Mr. Speaker, I have never hesitated to say the same things outside the House that I say here, unlike others who use their parliamentary immunity, as the member for Bourassa just did by threatening me on the floor of the House.
The only reason why the Liberals are threatening us is because they feel threatened by us. They know that the New Democratic Party has principles and they do not.
Let us examine the facts and put this into context. We are examining a budget bill. On November 27, the Liberal Party of Canada, the Bloc Québécois and the New Democratic Party were prepared to bring down the government over an economic statement by the Conservative government because it contained three items deemed odious by the three political parties.
First of all, it took away women’s right to equal pay for work of equal value, a fundamental sacred principle entrenched in our legislation and our charters. Next, it took away the social right to bargain collectively and to act on that collective bargaining, a social and union right recognized and confirmed by the Supreme Court of Canada. Third, it took away the bread and butter of the Liberal Party of Canada. Let us remember that the system for publicly financing political parties was put in place in the wake of the Liberal sponsorship scandal. Some members of this House testified before the Gomery commission. That was the worst political scandal in Canadian history, with prosecutions and people put in prison. That was the work of the Liberal Party of Canada.
Thus, the three items in question were clean financing for political parties, women’s right to equal pay for work of equal value, and union rights. There was unanimity on this in the three opposition parties, which were prepared to overturn the government.
And so we were surprised, at the end of January, to see that two of these three items were still in the budget. The Conservatives are holding to their intention to take away women’s right to equal pay for work of equal value, and to take away union and social rights, but the bread and butter of the Liberals have been restored. So now they are supporting it. Such are the principles of the Liberal Party of Canada—there are no principles in the Liberal Party of Canada. That is their chronic problem.
Today we are discussing two matters proposed in an opposition motion: to put an end to the federal government’s urge to attack the provinces by introducing a single system for controlling securities, which runs counter to the original agreement. In 1867, it was understood that the provincial governments would have full jurisdiction over civil law, property and civil rights in the province. The provinces have their prerogatives, which must be respected.
For its part, the federal government deals with criminal law. This has always been recognized. The federal government is also responsible for bills of exchange and banks. No argument there: this has always been recognized. The federal government is responsible for competition law. This is not contested. The federal government also has an office responsible for the supervision of financial institutions.
In all the spheres of activity I have just mentioned, the federal government regularly makes mistakes when it comes to rigorous application of the legislation under its jurisdiction, and it is inventing a problem in the field of securities. It says that since it has done nothing with the responsibilities it already had, it cannot be the source of the problem. So it invents another problem by introducing this vision of a single system for controlling securities, even though the provinces, with a passport system, were in the process of resolving a longstanding problem among themselves.
Rather than just letting the provinces finish the job properly, the government is trying to take advantage of the very real economic crisis to say that this must provide a solution to the economic problems. Hogwash. That is not it at all. The Conservatives’ supposed securities solution does not solve any identifiable problem. It is an old impulse on the part of senior federal public servants to try to sink their claws into another area of provincial jurisdiction. That is what this is all about.
The second part of the motion proposed today has to do with the fact that the provinces can no longer count on a principled equalization system—the principles in the O'Brien report which ensured that the provinces had some certainty about the funds that would be theirs. It was a source of pride for the Conservatives and they talked publicly at every opportunity about the good things they were doing. But that is all over with now.
The Conservatives do not have any principles left when it comes to equalization. The Liberal members from Newfoundland and Labrador stood up on their own two feet to vote against government theft from their equalization payments. The Liberal members from Quebec might have been expected to stand up too, like their colleagues from Newfoundland and Labrador, to protest against the theft of a billion dollars from the transfers to their province. But no, we just saw their answer: they are going to vote in favour of the single securities regulator and they are going to vote in favour of the theft of a billion dollars from the transfer payments to Quebec. That is what the Liberals’ so-called Quebec members are going to vote for: a federal invasion of an area of provincial jurisdiction and the withdrawal of a billion dollars.
That leaves another whole question. The member for Bourassa said publicly that if Premier Charest had asked him, he would have voted against the budget. One of two things must be true: either he was asked but did not listen or he was never asked. It might be worthwhile to find out the answer to that question.
For my part, I saw Monique Jérôme-Forget stand up and say publicly she never agreed to this. The finance minister tried to say publicly that he had informed her about some things during a brief encounter at an airport. So who is telling the truth in all this? All I know is that the prediction that the Parti Québécois made during the general election campaign in Quebec has turned out to be true. It is the amount, according to Ms. Marois, that was taken away, and we are very concerned about that. We are as concerned about that in Quebec as they are in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Nevertheless, all the provinces are concerned about the uncertainty this has created. We are back in a situation that involves pure discretion, and it is difficult not to see a certain symmetry in some actions; amounts that have been given in one place and taken away in another. If you play along with the Conservatives—if you agree to accommodate them—you will be treated properly. It has been interesting to see the beating the federal Conservative government has suffered, both in Newfoundland and in Quebec. It is not too difficult to put two and two together and to conclude that it was, to some extent, a form of payback for what had happened.
