Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to close the debate. I thank all hon. members for their submissions in this debate. I am not surprised that there is very little agreement among members especially from have provinces to change the equalization formula.
With respect, the government member who spoke talked around the problem of equalization. He talked around the motion. We are all very much aware of how the formula came about. He offered very little help and very little advice about how the formula could be changed to reflect the very real economic problems of the have-not provinces in this nation.
Simply put, we need economic development and jobs. We need to maximize the impact of any resource development on our economy and on the provincial treasury. We in Newfoundland and Labrador have lost a lot in our economy due to federal government cuts in programs and personnel. We are seeing the spectacle of every new resource dollar being clawed back, being subtracted dollar for dollar from our nearly $1 billion in equalization payments. As I said earlier in the debate, the Hibernia development is an exception. From those revenues, we will only lose 70 cents on the equalization dollar.
We need the equalization formula improved. This improvement needs to be applied to the other resource developments as well. That is the whole point of the motion, a change in the equalization formula. If there is no change, there will not be a catching up. There will not be a chance for equality of the provinces unless there is some recognition of the fact that the very pool of money made available by the federal government through equalization to keep provinces from starving is the same pool of money that will keep them permanently poor.
I am not saying that we should put in place a new equalization formula for ever and a day. I am saying that we should work out an arrangement for have-not provinces that will see resource revenues clawed back on a more gradual basis. For example, there could be a 50% clawback on a development such as Voisey's Bay and maybe a 35% or 40% clawback on a development like Sable Island. That way there would be an opportunity to play catch up, to bring back to an acceptable level the employment rate and the quality of life for people who happen to live in a have-not province.
I am willing to listen to an alternative to that. If there happens to be no agreement on changing the equalization formula, maybe in the next budget some alternative measures could be taken to help the economically deprived provinces of which I belong to one. I do not expect to change the world today but I want the people of Canada to know that the current equalization formula is taking one step forward and one step back. If that is the case, how can we ever get ahead, how can we equalize, how can we catch up?