Mr. Speaker, it has nothing to do with the provinces not supporting it. It has to do with a federal government that lacks the political will to do it . The government does not see the importance of ensuring that the youngest citizens of this land are able to get the kind of education, care and nurturing that they need during those very important developmental years. There is nothing more important that we can do.
Shame on the Liberals for promising it year after year and never living up to it. They always find a scapegoat and blame it on the provinces. Enough of that. Let us get on with doing it. The Liberals say they will do it this time. Let us hope they do it this time, because if they do not, we will have a huge problem.
Just look at the fact that only 20% of children in child care under the age of six are in regulated care in this great, wealthy country of Canada. Compare that to 60% in the United Kingdom and 78% in Denmark. We have to deal with this problem now. It is very much a part of the issue of fiscal imbalance.
I could go on. I could talk about cities and municipalities. The government is backing away from its gas tax promises which again is driving up provincial costs, offloading on to municipalities, offloading on to citizens. It is making individuals responsible instead of the government doing what the government is meant to do, which is to ensure equality of conditions, equality of opportunity so that everyone in our country no matter where they live, whether it be in the north end of Winnipeg, downtown Vancouver or suburban Toronto, is able to contribute according to their abilities.
I want everyone to know that we are not supporting this resolution to drive another stake into the heart of this country, a strong federal nation. We are not advancing the notion to decentralize more programs and destroy a strong central nation. For that, we may differ a bit from the Bloc. However I think we all have one concern today, which is that we find ways to better distribute the resources of this nation, the wealth that the federal government is now sitting on. This year alone the government is sitting on a $9.1 billion surplus, never mind the $86 billion in surpluses that have been accumulated over the last 10 years and have gone into the debt, only because the government refuses to do this upfront. It has decided to engage in a deliberate lowballing process so there is no public debate and no parliamentary input.
I will conclude by saying that two wrongs do not make a right. The further neglect of federal responsibilities is not the answer to the problems from earlier neglect. No strings federal funding, chequebook central government is not an acceptable answer. National standards with asymmetry for Quebec are still needed to ensure that when the federal government does invest in health care or child care, the money goes toward improving those areas.
A serious parliamentary study of existing imbalances may be worthwhile as long as it does not turn into a platform for undermining the responsibilities of our federal government, responsibilities which the Liberal government apparently would rather continue to ignore.