For my part, as a member from Quebec; as someone who has always respected the federal compact—and I dare say that one of the most difficult political jobs in Canada is to be a federalist in Quebec—I rise today and tell you that we will vote in favour of the Bloc motion. I will be voting for the Bloc motion on both points and for two reasons.
In the first place, it is wrong to take away from the provinces the rights that they have enjoyed since 1867. That is the root of the constitutional problems that we have had, and which were largely caused by the Liberal Party for more than 40 years. That is the basic problem in Canada. For more than 40 years, the Liberal Party of Canada has been trying at every opportunity to nibble away at the power of the provinces, particularly Quebec. It has often been supported by other provinces, but it is always trying to take away something. And every time Quebec reacts properly, the Liberals go around the rest of Canada saying it is a good thing; we are lucky to have the Liberal Party that stands up to the “separatists.” But they are the chief cause, the instigators of the problem. That is exactly what it is.
We listened to the member for Bourassa holding forth for 20 minutes; telling us that there are big problems, and finally responding to a simple question, because it was not clear, saying that he will vote in favour. That is mastering the art of saying one thing and its very opposite in the same sentence. This is the art that the Liberal Party of Canada has mastered for a generation. They say they are against something; but they vote for it. We are seeing that now in the parliamentary committee examining the budget. We see, time after time, that the Liberals refuse to stand up for what they call, and what they have previously called, matters of principle. I listed them earlier: the rights of women and the rights of unions; but let us also remember the environment.
In the past, a group could talk about the environment even though it never really did anything about it. That is another characteristic of the Liberal Party of Canada that has never changed. It talks about doing things but, once in office, it does absolutely nothing. At least, with regard to the environment, it did propose a few things recently. But this time, the Navigable Waters Protection Act is being changed and the Liberals will vote against that. There is something interesting here. Last night, in committee, we heard from many groups, canoe-kayak groups, people responsible for the protection of rivers, environmental groups, social groups, all very concerned by these changes. Interestingly, many of them told me openly that they had supported the Liberal Party of Canada in the past. They told me very clearly that they understand what the situation is with the new leader.
It is the old gang. It is the old gang from the sponsorship scandal that tells the new leader, a right-wing Liberal, what to do. And the old sponsorship gang is just waiting its turn to come to the trough.
The member for Bourassa is trying to prepare us for that when he says that the Liberals want to help. They want to help themselves. That is what the Liberal Party is all about. The Liberals have no convictions. They believe in nothing. The only thing they care about is themselves. The Standing Committee on Finance and the House are looking at a budget bill that again will take away the right of women to equal pay for work of equal value, that again will take away union rights, that again will hurt the poorest by not giving anything more to the unemployed, for example. But the Liberals got what they wanted: their financing. So forget about women, the environment, social and union rights, the unemployed and the poor. The Liberals got what the Liberals wanted: something for the Liberals.
That is not the NDP's way of doing things. We in the NDP have principles. We believe in what we say. There are great differences in this House, but hon. members will never hear me speak against a proposal and then vote in favour of it. They will never see me take the floor to support a proposal and then vote against it. That is the difference between the member for Bourassa and myself. That is the difference between the Liberal Party of Canada and the New Democratic Party, which is a party of ideas, a party that has been guided by principles for the past 70 years. The NDP is a party of men and women who have consistently held the same social vision for Canada, which is to ensure that the most vulnerable people get the state's proper attention, that we remove the obstacles to equality in our society, whether it is between men and women, between races or religions, and that even includes social inequalities. For example, we do not think it is normal that a person who cannot afford to go to university be deprived of the opportunity to do so.
This is the sort of issues that have always been a core value for the New Democratic Party. We are concerned about our democracy. This is a Conservative minority government. It is the third consecutive minority government. Indeed, we had a Liberal government under Mr. Martin, followed by two Conservative governments with the current Prime Minister. This makes three minority governments in a row. However, the last two Conservative governments have been able to behave as if they held a majority, because of the cowardly complicity and behaviour of the Liberal Party of Canada, which is supposed to be the official opposition. Over the past three years, they have become the official abstention party. The Liberals believe that if they do nothing, sooner or later they will be in office again. That is their main concern. They tell themselves that sooner or later it will be their turn.
So, a lack of principles, a lack of credibility and a lack of consistency. That is the problem with the Liberal Party and that is why we in the NDP are the only real, credible, fierce and reliable opposition fighting against the Conservative government and its attacks on rights, namely the rights of women, of unions and of the most vulnerable people in our society. Thank goodness the New Democratic Party is here to stand up for Canadians.