Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Liberal government brought in a budget that once again isolates Quebec within Canada. With an unusual degree of transparency, the government has continued its Canadian nation building project, with no regard for Quebec's values and its distinct nature.
Quebeckers were expecting the Prime Minister to increase its share of equalization and loosen the financial stranglehold on Quebec and the provinces, which he himself orchestrated when he was finance minister.
But that did not happen. Despite the fact that he is awash in surpluses of our money, he has once again denied the existence of the fiscal imbalance and has not considered it important to support Quebec and the provinces in their efforts to meet their pressing needs in health care, education and income security.
By his budget choices and more clearly than ever, the Prime Minister of Canada has just told Quebeckers that Quebec will never reach its full potential until it achieves complete sovereignty.