Madam Speaker, it is with pleasure that I rise to speak to the motion put forward by the hon. member for Fundy--Royal.
I would like to begin by congratulating the Progressive Conservative member for Fundy--Royal on this marvellous initiative. As he mentioned in his speech introducing the motion, it is rare that we talk about helping students in this parliament. Once a year, when he brings down the budget, the Minister of Finance boasts about his measures to help students. But a closer examination shows that, since coming to power, the Liberal Party has done nothing but reduce any assistance for post-secondary education.
Before speaking to this issue, I would like to pick up on what the member for Fundy--Royal mentioned earlier. It is true that the Bloc Quebecois supports his motion. We will support it with all our strength, because it is an initiative to help those students who have invested effort and money for years and, with school now behind them, are just starting out on their career and find themselves in a difficult situation, even in a period of economic prosperity.
The Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance has perhaps forgotten all this because it has been so long since he was in school. When one is starting out on a career, it is extremely difficult to break into the job market and prove oneself, and still have the stress of paying back student loans accumulated over four, five, and even six years in some cases.
Reducing the tax burden of students who invest in an education and in our society is not, strictly speaking, an issue which is constitutionally contentious. It is not, for example, like asking the federal government to invest directly in education programs or to interfere directly in education. It is a tax measure to provide relief for young men and women who have invested in an education for the greater good of our society. That is the distinction.
When the government, through the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance, tells us that the federal government is investing heavily in student assistance, that is incorrect. The Canada social transfer and provincial transfer payments for post-secondary education are the lowest they have been in 30 years. That is what last year's figures show.
For every dollar invested by the provincial governments in post-secondary education, the federal government's share is 8 cents. Some provinces have decided, given this drop in federal funding, to increase tuition fees at the post-secondary level.
In Quebec, we chose to make up for this drastic funding cut to post-secondary education transfer payments elsewhere. Some provinces could not do this and did not go that route. As a result, tuition fees have risen dramatically. When we talk about student debt, we need to look closer at where this debt comes from.
This debt comes from increased tuition fees. Tuition fees have been raised in most provinces of Canada because the federal government has cut its contribution since 1995.
Since 1995, $38 billion should have flowed into provincial government coffers and Quebec to fund health, post-secondary education and social assistance. This figure is based on the level of investment of the Canada health and social transfer that existed before the drastic cuts implemented by the Minister of Finance and the Liberal government. This figure of $38 billion is an indexed figure. They may cry about it on the other side, but this remains a fact. When we compare the federal government's contribution in 1994, before the Minister of Finance slashed the budget, and if we take annual inflation into account, we come to a shortfall of $38 billion.
Some have raised tuition fees specifically to compensate for the federal government withdrawal. This is the reason for the student debt load. That is why I congratulate—