Marcel Massé

[Referendum Campaign, October 23rd, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, the answer is no, and once again we must emphasize that the question on October 30 will be about the separation of Quebec from Canada.

The Bloc Quebecois wants to separate Quebec from Canada. As for Mr. Parizeau, when the distinct society concept was raised with him, his comment was: "I do not give a damn about distinct society, I do not want it". That is what he said. And he is the leader of the Yes committee, while we have always insisted it was possible to be both a Quebecer and a Canadian and that it is in the best interests of Quebecers to remain in Canada in order to make the changes that are needed.

[Referendum Campaign, October 23rd, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, I think if anyone reads the last paragraph of the statement, he will know exactly what the situation is, without the embellishments added by the hon. member for Roberval. I will read the last paragraph of the statement issued jointly by the chair of the No committee and the Prime Minister of Canada:

We state unequivocally that Quebec is a distinct society. We remind you that we have both supported the inclusion of this principle in the Canadian Constitution every time Quebec has demanded it. We have not changed our opinion on this subject and we always maintain our support for this fundamental Canadian reality. We have supported it in the past; we support it today and we will support it in the future, in all circumstances.

This is a clear-cut position; it indicates exactly what the No committee and the Prime Minister of Canada believe.

[Francophones Outside Quebec, October 20th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, not only has the hon. member for Rimouski-Témiscouata shown her ignorance of, and probably also her disdain for, francophones outside Quebec, but this very morning the regional delegate of the Parti Quebecois in my area had the nerve to make the statement that francophones outside Quebec are a colonized people.

This is an area in which the federal government has always assumed its responsibilities far better than the Parti Quebecois. Allow me to offer this quote: "The government of Quebec has not done enough, even the PQ has not done enough. The federal government has certainly done far more than Quebec has. I am prepared to admit that. But I think that all of us, in Ottawa and in Quebec, ought to promote francophones outside Quebec". The author of that quote is Lucien Bouchard himself.

[Canada-United States Tax Convention Act, 1984, October 18th, 1995]

moved that Bill S-9, an act to amend the Canada-United States Tax Convention Act, 1984, be read the third time and passed.

[Stabilization Program, October 18th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, I should point out that the Province of Quebec has done fairly well in dealings with the federal government, because, for example, according to the study by George Mathews, one of the Le Hir studies, Quebec pays only 21 per cent of federal and other taxes, but receives 26 per cent of spending.

So, when we look at the whole picture, we see clearly that Quebec receives a much larger share for valid reasons. Stabilization payments are made when there is a shortfall. The shortfall depends on all sorts of things that have to do with economic conditions and that are therefore subject to them and not to a system of sharing or of percentages between provinces.

[Stabilization Program, October 18th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, flexible federalism in recent years has worked very well through negotiations with the various provinces. Specifically, for example, thanks to our action plans with nine provinces in Canada, I have signed-and I will leave it to them to guess which province has not signed-we have reached 64 agreements with the provinces,

including a dozen with Quebec, before the election of the Parti Quebecois, but afterwards, zip.

So, in terms of negotiations, clearly we resolve most of our problems through negotiation. As for this particular problem, Ms. Beaudoin has already come and presented her problem. In our opinion, there is nothing owing, nothing to pay. The regulations are clear: the Province of Quebec, in this case, is not entitled to payment, and we have told Quebec that we were prepared to let it go to court, that we would provide whatever assistance it needed to go to court and that it should get a decision from a court of law. This is the normal process.

[Referendum Campaign, October 18th, 1995]

The truth is that separation will create tremendous problems, it will affect investment in Quebec, jobs and exports. Whatever the Bloc and the PQ say, it is important to get the truth out and that Quebecers know on October 30 what the real consequences will be of separation.

[Referendum Campaign, October 18th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, the supporters of the Yes committee, which includes the Bloc

Quebecois, would have Quebecers believe that separation will take place without a hitch, without any negative economic consequences, without any impact on Quebec's relations with the rest of Canada, the United States and Mexico.

That is not true, and it is not enough to wave a magic wand and say "Poof! Let the problems vanish!" for them to vanish.

[Referendum Campaign, October 18th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, the finance minister also has a duty to point out what would really happen if Quebec separates.

In his role as finance minister, he has an obligation to point out that separation will not only cost us hundreds of thousands of jobs, as the leader of the No committee said, but also that many jobs would be affected by changes occurring subsequent to separation, and particularly by the fact that, as the finance minister pointed out, Quebec would have to renegotiate its entry in NAFTA and the successor organization to GATT.

These are aspects that will create substantial economic problems in Quebec and, once again, the finance minister has a duty to point this out to Quebecers.

[Referendum Campaign, October 18th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, the finance minister was right. He said there are one million jobs in Quebec that are affected by export industries, including those that export to the rest of Canada, and that Quebec's separation would create considerable problems in this area.

What he said was perfectly true and is supported by the statistics. It is an indication of the extremely negative economic consequences of Quebec's separation.