Mr. Speaker, my colleague from Rivière-des-Mille-Îles has put his finger on a thorny issue.
I believe the federal government owes over $3.2 billion to the Quebec government and, despite repeated requests, it steadfastly refuses to pay up. These outstanding bills are documented. Every one of them is well documented and together they total $3.2 billion, which the federal government refuses to acknowledge it owes.
At issue is, for example, $1.9 billion in compensation for the GST. A few years ago Quebec harmonized its provincial sales tax, the TVQ, with the GST. It has been losing money ever since. The federal government never told us it would one day compensate the maritime provinces for doing exactly the same. Three maritime provinces got $900 million for harmonizing their taxes.
We are asking the federal government for $1.9 billion because harmonization has cost us dearly. We were the first ones to do it, on our own initiative, because we wanted the tax system to work well.
Is there any way that someday Quebec's demands will be met?
The same is true of the Canada assistance plan. The Quebec government is suing the federal government for $310 million owed to it by the federal government.
The Quebec government is asking the federal government for $96 million to administer the Young Offenders Act. I am not talking about the new harsh, barbaric act beneath the dignity of this parliament, but rather about the old act under its jurisdiction.
These needs are not being met. It is incredible; the Minister of Finance has billions of dollars, he even boasts about the surplus, and he lets the needy remain exactly that, needy. He lets sick people wait in hospitals. He invests elsewhere. For example, as far as health is concerned, he invests through the real transfer to the Quebec government, but he does nothing for the fundamental needs of the sick people.
He makes students wait. A student is not a student forever. At one point in his life he has needs that must be met quickly. This is incredible. The funding of education, through the CHST for post-secondary education, has never been this low in 30 years. The minister continues to brag about the surpluses. He is being astute by not making forecasts that reflect the real surpluses. He is avoiding debate and paying down the debt.
Could he not give a bit more to the people, dish out the dough as they say? Let him spend on the people in order to meet the real needs, and let him pay his bills and his debts. The federal debt is not the only one the minister has to deal with. He has a debt toward the Quebec government because we have taken measures that were warranted from a practical point of view. For example, there is the harmonization of the GST and the QST and the issue of young offenders. I think there is a lack of will on the part of the government. This government is ignoring Quebec completely, it just does not care about Quebec.