Mr. Speaker, thank you for giving me the floor again, but not for interrupting me. Once one has begun to speak, it would be nice to be able to go on uninterrupted.
I was speaking about provincial jurisdictions. To exercise their responsibilities, the provinces need money, particularly the money which we send to the federal government and which should come back to us. If there were any semblance of political decency here, we would not need a motion such as this one. This reapportionment should be done as a matter of fact. When there are surpluses at the federal level, they should go back to the provinces.
One member opposite said that the federal government is assuming its responsibilities. Let me tell him something. As far as the environment goes, things are not pretty in Quebec, because the federal government just does not assume its responsibilities. Right now, we are trying to have clean up Lac Saint-Pierre, which has been polluted by Canadian army shells. This is under federal jurisdiction. We have been asking for this clean-up for years, but to no avail.
We want to solve the problem along the shores of the St. Lawrence, which are being eroded. Land is being lost to erosion because of transportation. This is under federal jurisdiction, but nothing is being done.
The groundwater in Shannon, in La Baie and in Sept-Îles has been polluted. That is also under federal jurisdiction, but it will have to wait. The federal government likes to order studies, but it does not implement the recommendations. It says the problems have been taken care of because it has decided to distribute bottled water, and we should just forget about groundwater.
One of the federal government's responsibilities is to give back the money to the provinces for education, for health and for municipalities. We must stop having to beg on our knees, having to distribute flags to receive a part of the money that is rightfully ours.
I say to Quebecers that, with respect to the $33 billion in taxes that we pay to the federal government, I hope this problem will be solved as quickly as possible. In the meantime, out of this $33 billion federal surplus, some money must be given back to us.
I think that today's debate, which is aimed at getting together the 10 provincial premiers and the federal Prime Minister to discuss tax points once again, is extremely important.
As for justice and honesty, an hon. member, who is a knowledgeable economist, said earlier that the Bloc Quebecois' discussion about this motion will diminish the value of the federal government for the provinces. If the importance of the federal government is diminished, it is not because of a motion such as this one, it is because of the government's behaviour. If Quebecers find more and more that Quebec has less and less space and that its future is increasingly doomed here in Ottawa, it is not because of the discussion that we are proposing today. Rather, it is because of the way the federal government has worked and continues to work.
Let us not forget that when we began talking about sovereignty for Quebec, about 20% of Quebecers were considering that option. We never lost any ground. At the last referendum, 49.4% of Quebecers voted in favour of sovereignty. Had it not been for the money spent in violation of Quebec's laws to bring people to Montreal to tell us how much they loved us, support for sovereignty would have exceeded 50%.
Quebec never wavered in its desire to stop begging, as we are doing, for the money that is owed to us. Quebec knows that someday, and that day is closer than some might think, we will exceed 50% and we will settle our issues among ourselves, because this is how it should be done in the future.
It is not the motion presented by the Bloc Quebecois today that makes me say this. It is a logical conclusion, it is the way to go for a people that will then fulfil its dream.
In the meantime, it would in the best interests of the federal government to discuss today's motion, to call a federal-provincial first ministers' conference and to look at the possibility of reapportioning tax points.
It is not only the nasty PQ and BQ members who are asking that, but also the leader of the opposition in Quebec. All the Quebec governments, regardless of their allegiance, have always asked to recover these tax points so as to not be forced to beg and kowtow to get money for health, education, municipalities and everything that comes under Quebec's jurisdiction.