I would refer the minister more specifically to page 17 of his budget speech, where he announced that he was prepared to fund social assistance the same way the government funds transfers for health and post-secondary education, in other words, on a per capita basis, as opposed to real need.
Consequently, would the Minister of Finance agree that based on these criteria, the main victim of the cuts in his latest budget will be Quebec, which in 1997-98 will be saddled with 41.7 per cent of the cuts or $1.9 billion, and that this is why he refuses to discuss these cuts publicly within the framework of a federal-provincial conference to be held before the referendum?