Mr. Speaker, once again, I thank my colleague.
I did mention his expertise in that area. He hit the nail right on the head because the Conservative government's decision to delay the budget until April will have a definite impact on the provinces.
I was in the National Assembly of Quebec for six years. During that time, I was parliamentary secretary to two finance ministers and we held consultations. However, before tabling a provincial budget, it was pretty important to know what direction the federal government was heading in. We sent our experts here to Ottawa to hear the budget speech so that we could make any necessary adjustments. Now it is almost the end of the fiscal year, March 31, and the Conservative government has postponed the budget until April.
How are the provinces supposed to factor in the measures that will be announced in the budget? It would have been better for the Prime Minister to take the time to get in touch with the provincial and territorial premiers, discuss it with them, be transparent and ask them what they could do together to make it better for the country.
We think it is a real shame. That is why we are inviting the Conservative members to vote in favour of this motion.