Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the hon. member for Brome—Missisquoi.
The goal of our opposition day here today is really to allow Parliament to reach a decision on this important matter of the compensation that the government owes Quebec for the harmonization of the Quebec sales tax with the goods and services tax.
The motion reads as follows:
That, in the opinion of the House, the government should negotiate in good faith with the Government of Quebec to resolve the dispute dating back over ten years regarding the harmonization of the QST with the GST in the early 1990s and agree to provide $2.6 billion in compensation to Quebec for this harmonization, and that Quebec continue to administer these harmonized taxes.
The Bloc Québécois motion strongly emphasizes the words “negotiate in good faith”. The Conservative government has taken quite the opposite approach, despite the number of times they have talked about it in this House. With his dithering and his all too frequent objections concerning current negotiations with Quebec, the Minister of Finance has proven that he does not understand the meaning of negotiating in good faith.
Since they came to power, the Conservatives have reiterated through their finance minister their intent to continue the discussions on sales tax harmonization in all their budgets and economic statements. Over the last few weeks, though, the finance minister has demonstrated just the opposite. He has shown instead how able he is to use all possible subterfuges to try to undermine the negotiating process with the Government of Quebec.
What does the minister mean by “negotiating in good faith?” Quebec was the first province back in the 1990s to harmonize its sales tax with the federal tax and it did so by negotiating in good faith with the government of the day, as it has always done. Can the same be said of the federal government?
Last March 31, a motion was introduced in the Quebec National Assembly concerning the provision of compensation similar to what the federal government provided to Ontario. The motion was passed unanimously by all the parties in the National Assembly.
It states that Quebec was the first province to harmonize with the federal goods and services tax in the early 1990s. Since then, three Atlantic provinces harmonized with the GST in 1997 and received nearly $1 billion in compensation. The Government of Ontario announced that it would harmonize its sales tax with the GST beginning on July 1, 2010. The federal government is going to pay Ontario $4.3 billion in compensation for this, an amount that is justified in the Canada-Ontario agreement by a desire to stimulate economic growth and job creation. The federal government will administer this new provincial tax for free on Ontario’s behalf. The Ontario sales tax will be very similar to the Quebec sales tax because certain items, such as books, will be exempt. The input tax rebates in Ontario may well be identical to those in Quebec. Ontario is the fourth province to receive compensation from the federal government for the harmonization of the federal and provincial sales taxes, while Quebec has not received any compensation, even though it was the first to harmonize its sales tax.
All the parties present in the Quebec National Assembly are asking for fair, equitable treatment from the Conservative government and its Minister of Finance and want compensation similar to what was provided to Ontario.
The voters in my riding who have given me their majority support on three occasions are closely following the supposed good faith negotiations with the Minister of Finance.
They do not understand why the government is applying a double standard to the detriment of Quebec.
My voters have not been fooled. They have understood that, to defend their rights, they must rely on the members of the Bloc Québécois; that to defend respect for their culture, there is only the Bloc Québécois; and that to properly protect their future, there is only the Bloc Québécois. For far too long, they have understood that rhetoric is and will remain just that, rhetoric, and that only the Bloc Québécois can really defend them.
I will recall a little bit of history to corroborate what I have just said.
In 1980, Pierre Elliott Trudeau stated in Quebec that the Liberals would put their seats on the line to bring about change, leaving the impression that Quebec would receive its due. What we got was the unilateral repatriation of the Constitution, which was imposed on Quebec.
In 1984, Brian Mulroney promised that Quebec would return to the constitutional fold “with honour and enthusiasm.” What we got was the Meech Lake shipwreck.
In 1995, during the referendum campaign, Jean Chrétien promised change. What we got was the Clarity Act and the sponsorship scandal.
In 2005—closer to our time—during a speech in Quebec City, it was the turn of the current Prime Minister to try the grand seduction by promising an open federalism. What we got was a government that rejected the rights, the identity, the values and the interests of Quebec. For 25 years now, the orators have changed but Quebec is still waiting and nothing has changed.
Despite all the great promises to Quebeckers, despite the smoke and mirrors by the Conservative Prime Minister, after 31 months in office, after 31 months of speeches and promises made to Quebec, nothing has been done.
To practice open federalism, in addition to respecting the distribution of powers set out in the Constitution and ensuring that Quebec has the autonomy it needs to exercise those powers, the federal government would have had to demonstrate its openness and take into account the opinions and interests of Quebec when making decisions within its own sphere of jurisdiction.
In that respect, Quebec lost ground when the Conservatives were elected. Indeed, in areas under federal jurisdiction, the current Prime Minister demonstrates less openness than his predecessors with regard to the opinions and interests of Quebec.
In conclusion, I call on the government to recognize the longstanding injustice to Quebec of denying it compensation for harmonizing the federal and provincial sales taxes.
In particular, I call on the Conservative members from Quebec to show solidarity with Quebeckers and to support the motion introduced today by the Bloc Québécois.