Madam Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for his speech on the issue.
I will ask him a question which was raised by our finance critic regarding the repayable contributions. If the federal government is so intent and keen on going after the provinces for its own mistakes on overpayments, could the hon. member please enlighten me as to why it has not been more diligent in going after things such as the repayable contributions to which our hon. member referred?
I have in my hand a 20 year history of Industry Canada's repayable contributions and the actual repayments by program. About $4.19 billion was paid out under the department's programs. Less than a billion, $.9 billion, has been repaid. Could the hon. member explain why the government has not been more diligent in going after this?
Let us look at a program under Industry Canada, Technology Partnerships Canada. The release of two annual reports this year, one for 1999-2000 and the other for 2000-01, revealed that of the $1.6 billion spent or outlaid since the program was created in 1996 until March 31, 2001, only $20.1 million was repaid.
Why is the federal government going after the provinces for its own mistake while not going after the repayable contributions or loans it makes through Technology Partnerships Canada?