Mr. Speaker, today, during the Bloc opposition day, we are talking about limiting the federal government’s spending power in areas under provincial jurisdiction, and in particular health.
It is somewhat bizarre to see the federal government trying to perform in an area that is not under its jurisdiction. In areas under its own jurisdiction and where it should be performing, we have transport. The federal government should be maintaining its airports and its ports. It is even trying to assign the management of airports in the regions of Quebec to the RCMs and municipalities. Even small ports, particularly the ones that belong to Fisheries and Oceans Canada, are being left to port corporations on their own, with no money and no funding. When it does not work, they form a committee or commission a study.
There is also a federal program on privatization of small craft harbours. While the Liberals were raking in surpluses of $10 to $12 billion a year, port infrastructures were not being maintained and were deteriorating. Today, the federal government would like to divest itself of them, but nobody wants them.
I would like my colleague, who was the transport critic until very recently, to explain this to us. Once again, they should be looking after their own business instead of looking after other people’s.