Mr. Speaker, clearly, the words “in good faith” mean nothing to them; they do not have deep meaning for them. The fact of the matter is that negotiating in good faith means going along the lines of the motion passed by the National Assembly of Quebec, calling on the government to compensate the Government of Quebec to the tune of $2.6 billion for harmonizing the QST with the GST. It also means accepting that Quebec continue to collect and administer the harmonized QST and GST.
It is clear that the government does not want to support this motion. It wants to give the impression that it is prepared to negotiate and that the others are acting in bad faith. Anyone who has been following this issue understands that there is no good faith in the Conservatives' attitude with respect to harmonization with the GST. One would have expected the Conservatives to act on Quebec's request immediately upon taking office. But no, they have been dragging their feet.
In addition, Ms. Jérôme-Forget, who was a Liberal minister in Quebec, agreed to make some changes at the request of the Conservative government, which just keeps making people go through more hoops.