Mr. Speaker, it is with great interest that I rise to address today's motion. First, I wish to inform the Chair that I will be splitting my time with the hon. member for Trois-Rivières.
The motion being debated today is very important to Quebec, because it condemns the stubbornness of this Conservative government—and we just saw a minister provide a prime example of that—in its refusal to provide Quebec with fair and just compensation for having harmonized its sales tax with the GST.
I want to congratulate my colleague, the member for Saint-Maurice—Champlain, for presenting this motion to the House, and all Bloc Québécois members who are here again today, doggedly fighting for Quebec's interests and needs.
It is hard to understand the Conservative Party which, once again, seems to want to vote against this motion, which is presented by the Bloc Québécois and which follows a unanimous vote in the Quebec National Assembly. It is members from Quebec who are opposed to positions adopted unanimously by the Quebec National Assembly regarding the harmonization of the Quebec sales tax with the GST. That motion was adopted by the National Assembly but, once again, the elected Conservative members from Quebec are rising to oppose Quebec's will. It is shameful.
They did the same thing with the manufacturing and forestry sectors. They keep going in the same direction. Fortunately, Quebeckers are not stupid. They are educated, they follow politics, and they know who is protecting their interests and who is not. Today, we can see—once again—that the Conservative Party across the floor is going against Quebeckers' interests.
With this motion, we are simply asking the federal government to act fairly towards Quebec, by compensating it for having harmonized its sales tax with the GST, in the same way that Ontario was given $4.3 billion and that the maritime provinces were compensated before that. It is quite simple.
The government is telling us once again, in this House, that it does not understand Quebeckers' position and that this claim is not justified. Come on. Quebeckers can do the math. They know when they are treated unfairly, as was the case with the last Conservative budget. Ontario is getting $2.7 billion, while the rest of Canada—whose forestry and manufacturing sectors account for many more jobs—is getting a measly $150 million. We are not stupid. As regards this motion specifically, I want to thank the Liberal Party and the New Democratic Party for their support. I also want to point out to Conservative members that the federal government's refusal goes against a clear and unanimous position of the Quebec National Assembly. I invite Conservative members to reflect on that. They are voting against Quebec's will.
Indeed, on March 31, the Quebec National Assembly unanimously passed a motion asking the federal government to treat Quebec fairly and justly by providing it with $2.6 billion in compensation, for having harmonized its sales tax with the GST.
Could it be that the National Assembly does not understand these issues? Could it be that Conservative members from Quebec are the only ones who understand major issues? Is this what we are being told? Come on.
Quebec wants an amount that compares proportionally with the one that Ontario is getting. It is very simple.
Where does the Bloc stand on this issue? We condemn the fact that the Conservative government has given Ontario $4.3 billion in compensation for harmonizing its sales tax with the GST. We can see the Conservative member leaving.
In the early 1990s, Quebec was the first province to harmonize its tax with the federal tax, and it still has not gotten a single cent. But that is not all. Not only will Ontario get roughly $4.3 billion in compensation, but the maritime provinces received nearly $1 billion in 1997 for harmonizing their sales tax.
Quebec, which had already harmonized its tax, got nothing. The whole dispute between the Government of Quebec and the federal government about harmonizing the QST with the GST shows that the Liberal and Conservative governments have acted in bad faith on this issue. The Liberals, who were in power previously, also did nothing.
I believe it is important to remember certain facts. This will be edifying for the Conservative members from Quebec. In July 1992, Quebec finished harmonizing its sales tax with the federal tax, but never received any compensation. In addition to harmonizing its tax, Quebec negotiated an arrangement with Ottawa whereby Quebec administered the GST in the province and turned over the revenues to the federal government.
In return for this service, the Government of Quebec received financial compensation. As I said earlier, in 1997 the provinces of Newfoundland, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia reached an agreement with Ottawa to receive $1 billion in compensation over four years to harmonize their sales tax.
At the time, the Liberal federal government, which was criticized by the Conservatives, argued that Quebec, like Ontario and British Columbia, would not be entitled to compensation because the transition to this new system would not cause Quebec's sales tax revenues to drop by more than 5%.
Now—and this is in direct contradiction to the rule the Liberals made to compensate the maritime provinces—we learn that the Ontario government will get more money with the new tax than with the old formula.
The government is doing everything it can for Ontario. Members from Quebec should stand up and vote in favour of the motion.
Clearly, when the federal government is agreeing to pay Ontario $4.3 billion in compensation for harmonizing its sales tax with the federal tax, then Quebec, which was the first province to harmonize its sales tax with the GST in 1991, has every right to ask for fair compensation.
How can the Conservative members from Quebec vote against this measure? I do not understand whom these members are defending. So far, the Conservative government is refusing to listen and is making excuses. It is stalling so that it does not have to say yes to legitimate requests from Quebec and its National Assembly.
It is especially disappointing to see ministers and members from Quebec oppose Quebec's request. Despite Quebec's repeated requests, the Minister of Finance has come up with even more conditions. First came the seduction, when they supposedly recognized the Quebec nation; now it is time for the let-down.
Not only does the Minister of Finance want a single tax to be collected, but now he is asking Quebec to turn over management of the GST and the QST to the federal government. What a great way to recognize a nation's legitimacy. Well done, Conservative members.
But Quebeckers will not fall for it. They understand what is going on. Nobody in Quebec wants the Government of Quebec to turn over responsibility for the tax to the federal government. We are a nation, and we can take care of our own taxes. We should have sovereignty over all of our taxes.
As a nation, Quebec has the right to collect and administer sales taxes within the province. Instead of spending 85% of the Canadian Heritage money currently earmarked for Quebec on funding federalist propaganda activities and Canada Day celebrations, and instead of implementing policies that penalize Quebeckers, the Conservatives should compensate Quebec for having harmonized its tax and help our forestry and manufacturing industries and our unemployed workers.
The federal government's position on this and many other issues proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Liberals and the Conservatives are cut from the same cloth: Quebec always loses out. The Bloc Québécois is the only party in Ottawa that truly stands up for the interests of Quebeckers.
