Provincial-Territorial Meeting of Ministers of Finance

(Toronto, November 3, 1997) -- Attending the provincial Finance minister meeting in Toronto, the Deputy Prime minister and minister of State for the Economy and Finance, Mr. Bernard Landry, strongly reaffirmed that "Québec will oppose any attempt by the federal government to intrude the area of social programs, which fall unambiguously within provincial jurisdiction".

"Direct federal intervention in this field would inevitably increase duplication and overlapping, which could only lead to waste and inefficiency in the use of public funds", Mr. Landry added.

As for the ministers' discussions with respect to the other items on the agenda, Mr. Landry noted that the exchanges were franc and cordial and that provincial positions converge in a number of instances. Mr. Landry also indicated that he asked the support of his colleagues regarding Québec's demand for a financial compensation following the harmonization of its sales tax to the federal Goods and Services Tax (GST). He noted that all his colleagues from other provinces agreed that Québec has the right to demand to be treated equitably and that the federal government actions in this regard must be transparent.

- 30 -

                                               

Source :

Andrée Corriveau, Press Officer            Office of the Deputy Prime Minister            Telephone : (418) 643-5270