Mr. Speaker, one of the biggest problems the provinces are having in balancing their budgets is the drastic reduction in transfers instituted by the government, exactly opposite to what the minister said.
These are not unfounded fears. Despite the minister's assurances that this has all been discussed with provincial counterparts and that there is agreement, there is not agreement. If the minister is so confident this agreement can be reached would he be prepared to enter into a formal federal-provincial tax relief agreement to ensure that tax relief measures adopted by either level of government are passed on to the long suffering Canadian taxpayer?