Mr. Speaker, I do not know if my colleague has skipped a few of the things that happened in the House or if she voluntarily chose not to talk about them, but there are some important aspects that need correcting and that other new Bloc members should learn.
The equalization formula is calculated on the basis of five provinces—excluding the Atlantic provinces and Alberta, the richest province—to make an average and guarantee that the population is not be penalized, or as little as possible. Quebec has received equalization payments since the beginning of this program in 1957.
Very often, the Bloc tries to make Quebeckers believe that Quebec contributes more to the program than what it gets out of it. However, through equalization, the federal government redistributes money to make sure that wealth is distributed as fairly as possible.
The hon. member is telling us that we are interfering and that we are getting involved in provincial jurisdictions. I would like to hear what she has to say about manpower training. We are transferring $600 million annually to Quebec, and we did it with the Parti Québécois. We, Liberals, agreed to transfer $600 million annually and we are negotiating a parental leave agreement with a Liberal provincial government, because we recognize that Quebec is in a better position to provide that service. This is a responsible government that takes action.
The hon. member talked about the debt. She said that we should not use all the money to reduce the debt. We are not doing that. We have our current accounts. We meet our budgets year after year. At the end of a year, there may be surpluses. So, far, we have paid $61 billion toward the debt. Out of the $9 billion that was mentioned, $3.5 billion is interest saved, thanks to our sound management.
If there is money left at the end of a year, after all the expenses have been paid, a wise father or mother may apply the money to the mortgage. This sound investment will result in less interest to be paid.
I hope the Parti Québécois will take note of that and, if it ever takes office again—something we hope will be a long way down the road—it will reduce the debt, instead of increasing it.
The hon. member is telling us that we do not want to transfer powers to Quebec, when in fact we are negotiating a parental leave agreement and we gave money for manpower training. As for day care services, we recognize that Quebec has implemented a very good program. We will transfer the money and we want to develop this program across Canada, because this is what people need, and we federal Liberals recognize that.