Madam Speaker, I welcome the opportunity to respond to some of the points the hon. member has made. I do not obviously know all the reasoning behind the statements made by my colleagues, but I can attempt to give an answer.
The people of my riding are reacting to the fact that a province like Manitoba which according to Statistics Canada has a higher per capita income than Saskatchewan receives more per capita in transfers than Saskatchewan. This simply does not make any sense to people who are no experts in this complicated formula the Prime Minister referred to.
Using the same idea with respect to Quebec, 47 per cent of the benefits are going to Quebec. It has 60 per cent of the population. I am sure the hon. member would like to look at the statistics in light of the per capita income. The per capita incomes of that 40 per cent of the population receiving transfers is way below those of Quebec.
This has to be seen in the light of the complicated formula but also using some intuition. The income of Quebec is only fractionally below that of the average. That is why it is receiving this money. The statement about 47 per cent of the total transfer going to Quebec was not made in any disparaging way. It was made, as far as I remember, in response to a challenge that Quebec is not benefiting from this program.
My constituents certainly are asking why a province with such a high income is receiving 47 per cent, even though it has 60 per cent. This is the formula but I am returning to the point that the hon. member had made on how difficult all this is to understand.
I apologize about the third point that somebody said transfer payments should be reduced. I do not know who said that and in what context. I do not really wish to presume that I could answer that question for the hon. member.