We believe the equalization formula itself should revert to a 10-province standard, and all provinces, the wealth of all provinces, should be included. The natural resources should be excluded as those are clearly a provincial jurisdiction. This is consistent with the election promise of the Conservative government, and we would encourage that it be implemented.
At the same time, however, we recognize that there are issues about the pace of growth within equalization that will need to be addressed.
It is equally important to make sure that the CHT and the CST are increased, so that the populous provinces that are holding a great deal of the responsibility for these programs have appropriate financing. We essentially have provinces that are required to do more, without the resources available to them. We need to correct that imbalance.