Mr. Speaker, I would like to share my time with my colleague from Bourassa.
First of all, this is not the time for making grand declarations and inserting controversial items into the budget. The reason is very simple: Canada is going through an economic crisis. That is perfectly clear.
It has been clear for months that we are in an economic crisis, and even in the last two days this has become clearer. Yesterday the stock market fell to its lowest level in, I believe, five years in Canada and twelve years in the United States. We heard this morning that house prices in the United States over the past year have dropped by a record 18.2%. The housing market in the United States is a critical element in the current crisis.
A Harvard professor has claimed that this recession could lead to bloodshed and civil war. I do not subscribe to that for one moment, but I am making the point that Canadians want their politicians to work together to do what is needed for the Canadian economy, to do what is needed for those who have recently become unemployed, and sadly, to do what is needed for those who will become unemployed as the year progresses.
That is why, notwithstanding immense weaknesses in the budget, we are determined to get it passed as quickly as possible in order that the money will flow for infrastructure projects and other things that will save and create jobs in this country. We are also aware that the government's record in this area is dismal, which is why we have set up a monitoring mechanism.
The general point I am making is that Canadians want us to focus on one thing and one thing only at this moment and that one thing is the state of the economy and measures that the government must take to strengthen that economy.
At the same time, Canadians want their governments to work together. The Conservative government has a lamentable record in breaking promises to provinces, in dividing provinces and behaving unilaterally. At this particular moment, at a time of economic crisis, now more than ever, Canadians want the federal government to work together with provincial governments to focus on the one thing that truly matters to Canadians at this time which is the number of jobs, unemployment and the state of the economy.
It does not help the cause if the federal government raises this very controversial issue of a single regulator, because that clearly creates a major fight among provinces and between certain provinces and the federal government. There are at least three provinces, Manitoba, Quebec and Alberta, which oppose this.
While I personally have historically favoured in the long run the creation of a single regulator for various economic reasons, I would also be the first to acknowledge that it is not an urgent matter. It is ridiculous, for example, to say that it was the lack of a single regulator that caused Canada's economic crisis, because both the United States and the United Kingdom have a single regulator and both of those countries have done far worse than Canada in terms of this economic crisis. As I said earlier, I do not think now is the time to move on this highly controversial measure when the priority has to be for governments to work together for the common good for the state of the economy. I would, however, add a comment for my Quebec colleagues.
My colleagues from Quebec who do not like this idea should remember two things: first, it is entirely voluntary, and second, this bill will not create a regulator. To do that, another bill will be needed in three years from now maybe, when hopefully we will have a new Liberal government. All that this bill does is initiate a process that might lead to another bill that would create a regulator. It is not all that important, therefore, because it is not the final word on the matter.
The Liberal Party also believes that any changes must comply with the Constitution. Many witnesses have told us that another part of the budget dealing with collective bargaining agreements is unconstitutional. In this case as well, we think the government should refer the matter to the Supreme Court to ensure that what they propose to do is, in fact, constitutional.
I am going to read a summary of the Liberal Party’s position on this issue: the Liberal Party is committed to studying the possibility of creating a national securities regulator in cooperation with the provinces and in compliance with the Constitution in order to improve the coordination and regulation of the market while making it possible to meet the needs of particular regions.
This is a balanced position. In view of the extremely precarious state of the economy, I do not think it is at all necessary to support the Bloc’s proposal. Maybe I should have said it a little earlier, but the Liberal Party will vote against this motion.
In regard to the second issue, equalization, we see once again just how badly the government has handled provincial relations. We well remember Mr. Flaherty’s famous statement at the time of the 2007 budget—