Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased, as a Bloc Quebecois member, and as the sovereignist member for Lotbinière in particular, to speak today in this debate on the federal Ontario Liberal budget.
The Paul Martin budget of last February 16 was a slap in the face to the people of Quebec, a painful one. It is a purely political budget, as Alain Dubuc, editorial writer for La Presse , wrote the day after what I would call the worst possible social injustice toward the Quebec people.
Alain Dubuc is, as hon. members know, not the most sovereignist editorial writer at La Presse . He was, however, very clear in describing it as follows “The budget tabled by the Canadian Minister of Finance is purely political”.
He went on to say “The budgetary approach in this sixth Martin budget wallowed in the same quagmire as most actions by the Chrétien government, the difficulty of making choices and setting priorities, the lack of focus, concern with the short term, and political calculation”.
What Mr. Dubuc neglected to say is that this government has already made up its mind, and that its choice is to promote a unitary country, a centralizing country, which has been concentrating its efforts ever since October 1995 on weakening Quebec.
Quebec is in mourning. Our unemployed are weeping. Our sick people are in despair, and the middle class is up in arms against the way this government is acting.
Ontario, however, is jubilant, with Mike Harris heading things up, because he got the fine sum of $1 billion out of this government under the social union framework agreement, a centralizing union that skims off the provinces' powers, which they have enjoyed since the start of Confederation.
This centralizing union suits to a “T” the current Prime Minister, who, in the course of his career, has become an expert in reneging on his word and his signature.
The masks of the Minister of Finance, the Minister of Health and the Prime Minister fell on February 16. The Liberal plot was revealed, it was a plot against Quebec.
The meeting on February 4 was another example of the repeated offensives by the Prime Minister against Quebec. We will recall the patriation of the Constitution in 1982 and the Meech Lake accord, which was scuttled by this politician, a loyal apostle of the Trudeauism of the 1970s. And what about the failed supreme court attempt by the famous chameleon Guy Bertrand.
Before going on about the budget, I would like to talk about the fine parade of federal ministers in Quebec last week. This government was so aware that this budget concerned Quebeckers that last week it sent two fake Santas in red suits. The people of Quebec could see, despite the costumes, that what was coming out of the mouths of these fake Santas was false.
Members should imagine the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs trying to talk about figures. Just as here in the House, no one understood him. And the Minister of Finance had the gall to say that his budget was transparent. Something slipped his mind when he came to meet Quebeckers last week and that something was Bill C-28. Fine little bit of tampering to protect his shipping business. In particular, he forgot to say how he was robbing the employment insurance fund. There is a word for that, but I cannot say it.