Thank you, Chair.
I'd like to continue on where Steve and Greg are going here. I know it sounds different from the status quo, but because one way or another we have to help farmers across this country, what if the federal government were to adopt an approach similar to that involved in the health transfer of funds?
Right now, the federal government gives so much to Ontario and Nova Scotia, right across, and they administer provincial health care. The federal government right now says what it's trying to achieve is that if somebody goes into the hospital in Halifax or Toronto, that person receives roughly the same sort of care across this country.
I'm just throwing out numbers, and they're not exact, but if they went on that basis, right now let's say the provincial government spends $1 billion on programs; you're alluding to that $1 billion being given to the provinces, but under what stipulations?
You have trade regulations. They would have to have some sort of arrangement, and they would say that each province is entitled to a certain amount.
It's easier with the health transfer because it's by the amount of people—so many people in Ontario compared to Nova Scotia, or whatever. But if you went down that road, the tricky part would be P.E.I., for instance, which is a big agricultural area but it has only 150,000 people.
I guess what I'm getting at is that you would have to have a bit of a formula on the basis of the amount of agriculture in that region. Is that what you guys are thinking would be a better scenario?