Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to take part in this debate on the report of the Standing Committee on Finance on pre-budget consultations.
I said I was pleased and I am pleased to take part, but perhaps not happy to enter into the debate to once again try to show the government how wrong it is and how it is building a surplus on the backs of the most disadvantaged, the sick, the poor and the unemployed.
This report marks the start of a new age, that of Liberal arrogance raised to new heights. The Bloc Quebecois vigorously dissociates itself from the Liberal report, which is nothing more than a semblance of democracy, than propaganda by the Minister of Finance. The report is centralizing and makes a mockery of the provinces.
From the number of measures announced in health care and education, we are guessing that the secret wish of the Liberals is to govern a province.
The report by the Liberal majority says that only the Liberal government is right and that Quebeckers and Canadians appearing before the committee were wrong.
The report by the Liberal majority distorts reality in a number of respects, in saying that the Canadians consulted wanted the Minister of Finance to voluntarily hide the surpluses under the guise of prudence, surpluses we estimate at $15 billion for this fiscal year, whereas the Minister of Finance estimates them at a maximum of $4 billion.
Last week, two female journalists were interviewed at a TV station and they commented on the pre-budget consultations. They are editorial writers very well known in English Canada. These women reported exactly what would appear in the budget. According to them also, the budget surplus was higher than what the Minister of Finance had said.
From one week to the next, his story changes from $5 billion, to $3 billion, to $7 billion, but I think he has led us to believe it is a bit over $4 billion. These journalists said “We are going to tell you what is in the next budget”, whereas normally a budget must be kept secret until its release. They then set out to tell what would be in the budget, and it was totally believable, because there has already been a kind of leak and everyone is talking about it now. So it will be no surprise.
It is known that $3 billion will be used for debt reduction. Another $2 billion will go for health, provided the provinces bend to the will of the federal government. There may be $2 billion, but if the provinces refuse, wishing to respect the Constitution, health being a provincial jurisdiction, the federal government will make it just $1 billion for the entire health system across Canada. We call that blackmail.
So we have $3 billion, maybe $2 billion for health, and another $2 billion, for they are going to lift the hidden tax on middle-income taxpayers.
Adding these figures together, I get $7 billion, apart from the billion or so to be invested, or already invested, which will also be in the budget. That makes a little more than what the Minister of Finance tells us, a bit over $4 billion.
All the problems in the health system across Canada are essentially a result of the brutal cuts by the federal Minister of Finance, the $6.3 billion yearly since this government has been in power. Page 64 of the Liberal report states, and I quote:
By reducing the health services they provided, the provinces challenged one of Canada's most cherished national symbols.
This is the height of arrogance, when we know that the federal government has dumped its deficit onto the backs of the provinces, the sick and the most disadvantaged.
The Bloc Quebecois finds it unfortunate that, when it comes to health, there is no mention of the social union agreement signed by all Canada's premiers at the meeting in Saskatoon. Provincial premiers are calling on the federal government to return to the provinces the $6.3 billion in cuts to the Canada social transfer. That is not mentioned in the report. That is not important. The 10 premiers want to see social transfer payments back at what they were when this government came to office in 1994.
This money does not belong to the federal government. It comes out of taxpayers' pockets so that we can have decent social programs, and health care is a provincial responsibility.
So the federal government should give the money back to the provinces. That seems clear to me. But no, cuts are made and the provinces left to deal with the repercussions at their level, while health costs continue to rise because of the ageing of the population and the acquisition of new technologies. The provinces are told that they are running the system badly, that it is their fault they have been cut. They are told that, if they want money, they can have it, but only if they get down on their knees. It is unbelievable.
I hope that those listening will understand the situation, because it is not acceptable. This arrogant government is boasting how well it looks after us. All that matters to them right now is to make it into the history books. Prime Minister Jean Chrétien wants visibility in everything they do. They could care less about the disadvantaged, the unemployed and the ill.
Quebec was cut almost $2 billion annually, $1 billion of it in health. In just one term in office, Jean Chrétien's policies have cut federal government health payments by almost half.
Jean Chrétien is going around—