Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to speak today in the prebudget debate. I have been a member of Parliament for 10 years, and the coming budget is the one we will have the most effect on. The people have decided to give themselves a minority government, a government with a much greater obligation to listen to the opinions of the elected members of this House and of the general public.
We have seen this in recent days; the Minister of Finance has met or will meet with each opposition party's finance critic. This attitude is the result of the voters' choice. They have given themselves a government they wanted to be able to monitor more closely. One of the first opportunities to see the effects of this will be when the next budget comes down. If not, the government will have to bear the responsibility for causing an election, because this government will be defeated if it brings in a budget that does not meet the demands of this House.
We went through an election campaign less than a year ago. We in the Bloc Québécois have laid on the table the very important elements we consider the key points the government cannot neglect.
I ask Quebeckers, once the budget has been presented, to decide whether it contains clear indications of a desire to resolve the fiscal imbalance and give Quebec back its room to manoeuvre so that it can do its work properly. On this, it is up to the federal government to make some efforts.
Last year, the surplus reached $9 billion, which went entirely to pay down the debt. No additional money was put into social programs or increased business productivity. Instead of dropping all $9 billion at once on the debt, half of it could easily have been used for that purpose and the other half for improving programs.
This year, in the new budget, because of its new minority situation, the government must listen to this request; otherwise it will pay the political price.
Fiscal imbalance is not the only issue in which we see such problems. Employment insurance is just as important.
I went into politics to help achieve sovereignty for Quebec. However, since I have been a member here, I have realized that the greatest inequity in the federal system is what the Liberals have done with the employment insurance system. They have turned it into a system that allows them to pocket as much money as possible and give as little as possible to the unemployed. The time has come to settle this matter and to give young people again the same access to employment insurance as all other employees. It is time to stop the discrimination against women and young people.
Furthermore, an assistance program for older workers must be established. There used to be one until 1995, which is roughly when the Liberals took office. They simply abolished it. Today, as a result of globalization, we are faced with situations like the one at Montmagny, where 500 people were laid off, including a hundred or so who are over 55 years old. These people have great difficulty finding new work. In many cases they have paid employment insurance contributions for 30 years and never benefited. Today they are told that after 45 weeks there is a gap and they will no longer receive benefits. This is unacceptable. We are one of the richest societies in the world, but we still have not learned how to distribute our wealth properly. This is an important issue and it has to be addressed in the next budget.
It is the same for seniors. The situation is very strange, I learned recently. Since early January, seniors have been receiving notices that there will be no indexation this month or the coming ones. The middle of winter, January, February and March, is when seniors have special needs. It is very odd that a mathematical rule is being applied, denying them the right to full indexation, which is, however, essential. Additional amounts, as announced in the throne speech, must be allocated to the guaranteed income supplement. Retroactive payments of this supplement must be granted. This money was stolen from seniors for years. It is essential that they get it back.
As a result, there are many matters for which this year's budget must correct inequities. New situations have arisen in the past several years.
In agriculture, in my riding, cattle farmers are living in very difficult circumstances, as are dairy farmers who have to sell their cull cows. All these situations, affecting people from day one, have not helped resolve the issue.
The federal government must allocate additional funds. It must invest money in the program to enable people to sell their cull cows to the slaughterhouses and get an acceptable floor price. That way, producers will be able to survive this difficult time. We must continue to develop new products. A clear message must also be sent to farmers, telling them there is a future.
A workshop on farm transfers was held in our region last week, and 220 people, including 60 young people, attended. Their proposals should be retained. For example, someone suggested implementing a program equivalent to an education savings plan, which would allow producers to set aside funds in anticipation of transferring their farms. This would ensure that they could save sufficient tax-sheltered funds so their children could take over from them, thereby putting a human face on agriculture.
So there are plenty of important issues. There is one I would add that I feel, as critic for industry, is vital. For some years now, one thing is on the increase, our new competition with China, India and Pakistan. A program such as Technology Partnerships Canada is necessary. It provides research and development support in the new economy. Now it is shifting from its original goal and is focussing on more traditional programs, such as furniture, textile and garment manufacturing. The federal government's current efforts in the textile industry are falling short. The industry has denounced this situation in no uncertain terms, and so of course have the workers, who are having a very hard time of it.
There are therefore a great many items that have to be included in the next budget.
The industrial development of the future will make it possible to meet the challenge of allowing our young people to continue to work in the industry, but an approach must be found that will allow them to be competitive with the rest of the world.
We will have to be able to compete with the Chinese, the Indians and the Pakistanis, but not by having unacceptable working conditions ourselves. There must be decent working conditions and support provided for development in an appropriate way. Why not help these countries to adopt decent working conditions and acceptable environmental rules, so that there is fair competition?
There are a number of elements for which the federal government already has the tools available. It has money available to it. It must take steps to meet the needs of today properly. It must make a fundamental choice.
It must stop squirreling away all the money in order to pay down the debt. That is a bit like a home owner putting all his money into paying off the mortgage in five years, and spending on nothing else. His children are growing up, and he has no money to pay for their education. He is not keeping the house up and is not spending.
The federal government must agree to correct the 100% reimbursement of the debt each year. It must agree to part of the surplus, this year's and next year's going to a better distribution of wealth and an increase in productivity.
This is what our fellow citizens expect, along with an increase in international aid. Often the judgment on how well the wealth is distributed at home is based on how we behave on the international level. In this connection, during the present PM's watch as finance minister, we dropped a long way behind. A supreme effort will have to be made to restore Canada's image in this area.
The people have reacted well in the face of the international events and natural disasters that have occurred. The government reacted slowly, but it has caught up. Now, cooperation must be made more solid, and we must truly help these countries, without trying to defend our own interests.
We note that this budget will be a fantastic opportunity to judge whether the present government has decided to listen to the people and include some items in the budget coming out of the last federal election.
When the people look at the budget, they must remember that on June 28, 2004, they voted for a government they hoped would provide certain things. In Quebec, 54 Bloc Québécois members were elected. You can be certain that we will not renege on our promises. We have the support of the public and we shall keep it. If necessary, we will go out and campaign in an election, because that will be necessary in order to win completely. In that way there will finally be a more equitable distribution of wealth and the government will no longer be able to hide behind a majority that has not enabled it to achieve the desired results.
We need a budget for the 21st century, a budget that will distribute wealth fairly and that will satisfy our people. I invite everyone to look at this critically and send us their comments.