Madam Speaker, I want to thank the government for the opportunity it has given us to discuss our expectations for the next budget, especially since it is a minority government budget. It is more important than ever for the government to pay close attention to what the public wants to see in this budget.
I need not remind this House that during the last election, 72% of the members elected in Quebec were from the Bloc Québécois. That said, what we will present as our eight priorities—which were renewed last fall during a prebudget consultation in Quebec—are priorities Quebeckers believe in.
If there is one thing Quebeckers and Canadians agree on, it is the issue of fiscal imbalance. The National Assembly, the people of Quebec and the premiers of all the Canadian provinces all feel that the fiscal imbalance issue needs to be resolved and that tax fields need to be shared better between the federal and provincial governments in order to allow the provinces to fulfill their basic mandate as effectively as possible.
Ontario is running a deficit. Quebec is having financial difficulties. There is not enough funding for basic needs such as health, education and social assistance. Many of Canada's provinces are in a precarious situation and cannot offer their citizens as many front-line services as they should. If tax fields were shared better, the provinces would be better able to accomplish their mandates
I just came from a meeting with the Minister of Finance—at his invitation—and he asked me what my party expected from this budget. I was quite clear. As far as the fiscal imbalance is concerned, there needs to be a sense of political will on his part to ensure transfers of tax fields in the medium term. For now, the federal government absolutely must take concrete action in its next budget. In terms of actually doing something about the fiscal imbalance, it has to increase transfers for education and social assistance.
We know, under the health accord signed last September, that, in four years, the federal government's contribution will be approximately 25% of the cost of health care. When we look at education and income support for the most vulnerable members of our society, we realize that the federal government's contribution in these areas is still between 12% and 13%.
On behalf of my party, the Bloc Québécois, I was clear and I asked the Minister of Finance to include, in his next budget, an increase in transfer payments for education and social assistance. The same goes for equalization. Before the Liberal Party first came to power in 1993, equalization represented over $10 billion per year. However, this year, it is $9.6 billion. Even with increases, we are at $9.6 billion in transfer payments under the equalization program. If we had kept the same structure since 1994 and indexed the equalization payments in effect at that time, this amount would be approximately $16 billion. However, the government slashed it and ignored the fact that the equalization formula, among others, needed to be improved, namely, by using the ten-province standard and correct property tax data.
I stated numerous times that, in the next budget, the Minister of Finance must consider this demand, which has the unanimous support of those provinces receiving equalization payments.
As for employment insurance, all my colleagues in the Bloc Québécois from every region in Québec have been fighting for years to get the government to reinstate better provisions and overhaul the employment insurance system that it destroyed a few years ago by imposing eligibility conditions so restrictive that currently, barely 40% of all workers are able to from the employment insurance system, even if 100% of them are paying premiums.
Women are the main victims of the system. Only 33% of them can qualify for EI benefits, and only 20% of young workers. Young people, women and men all pay into EI, but cannot collect.
For the past seven years, the government has been helping itself to the $45 billion in the employment insurance coffers at the expense of the unemployed. Entire regions where most of the work is seasonal are affected by unemployment, yet workers there are being deprived of money they are entitled to, which has been contributed by employers and employees.
I have made it clear to the Minister of Finance that the employment insurance program needs to be reformed to broaden coverage. For one thing, the number of hours required for eligibility needs to be lowered to 360. There also needs to be a program for workers aged 55 and over who have been the victims of mass layoffs. Some workers have been hit by the abolition of tariff quotas on textiles and clothing, which has allowed products from developing countries to be brought in, and a number of those were age 55 or over. They need to be helped. EI coverage and accessibility need to be expanded.
The commission also needs to be made independent, because the government has acted irresponsibly as far as the EI fund is concerned. It needs to be administered by the employers and employees who contribute to that fund. I also raised that point with the Minister of Finance, and made it clear to him that, if these two points were not included in the budget, we would take appropriate action. These are most definitely fundamental components of the next budget.
As far as the environment is concerned, we are facing the same problem. This is the view of the population we represent. A large majority of Quebeckers, 72%, are concerned about application of the Kyoto protocol, and this is the case in the rest of Canada as well. We want to see it applied fairly, based on the polluter-pay principle, rather than the polluter-gets-paid principle the government has gotten us used to.
In the past 25 or 30 years, the federal government has invested over $60 billion in the oil and gas sector. The first thing we want it to do is to put an end to the variety of deductions and programs designed to encourage the use of these non-renewable and polluting resources.
Second, we are asking it to make massive investments in the energies of the future, such as wind energy, by increasing the amounts budgeted. Also, the government must keep an open mind when presented with proposals, such as we have made over the years, intended to create tax deductions for users of public transit. This is very beneficial for environmental protection.
In the next budget the government must return to two fundamental principles in enforcing environmental policies like the Kyoto protocol: fairness and polluter-pay.
Fourth, I want to repeat publicly here what I said behind closed doors with the Minister of Finance. The agricultural sector, particularly in Quebec, is living thorough the worst crisis in its history because of the mad cow issue. Since the dairy herds and dairy farmers are located primarily in Quebec, we are suffering more from the mad cow crisis than other areas, especially with respect to cull cattle. So far the federal government has not contributed significantly to solving this crisis. We ask it to do its part, and to do it now.
