Mr. Chair, I know full well that the provinces have welcomed the child care system with joy, as the minister says. Nonetheless, in Quebec it is another story. We are not against the fact that this national child care system is being implemented in other regions. However, we have asked the Minister of Social Development whether a province that does not want to participate in the program, because it already has its own, can have the right to withdraw with full compensation. That is what it means to respect provincial jurisdictions. Nonetheless, the minister insists on negotiating with conditions.
I will not get into a debate over it. However, in the meantime, I want the minister to know that the $5 billion he allocated to child care over five years may seem very generous, but let me remind him that since 1998, when the program was set up in Quebec, the federal government has saved $1 billion in unclaimed tax deductions. Accordingly, if every province contributed to implementing a child care system, which costs the Government of Quebec $2 billion, then perhaps the government could give more latitude in terms of the money that government will invest in child care.
I want to hear what the minister has to say about his willingness to respect provincial jurisdictions—