Madam Speaker, I am pleased to hear probably for the 15th time now that hon. members from the Bloc are insisting that we hear repeatedly the story that Quebec is getting a raw deal in the extent to which it is sending money to Ottawa and the extent to which it is receiving money. I really have no more comment to make on this. It is a very complicated issue and that is why there is a dispute over the merit of this case.
However on the substance of what I tried to say, I would point out that if in the 1960s we had not retarded the incentive for outward migration from some of the outward lying regions of Canada, the process which had gone on for the preceding 50 or 60 years would have continued.
The hon. member is an economist and realizes there would have been increased capital per worker and increased natural resources per worker remaining behind. Therefore the incomes would have gone up. Maybe more resources would have been discovered. Then outward migration would have slowed down. In the end we would have had a solution making everyone happy, those who were moving as well as those remaining behind.
We have destroyed this welfare maximizing process through our programs and I urge that they be re-examined.