Mr. Speaker, so many outrageous claims have been made that it is hard to know where to begin and what questions to ask.
I have about 25 questions I could ask my colleague, but first I want to make a comment. We are not looking for handouts. When the member says: “The federal government would be transferring tax points at its own expense”, he has to understand that the federal government does not exist for its own purposes.
Will the members opposite finally understand that the federal government does not exist for its own purposes; it is there to stand up for the people who have elected it and who have agreed to have it speak on their behalf in this House.
Will the government realize that there are people in Quebec and in Canada who need health, education or income support services, but that these services are provided by the provinces under the constitution itself?
Will it recognize that in the next four years, even with all the various federal programs mentioned earlier, like the pensions and also equalization, the federal government will still have accumulated surpluses of $70 billion to $90 billion?
If the government thinks that there are no problems, it is the one with a problem. There is a major imbalance. The provinces have huge responsibilities, particularly in the area of health. My colleague was saying a little earlier that in eight years health care needs in Quebec will have doubled and the situation is the same in other provinces. We do not have the resources to face that. The resources are here.
If the government does not understand that the federation does not work that way, with a superior government, with members who consider themselves superior to others, above everything, above provinces and above the needs of the population, I think it is mistaken. Will it understand my point?
All we are asking by this motion is a conference between the provincial premiers and the Prime Minister of Canada in order to see what the situation is and where we are heading. The Minister of Finance has acted in such a hypocritical way in the last seven years that we have never seen in what state the public finances really are. Every year it is a surprise. There are incredible surpluses and everything is going toward the debt.
We are all for reducing the debt, but there is quite a difference between allocating to the debt part of the surplus and all of it when the needs of the population are so important.