Madam Speaker, I am tempted to use chemistry terms like centralization versus decentralization.
The Liberals have a compulsive habit of trying to centralize everything. The government is trying to set conditions on programs that should exist regardless. This creates delays, adds complexity and does not provide people with the help they need.
Now, making the rich and the ultra-rich pay is something we can get behind. I will use the example often highlighted by my esteemed colleague from Joliette, namely, tax evasion and tax havens. The federal government is losing out on $900 million a year that it could be going after.
I am being about as subtle as a freight train—and who knows whether trains between Montreal and Quebec City will even survive—but a single tax return would allow us to decentralize power to Quebec, which tends to honour its commitments, something the federal government does not do. Right now the federal government is leaving $900 million lying around in champagne-soaked, sunny tax havens, while Quebeckers are in lockdown in a post-pandemic economic crisis.