Mr. Speaker, let me quote from the premiers' news release of August 6, 1998. The last sentence of paragraph 6 states: “Premiers stressed that negotiations should now proceed with a view to concluding a draft agreement by the end of the year”. That is what the premiers said.
Clearly, there have to be some goals set. If the timeline for negotiation is infinite, all the federal government has to do is play the violin and say nice words about how wonderful it is to have co-operation within the federation. We will never get anywhere.
There has to be somebody, somewhere, at some time who drives it to conclusion. The premiers have made it extremely clear what they think the proper timelines are.
There is clearly a role for the federal government in this. What we are saying is “Get on with it. Play a role. Do something that will move this ball through the goal posts”. The federal government has not only been doing nothing, not only dragging its feet, but the Prime Minister himself is saying “We are not going to be flexible. We are not going to negotiate. Either you take what we are going to give you or tough bananas”.
That is not the way to give us a strong, co-operative federation. We will have to do something differently.