Mr. Speaker, these are reasons that are often given, but they do not stand up. Large corporations such as Alcan and Bell Canada were not compensated, nor will they be.
Since the 1988 directive, electric companies in Newfoundland and Manitoba have not been compensated. Speaking of $29 billion, the Bloc Quebecois and the Parti Quebecois always forget to mention that, while Quebec paid $29 billion in taxes in 1993-94, transfer payments to that province in the same year were $41.9 billion. That is where we really come up $12 billion short.