Mr. Speaker, when we formed this government two years and some months ago, the federal government's transfers for social programs and equalization payments totalled more than $11 billion. Today, it is even more and next year it will still be more than $11 billion.
There have been no cuts. Some payments may be down, but equalization payments for the poorest provinces in Canada inevitably increased during this period. In fact, there were no cuts in transfers to the Government of Quebec or to other provinces that
receive equalization payments according to the balancing system that exists in this country.