Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to address the House today regarding Bill C-13.
So that our listeners may better understand, I would add that the government has tabled a budget. The budget was passed last week, thanks to the Bloc Québécois' support. Without the support of the Bloc, an election would have been called. I do not believe that any Quebeckers or Canadians would have wanted to see that. We have adopted a responsible approach.
We had to examine the entire budget tabled by the government and determine our attitude towards it. We now have before us a bill to implement certain aspects of this budget. The budget announces the government's administrative and financial intentions. However, we must also ensure that legislation and budget provisions match up at the end of the day.
The bill gives some indication why the Bloc Québécois decided to support this budget. Among other reasons, it is a question of the fiscal imbalance. The Bloc Québécois began that debate in this House several years ago, in 2001.
At first, we were the only ones to defend this point of view. Today, it is shared by the Government of Canada. We want this matter to be settled once and for all in Canada. This does not definitively settle the question of Quebec, in part or in full. Clearly, the future of Quebec lies with its sovereignty.
Nonetheless, resolving the issue of fiscal imbalance will give the Quebec government—whether sovereignist or federalist— a bit more room to manoeuvre and will end the stranglehold on expenditures by the Canadian system. We must at least ensure that the provinces obtain the minimum required to carry out their responsibilities. The Conservative government has ended up adopting the arguments of the Bloc Québécois. This is mainly why we supported the budget.
Bill C-13 also contains a number of other items, for example the increase in the child disability benefit to $2,300. This quite logical measure is another reason why we supported the budget. As is the elimination of the capital tax, not necessarily because it will redistribute wealth, but because last year it allowed Quebec to access part of the budget. In addition, due to the lack of money available for Quebec, we believe that this type of measure should have been proposed before eliminating the fiscal imbalance once and for all.
We had to make a choice. This budget contains all sorts of measures including the repeal of the part of the Excise Tax Act pertaining to jewellery. We supported the elimination of this excise tax, which will no longer apply to semi-precious stones as proposed by this bill.
There is also the universal child care benefit. In this regard, we made a much more constructive and equitable proposal concerning distribution of wealth, insisting that the tax credit not be taxable. If it were refundable instead, it would ensure that low-income earners could enjoy the benefits. We did not succeed in changing the government’s position, but we believe that, overall, it would have been positive to include these measures in the budget.
In my opinion, there is quite a significant indication. Certain elements are missing from Bill C-13, for example, the Canada employment credit, the children’s fitness tax credit, the reduction of excise duties on Canadian wine and beer made by small producers and the $500,000 capital gains exemption from the various turnover positions and exemption for fishers. To be checked.
As my colleague from Haute-Gaspésie—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia has claimed, since intergenerational rollovers are tax-free in the case of farmers, that should certainly also apply to fishers. In a region where fishing is important, as in Quebec, obviously this is a positive measure. However, it cannot be found in Bill C-13, since the Conservative government, to make sure of the Bloc’s support was forced to adjust its right-wing vision.
The budget before us is not the budget of a majority Conservative government. It is very important that the people realize this. Public wisdom elected a minority government, and this led to a budget of this sort. If the people had elected a majority Conservative government, cuts would be taking place today: cuts in social programs and cuts in environmental programs.
Let us recall that there is a reserve of $2 billion. No one dared to announce any cuts because, if they had done so, a crucial question would have been asked that might have led to the government’s defeat.
Furthermore, the government acted responsibly by taking into account the arguments of the Bloc Québécois and by acting moderately. The people, however, must remember this question for the future. That is important. Indeed, when the time comes to make other political choices, the people will have to take this reality into account. A majority Conservative government is absolutely not the government desired for the future of Canada.
It is absolutely necessary that this government, which has a very firm right-wing approach, be able to be moderated by the presence in this House of a party such as the Bloc Québécois. The Bloc has brought this government to table a budget that is more reasonable and for which the Bloc’s support has been essential. However, the Conservatives have been warned: if by this time next year they do not include in their next budget real, concrete measures, which above all will permit a better distribution of the wealth and will deal definitely with the fiscal imbalance, they will no longer have the Bloc's support. At that time we shall see whether we need to go to the people. It was not appropriate to do so this year. Next year, however, it will be an option.
The budget presents other elements which have prompted us to vote in its favour: the $1 billion for post-secondary education for which we have long been asking, the $800 million for affordable housing, and the support for farmers. For us, it was extremely important to have this type of measure. The budget also provides something else important for my riding, namely the introduction of a tax credit for public transit users. Some might question the need for public transit there, as it is a rural riding where public transit is not necessarily a daily priority. But in fact, in my riding, the Bombardier plant in La Pocatière has just landed a contract for the Montreal subway, because public opinion mobilized. That is a concrete example of how effective people can be when they organize and mobilize.
This tax credit will help boost investment in public transit. The Bloc Québécois was the first party in the House of Commons to table a bill granting tax relief for public transit. So it could not be unfavourable to such a measure.
The bill to implement certain elements of the budget deserves to go on to the next step. It must be passed in this House. A good many of the measures proposed in it are positive. However there remain certain things that could be improved. Let us hope that in the future, after the year has passed, it will be clear to the government, for example, that it would be much better to convert the $1,200 tax credit into a refundable tax credit. That would ensure that this measure is fair. We would like to move in that direction over the coming months.
In the next Conservative budget, we will be able to verify whether the government is in fact still taking a responsible approach which takes account of the opinions of the Bloc Québécois. This time, sufficient account of them has been taken for us to support the budget. The government must continue moving in the same direction.
We also have to keep working for a program to assist older workers. There were no more than a few lines devoted to this in the throne speech and the budget. Personally, I was a little disappointed with the answer from my Conservative colleague, who said earlier that he was not entirely familiar with that program and what its purpose was. At present, our economy is subject to competition and globalization, and this creates a number of problems. In particular, we are seeing a lot of small businesses in the manufacturing sector closing down because of competition with China and India. We need this kind of program to assist older workers.
The Conservatives slipped a few words on this subject into the budget. We are told that the situation is being assessed. I hope that we will get a definitive answer before the end of this session, before the summer vacation. In point of fact, implementing this kind of program would not involve enormous costs. It would be respectful of the public and of employees who have to stop working at the age of 53, 54, 55 or 56 against their wishes. Those are often the people who have paid into the employment insurance scheme full-time for 20, 25 or 30 years. They are told that they will be able to draw employment insurance benefits for 45 weeks and then they will not be needed any longer. We expect an answer from the government on this subject.
The Bloc Québécois has supported the budget and supports the budget implementation bill. However, we expect the government to have a sense of responsibility so that we will be able to achieve something: establishment of the older workers assistance program.