Quebec spends $500,000 to examine wasteful spending by feds

QUEBEC – The Quebec government is spending $500,000 to create a committee to examine wasteful spending by the federal government.

The pro-independence Parti Quebecois government wants to examine how much it costs to have federal services that duplicate ones already offered by the province or that encroach on provincial jurisdiction.

The survey will be conducted by four experts who will particularly look at health and municipal services and report back in 2014.

Alexandre Cloutier, whose title is Quebec minister of Canadian intergovernmental affairs and minister for sovereigntist governance, didn’t say exactly what Quebec would do with the information but didn’t rule out reclaiming the costs or initiating legal action.

The Quebec government wants Quebecers to stop being required to pay for services already provided by the provincial government.

For example, Health Minister Rejean Hebert said the Public Health Agency of Canada duplicates the work of Quebec’s national institute of public health.

Municipal Affairs Minister Sylvain Gaudreault noted that a modification to federal regulations on waste water requires Quebec municipalities to pay $9 billion during the next 30 years.