It is not normal that out of the federal government's agricultural spending of $6 billion last year, only 9% was allocated to Quebec producers. Now, Quebec's farmers are struggling through the worst crisis. The federal government says it has done enough. It is not the agricultural producers of Quebec who are putting a strain on the federal agriculture budget. In times of crisis the federal government should increase its contribution substantially. We are not asking for a great deal, just for a payment that would help to compensate for the losses incurred in the past two years because of the mad cow crisis. Future losses should also be compensated, since the U.S. border is not going to be 100% open to beef and cull from Quebec and from Canada.
The federal government also has to honour the commitment it has made to increase milk prices to a level that will allow milk producers to cover their production costs. This is a promise that the current finance minister made a few years ago, when he was responsible for agriculture.
The agricultural sector absolutely has to be taken into consideration. Funding also has to be made available to assist young farmers discouraged by the current situation; agriculture had not been hit by such a major crisis in over 25 years.
Assistance must also be provided to the cooperatives which have requested special tax treatment, which would not cost the federal government much but could help the cooperative sector self-finance in the future as well as to compete, with competition coming from all sides.
With respect to the faculty of veterinary medicine in Saint-Hyacinthe, the only French-speaking veterinary medicine faculty in the Americas, what the federal government has started needs to be seen through. Two years ago, $35 million was provided. Another $24 million is required to complete the upgrading of the faculty's equipment and buildings; otherwise, it will not be able to maintain its accreditation with the American Association of Veterinary Medicine, which is already only a partial accreditation, while the other three veterinary schools in Canada all have a full accreditation. Losing this accreditation would affect the value of diplomas as well as the quality of research in Saint-Hyacinthe. This could have an impact on the agricultural sector as a whole.
I also raised with the Minister of Finance how important it is that the Canadian government meet the international aid target of 0.7% of GDP by 2015. We have been talking about this for a long time, and Canada is one of the most ungenerous countries in the world, one which spends the least on international aid. So, the target of 0.7% of GDP was established many years ago by the United Nations and ought to be met as soon as possible. The finance minister's awareness of this issue was also raised by the Bloc Québécois this morning, during our meeting.
I reiterated to the Minister of Finance that with respect to child care, it is important for Quebec's jurisdictions to be respected and for Quebec to be able to opt out of the federal program with full compensation. We already have a program that works, that the other Canadian provinces want to have and that the federal government is using as a model. The government has to go even further. It has to respect Quebec's program and allow Quebec to opt out of the federal program with full compensation.
The federal government also has to keep the promises it made during the last election and provide the necessary funding to allow the Government of Quebec to implement its parental leave program as quickly as possible. In the meantime, an entire generation is suffering.
The leader of the Bloc Québécois reiterated last week that the federal government needs to help the municipalities through infrastructure programs and other federal transfers. However, the Bloc Québécois strongly opposes the idea of funds being transferred directly from the federal government to the municipalities. The municipalities come under provincial jurisdiction. What we want—and we advise the government to respect this—is for funds to be transferred through the Government of Quebec and for arrangements to be made between it and the municipalities to help them, especially when it comes to gasoline tax transfers.
Social housing is very important to us. We have been talking about this for a long time, debates have been held on the matter and promises from the other side of the House have been broken. The federal government absolutely must invest 1% of its entire program spending on building social or community housing.
Since 1992, the federal government has not put one penny into social housing. It is only maintaining existing social housing units, nothing more. Investments must be made, because too many households are paying over 50% of their income on rent. When families pay more than 30% on rent, the situation becomes precarious.
Finally, as the leader of the Bloc Québécois mentioned during his meeting with the francophone and Acadian associations in Canada, it is absolutely essential—and we are committed to this—that the federal government double allocations to francophone and Acadian associations in Canada. It is a question of survival and assistance for the francophones and Acadians we have supported since we were first elected in 1993, even if we do not directly represent them in the House of Commons.
In closing, I want to send the government a clear message with regard to the coming budget. The Bloc Québécois was clear and, once again last week, its leader was too. The government must take action with regard to these priorities, as well as a number of others mentioned in our minority report included in the work on pre-budgetary consultations by the Standing Committee on Finance. There are eight sectors. The government's response to our demands must be substantial. If it does not respond to the very specific concerns of the public, which were tested again in the fall during a pre-budget consultation across Quebec as well as by the Standing Committee on Finance across Canada, we will not hesitate to vote against this budget and overturn the government if we have the power to do so and if we are also convinced that the government is not meeting our expectations. We will not hesitate to do so if the government goes against the interests of Quebec and even Canada and if it does not meet the expectations of the people and, specifically, the most vulnerable people in Quebec and Canada.
The responsibility lies with the Prime Minister. So, we hope that the Prime Minister will be as responsible as the Bloc Québécois in presenting his budget, which we will also analyze.
We are honourable people. We do what we say we will do and that is why we are making this commitment, unlike some people in this House and outside it. Our beliefs cannot be bought any more than those of Quebeckers can be. If we find that this budget has little substance in relation to the priorities we identified, I will not hesitate to recommend that my party vote against it.