citizens. The education and health services we provide them with are very important indeed.
I am running out of time, which is unfortunate, but I will conclude by saying that, in a democracy, it is extremely important that every citizen be able to point the finger at those responsible for the cuts. Right now, in most of the regions in this country, the people do not know if they should point the finger at the provincial or at the federal government, because in the end the cuts always seem to come from the next level up. And this, in my mind, undermines democracy.