Mr. Speaker, as a member of the Bloc Quebecois, I am pleased today to take part in this opposition day devoted to a debate proposed by my Reform Party colleagues.
First, I must say that my political party approves the principle behind the Reform statement to the effect that the government is “imperiling the economic and social security of Canadians with their reckless commitment to dramatically increase spending” at a time when “Canada has the highest personal income taxes in the G-7”. I would add that the Minister of Finance's priorities are not fair to the average taxpayer.
We think it is clear that the federal government must stop spending and focus on running the country better. However, the Bloc Quebecois' ideas for attaining this goal of reducing spending are a little different from those proposed by the Reform Party.
I will begin by reminding members that last October's cross-country tour of major Canadian cities, and the comments made by organizations and individuals in the course of approximately 50 meetings of the Standing Committee on Finance show that the country as a whole wants the Minister of Finance to change his political tune.
The Bloc Quebecois is clear about this: the Liberal government must call a halt to the cuts it has been making to provincial transfer payments since 1993 and, in particular, forget about the $30 billion it was planning to cut over the next few years.
The Minister of Finance must give back to the provinces the amounts he has cut and must certainly not launch costly new programs with national standards that would interfere in areas of provincial jurisdiction. In Quebec and throughout the rest of Canada, the public continues to condemn the Liberal administration.
The federal government is largely responsible for the deterioration in Quebec's health services and for student debt, for our young people being crushed under the weight of the tax burden imposed by the federal government.
Last December, Quebec's premier, Lucien Bouchard, made an interesting proposal to the Minister of Finance. This proposal reflected the wishes of all Quebeckers. The wonderful surpluses soon to be announced by the Minister of Finance should be used as follows: 25% to make up for cuts to transfer payments and 75% to ease some of the load on taxpayers. That is a realistic suggestion.
In this connection, the Minister of Finance ought to abolish the employment tax, or in other words reduce employment insurance contributions by employers and workers, and labour and management are unanimous on this. Even the chambers of commerce throughout the country are insisting that the Minister of Finance decrease contributions.
So what is the Minister of Finance waiting for before taking concrete action in response to these demands? He cannot take action, understandably, because he continues to dip into the employment insurance fund in order to reduce his deficit. What the Minister of Finance will be announcing to us shortly is, in actual fact, nothing more than a simple mathematical operation and the pseudo-surpluses will in actual fact be nothing more than the amounts he has taken out of the employment insurance fund.
The rules as they stand still allow the Minister of Finance to dip into these funds, which were contributed solely by businesses and workers, and which, let us remember, now add up to about $12 billion.
It must be kept in mind too that the auditor general also strongly recommends an annual report on all employment insurance activities, so that the Canadian people may know how this program is really being administered. To this too the Minister of Finance turns a deaf ear. He continues to obstinately pursue the policies he has always favoured.
Let me now tell you about another solution which could help alleviate the taxpayers' fiscal burden, namely having better control over the numerous service charges created in recent years by various federal departments and agencies. The figures are alarming. These federal agencies implemented service charges when the Minister of Finance authorized them to do so in 1995. The minister stated at that time that it was appropriate to charge such new fees in order to finance part of the programs and services provided by the federal government.
Who is paying for this new approach? The taxpayer. Let me give you some examples of increased service charges by federal agencies: a head tax of $975 for each new immigrant coming to Canada; administration fees for a passport raised from $35 to $60.
Another measure directly affects families and outdoor enthusiasts: in 1995-96, $35 million in entrance fees was collected from users of our lovely national campgrounds, and these fees almost doubled in 1996-97, totalling over $61 million. Today, access to national camping facilities costs more than to private ones. How can these hidden taxes imposed with the finance minister's blessing be justified when the people of Quebec and Canada are already taxed to death?
The pre-budget consultations clearly showed, once again, that there are two economic visions in the country. The federal government wants to centralize everything, establish national standards and continue to infringe on the exclusive rights of the provinces. As for Quebec, it leads a daily fight to protect its autonomy against this centralizing government. It takes all kinds of actions to ensure that the federal government respects provincial jurisdiction.
The Bloc Quebecois is simply asking the Minister of Finance to give the provinces their money back. The minister must correct the social injustice he created for those directly affected by his financial decisions, namely the unemployed, students and low income people.
Where do the finance minister's real interests lie? In the coming months, the Bloc Quebecois will speak as often as necessary, here in this House and everywhere in Quebec, to get the point across to the Liberal government. Between now and budget day, we will insist that the Minister of Finance finally see the light.
We stand up for Quebec, whose federal transfer payments were drastically cut these past few years. Also, the Minister of Finance has to stop dipping into employment insurance surpluses and ask his colleague, the Minister of Human Resources Development, to amend the Employment Insurance Act to make it more accessible and compassionate for the workers.
To conclude, we ask that future surpluses be used by the federal government to do justice to the province. Moreover, the government must implement job creation initiatives. Finally, it must be truly responsive to the needs of our people.