Mr. Speaker, we know that the only government that did not recognize the fiscal imbalance was the last government, the former Liberal government.
The fiscal imbalance, in simple terms, is that the federal government collects too much money in relation to provincial government expenses. There is too much money in the federal government's coffers while the needs are in the provinces.
An increase in new technologies for health, in the number of elderly sick people and various other factors are such that Quebec and the provinces are in need and are in crisis. Yet, the federal government has never really transferred money to meet the needs of the provinces. That is what we call the fiscal imbalance.
During the election campaign the Conservative government promised the provinces that it would eliminate the fiscal imbalance and that it would transfer the necessary funding for the provinces to meet their needs. That is only fair.
The federal government has too much money for its own jurisdictions, while the provincial governments are suffering and have a growing number of needs. That is what we call the fiscal imbalance. This government made a formal commitment during the election campaign and in its Speech from the Throne to resolve the fiscal imbalance. The deadline is February 2007. That is why we are voting in favour of this budget.