Madam Speaker, through you, I ask the member for Beauce not to call me a liar, as he did in stating that the figures I gave were not the right ones. Let him check, let him do his job. The Liberals from Quebec should do their job and take it a little more seriously. They will see that the figures I gave were the real ones, the right ones. These figures came from their own colleague, the Minister of Finance and member for LaSalle—Émard.
As I was saying, we must be very careful with figures. We must review the principles behind equalization. Since equalization payments are calculated on a per capita basis, any comparison should also be made on a per capita basis. On that basis, Quebec does not benefit from equalization payments any more than the other provinces do.
If one insists on making statements such as the ones we heard from the other side, to the effect that Quebec is spoiled when it comes to federal transfers, then one should provide the whole picture. If one claims that Quebec receives more in equalization and social transfers payments than the other provinces, one should also say something about federal investments in Quebec over the past 30 years and about the procurement of goods and services in Quebec. If those Liberal members did their homework, they would defend Quebec rather than begin by saying we are whiners. One has only to look at the data—and the data come from Statistics Canada, the Department of Finance, and the Department of Public Works and Government Services—to see that, since 1961, Quebec has never had its fair share.
For example, in terms of federal fixed capital investments, in the past 30 years, only 18% of total federal investments were made in Quebec. Yet, Quebeckers still account for one quarter of the Canadian population. Given our demographic weight and our contribution to the federal government's revenues, we should be entitled to at least 25%.
The figures on the procurement of goods and services are not jokes of false data. They can be checked. In fact, all the figures that I am presenting can be checked. It is simply a matter of not being so lazy and really going to check them. In terms of the procurement of goods and services, we have had only 18% since 1961, more than 35 years ago, while Quebec accounted for more than one quarter of the population then and accounts for one quarter of it now.
If we look at the whole investment picture and procurement of goods and services, Quebec has a shortfall of $2.4 billion a year. This is productive and job creating spending. This $2.4 billion in spending on goods and services from businesses could help create 45,000 jobs in Quebec if it were properly and fairly distributed to Quebec. If the federal government had acted fairly, an extra 45,000 jobs could have been created in Quebec. That is a lot. The unemployment rate in Quebec with these 45,000 jobs would be 1.1% lower. That is significant.
These figures can and should be verified. It is true that, if we look at only part of the problem, we could indeed say that Quebec receives $1 billion more a year in equalization payments and employment insurance than its demographic weight would justify. We are not ashamed of that, especially since if the federal government had made these fixed capital investments, and if we had had our share of federal government procurement of goods and services in Quebec, we would have made up this billion dollars. We would not need the extra equalization payment, employment insurance benefits or social assistance. We would even have had an extra $1.4 billion to play with.
The federal government could keep the additional billion dollars it pays us over and above our demographic weight, if it returned to us the $2.4 billion it owes in job creation investments and in procurement of goods and services from Quebec businesses. In politics, two things in particular are important.
There are a number, in fact, but there are two in particular: honesty and moral integrity. Moral integrity, as in providing accurate figures, and intellectual honesty demand that you look at the picture as a whole, and not just say that Quebec receives equalization payments. Yes, Quebec receives equalization payments, as do Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island, Manitoba, Saskatchewan—