Mr. Speaker, everything I have heard from the other side since this morning is absolutely appalling.
It has been said that the federal government is cutting left, right and centre. I would like to point out to my colleagues opposite that the major cuts were made here in Ottawa. The provinces were asked, two years in advance, to put their house in order. The only thing the Quebec government came up with was to cut municipal budgets even more than we cut its transfer payments, with about 4 months' notice.
The Quebec government decided to do a major cleanup in health care in three years. Nobody asked the Quebec government to cut the health care budget to eliminate the deficit and to try to bring about a winning referendum in the year 2000 on the backs of the people. Now they point the finger at the Government of Canada. They should be ashamed.
We eliminated the $42 billion deficit in five years. We can now start to think about lowering taxes for low income earners. We improved the system but we are still being blamed for everything. They should take a look in the mirror. It is really appalling to hear things like that today.
When we talk about the millennium scholarship fund, do we say that we will be asking teachers to teach more English than French or do we pretend that two plus two will now equal five? No. What we say is that we want to help talented young Canadians to keep on studying, even if their parents do not have the financial means to help them. We want to set up a scholarship program in concert with governments. It will be up to them to choose the recipients.
With a little bit of planing and co-operation, there should be no problem. The reason our visibility is resented is that people who want to separate do not want to reveal what the Government of Canada is doing for Quebeckers.
When we hear that $29 billion in taxes is sent to Ottawa, nobody mentions that $42 billion also comes from Ottawa. People should know that.
Let us talk about equalization: $4.7 billion is sent back to Quebec. Quebec receives 47 per cent of Canada's total equalization payments. The members opposite do not talk about that. They just talk about the bad things. If they want to be honest, they must tell both sides of the story. Quebeckers must know the truth.
What would the member do things? How would he improve health care? In Quebec City, nurses are laid off and then rehired with severance pay. Talk about good management!
The member for Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot should explain the solutions he is advocating. All he does is criticize. He never has a solution to suggest. He should suggest something.