Madam Speaker, I listened with great interest to the presentation by the member for Beauport—Limoilou, and to the speeches by the members for Mégantic—L'Érable and Lévis—Bellechasse, all very strong and very eloquent. But enough flattery; now for the criticism.
I was totally surprised and stunned to see this condemnation of the budget and of the NDP amendment by the member for Beauport—Limoilou. He said that defending the interests of Quebeckers is indeed defending the interests of the Quebec government. However, one has to wonder which government he is referring to. Is it the Charest government, which made cuts to education, housing and social programs in Quebec? Certainly not. This is not the government that he is defending.
So, he attacked the NDP amendment. We happen to know that there is an increasing number of Quebeckers who are living in poverty, who are having a hard time getting an education, and who are getting more concerned about the environment. All this is largely due to the cuts made by the Charest government and to the federal government's inaction.
It is for all these reasons that the NDP has proposed amendments that will bring changes, that will finally provide funding for housing which has been going through a crisis for more than a decade. The Liberal government did not do anything at the federal level and, as we know all too well, it is not doing anything at all in Quebec.
As regards the environment and post-secondary education, we need changes and we need more funding and investments. This is why I really cannot understand the Bloc Québécois' opposition to the NDP amendment. The purpose of this amendment is precisely to provide assistance to these sectors. Quebeckers have been waiting for this for years. On the one hand the Bloc Québécois opposes this amendment, while on the other hand it agrees to join the Conservatives to undertake the tax reduction process for big business.
Big business got $4.6 billion. We are well aware that big corporations are making record profits in Canada. Yet, the Bloc Québécois is teaming up with the Conservatives to block the changes that are proposed by the NDP and that would reduce these tax reductions, because big business does not need them. That would mean that, at last, the money would go to housing, post-secondary education and the environment.
I am stunned by the Bloc's position, and I am surprised by the attacks of the member for Beauport—Limoilou regarding this measure, which offsets the cuts and the inaction of the federal Liberal government, and the cuts made by the Charest government in Quebec.
I am asking the member: How can he reconcile these contradictions, which, in my opinion, are very serious?