Mr. Speaker, while we appreciate the Bloc's support for this excellent budget that has been put forward by the government, I really think the Bloc members, to use my colleague's own words, are kidding themselves.
This good budget, and this good budget for Quebec in particular, is not the result of the work of the Bloc. It is the result of people who believe in the federation. It is the result of people who want to work together for a strong united Canada and that is why all citizens in all provinces will benefit under this new budget.
The member mentioned the desire to limit the federal spending power. We are talking the same language because the government believes that the federal government has areas of constitutional jurisdiction and it should be spending and looking after those areas. Provinces have areas of jurisdiction and they should be looking after those responsibilities.
Therefore, we agree with that, but what the member I think is talking about is for one level of government to make all the decisions with another level of government to provide the money. That is not the way it works. That completely tears at the concept of accountability. The people who make the decisions have to raise the money from the taxpayers who are affected by those decisions, so that there is real accountability.
The member mentioned funding for education and did not like the money for education. However, it is a 40% increase for education and that amount will grow by 3% every single year. The whole fiscal balance has been put now back on a principled long time reliable basis.
Does the member not think that having principled long term reliable funding going into the province is not a good thing for the people of Quebec?