Pierre Paquette

[Health, October 29th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, Quebec and all the provinces are suffering from inadequate health care because of the indiscriminate cuts to the federal budget.

When all is said and done, does the Minister of Finance not find it odious, ridiculous, indecent even, that health care funding should be at the mercy of his budgetary sleight of hand?

[Health, October 29th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Finance is announcing in advance that he is technically in a deficit position. Since his forecasting skills are totally non-existent, I will take that with a grain of salt.

Is the Minister of Finance not engaged in creating a ready-made artificial deficit, in order to get out of having to pay the $2 billion to the provinces for health services?

[Liberal Government, October 28th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister may try to justify staying on, despite the actions of the future PM which are undermining his authority. Events, however, speak for themselves.

Will the Prime Minister agree that the decision made by the premiers of Quebec and the provinces to go to his successor for answers on the issue of health care funding are a clear illustration that neither he nor the present finance minister have the necessary authority to provide any kind of answer?

[Liberal Government, October 28th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, if there is one important step for a government, it is the preparation of the budget. Yet the Minister of Finance himself admits he does not control everything in the current budget preparation process.

Will the Prime Minister admit that budget preparations are going on in the parallel government, and that his remaining on the job is creating problems for everyone, because the real policies are coming from outside the government?

[Budget Surpluses, October 23rd, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, the margin of error is over 200%, and this is not the first time. Last year, it was 300%, and it has been as high as 500%. When there is money left over at year-end, the Prime Minister can buy Challengers simply by snapping his fingers. When it comes to finding the money for public health, it is not that simple.

How can it be impossible to transfer the $2 billion to the provinces, which need it right now?

[Budget Surpluses, October 23rd, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, once again, the Minister of Finance has underestimated the surplus. He forecast a $3 billion surplus in June, but the surplus has now turned out to be $7 billion for the previous fiscal year. The minister is systematically wrong. The minister is systematically wrong and systematically gives us incorrect information: in the past six years, he and his predecessor have underestimated the surpluses by the astronomical amount of $35 billion. No public debate could be held on this $35 billion.

Given such surpluses, how can the Minister of Finance still make Quebec and the provinces wait for the $2 billion they need for health? He has the money; he should hand it out now.

[Isabelle Côté, October 22nd, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, Isabelle Côté, a young woman from l'Épiphanie in the Lanaudière region, made an excellent showing in the 37th WorldSkills Competition held in Switzerland in June. Along with her teammate, Jonathan Baulne, Isabelle picked up the bronze medal in the landscape gardening category.

This was an outstanding achievement, since there were 37 nations competing in 42 trade categories, making this the largest world competition for youth in skilled trades.

Thank you, Isabelle, for representing the Lanaudière region and Quebec in this competition, where more than 700 young people showed off their professional know-how.

This competition is well noted around the world, with more than 180,000 people attending and 300 journalists reporting live on the event.

With such talent, now recognized worldwide, Isabelle Côté has a fine career ahead of her, and her region and Quebec are very proud of her.

[Taxation, October 10th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, what is despicable is that the Minister of Finance is making it sound like there could be a deficit, when the only real danger of running a deficit comes from a dramatic increase in the spending of the federal bureaucracy, which has increased by more than $3 billion in the past year, at the expense of what really matters to the public, health for instance.

[Taxation, October 10th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, since the agreement on the $2 billion for health was entered into by the federal government, Quebec and the provinces in February, the Minister of Finance has constantly been playing a cat and mouse game. The public has had enough of this unjustified waffling. The minister knows full well that the surplus will exceed the $5 billion required.

While the federal government is raking in money at the rate of $1 million an hour, as Quebec's finance minister Yves Séguin pointed out, does the Minister of Finance not think he should commit now to providing Quebec and the provinces with the $2 billion promised?

[Writers, October 9th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, for the third consecutive year, the city's writers will leave the traditional haunts of literature in order to meet with people on their own turf right in downtown Joliette, on October 18.

Once again, some thirty writers from Lanaudière and all over Quebec, including Chrystine Brouillet, Louis Hamelin and Guillaume Vigneault, will donate their time and more importantly their words to those wishing to write a poem, a greeting card, a love letter, or a political speech. Public writing stations will be set up in Joliette's downtown shops, demonstrating the cooperative partnership between the cultural and business worlds in Joliette.

I want to salute the man behind this project, Jean Pierre Girard, and his band of bold writers who make this unique event possible by putting their talents and knowledge at the service of others. There will be no writer's block in Joliette on October 18. Everyone is welcome.