There is no doubt that it made a mistake on purpose. This regime is based on hypocrisy, it is based on smoke and mirror tactics. Do you truly believe that people will accept that? No.
Let me give a few examples. While the government has these huge surpluses, there is money to be paid. There are legitimate demands from the government of Quebec. These demands often come from both the Liberals and the Parti Quebecois. When dealing with such issues, there is a consensus in the national assembly.
Let us take an example with which I am very familiar, the expansion of the Palais des congrès. How many times did the Minister of National Revenue, who is responsible for the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec, rise in this House to say, in a bragging tone of voice, “We believe in regional development and we want to use taxes paid by Quebecers to promote development in Montreal and the regions”.
When the real test came, when the time came to get involved financially in structuring projects for Montreal, this government said no. It would not give anything, not even a penny.
We know about the tourism industry in Montreal. People from Europe and elsewhere come to Montreal to spend a few days and go to the Olympic stadium, and so on. But there is also what is called business tourism. That is what governments want to focus on, business tourism, not only pleasure tourism.
As a student, I was not as strong in economics as our finance critic, but I did take some classes where we were told “As the construction industry goes so goes the world”. The construction industry is very important. The government of Quebec paid for the expansion of the Palais des congrès all by itself, even though the federal government owes us $59 million.
The federal government could have taken this opportunity to support economic growth in Montreal.
I could give the House other examples like the ice storm. Hydro-Québec has submitted a claim for $400 million for losses incurred by crown corporations.
I see, Mr. Speaker, that my time is running out, although I feel like I have just begun. What I want to tell the government in conclusion is that everyone should support our motion, because it is not right for Ottawa to have all that money while so much pressure is being exerted on the services in the provinces.