Alexandre Cloutier, is Quebec’s Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs.JACQUES BOISSINOT/The Canadian Press
The Quebec government is spending $500,000 to create a committee to examine wasteful spending by the federal government.
The pro-independence Parti Québécois 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 look at health and municipal services and report back in 2014.
Alexandre Cloutier, the Quebec Minister of 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 Quebeckers to stop being required to pay for services already provided by the province.
For example, Health Minister Réjean Hébert 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.