Mr. Speaker, it is always interesting and amusing to see the policy gymnastics of the Reform Party.
What the hon. member has referred to is the fact that there is substantial economic growth occurring in Newfoundland and Labrador. As a country we are going to see the shared dividends from that economic growth.
What the hon. member fails to point out is that there is still some significant catching up to do. Newfoundland and Labrador will become a have province, a sharing province which is indeed our objective, but we still have some ground to make up. That is why the equalization program is stepping in right now. It is to be able to provide that opportunity.
It is not our objective over the long term to be a recipient of equalization. It is the objective however of the Reform Party to keep us in that position.
The Reform Party's position has always been that tax cuts are the answer. Can the revenue of a family be cut from $30,000 a year down to $25,000 and still provide the same level of purchasing power as there was at $30,000? The obvious answer is no. Yet the hon. member and the Reform Party continue to raise the idea that we can cut the revenues of the Government of Canada very substantially, very quickly and very heavily and still be able to provide the same levels of support, programs and services such as health care and education for Canadians.
Thank God the people of Canada are much, much smarter than the Reform Party members will ever give them credit for being. They just do not understand this fact. Reform members change their policies time and time again whenever it suits their needs. They never actually address the real issues. They continually read the polls, find out what the polls may say in their constituencies and actually design polls so they say what they want them to say and then they create ideas or policy documents based on those polls.
Polls do not say much when it comes to building Canada. What hon. members do not understand is that Canadians throughout the country share a very sound value which says let us build the economy, let us build jobs, let us have growth but at the same time, let us try to be fair to all the regions of the country.
The Reform Party members do not understand that and it is about time they did.