Mr. Speaker, when we withdraw from the programs mentioned in my letter to the premiers, the Leader of the Opposition will have to acknowledge that, despite his predictions, I will be obliged to make him retract what he has just said. I will do it very gently; I would not want to cause the Leader of the Opposition any problem.
As to the forms of compensation, take unemployment insurance as an example. It cannot be by tax points in this case, because it is the employers and employees throughout Canada that contribute to the fund. This money is then redirected to those in Canada who are not working. This must be a direct transfer and not tax points, because the amounts will necessarily vary with the level of unemployment in different parts of Canada. We never know the exact amount from one year to the next. A situation may be
disastrous in one province today and then quickly improve, or deteriorate in another part of Canada.
This is why we have this means of redistributing wealth across the country to those who need it. It has to be a direct transfer and not tax points to ensure the flexibility needed.