Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his comment.
The hon. member may not have heard the first part of my speech which was prior to question period. At no time did I say that we did not support equalization. In fact I defended the tenets of equalization vociferously.
I agree with the hon. member that it is absolutely essential to the equality of opportunity across the country that we maintain and strengthen equalization.
I appreciate the hon. member's intervention because I would not in any way want my words to be interpreted as not supporting equalization. It is quite the contrary. We recognize it as a cornerstone of Canadian social policy. Our party defends it and we recognize its importance.
What I was suggesting, relative to ghettoization, is that without equalization there would be a ghettoization of Canadians because there would be some groups in some regions of the country who would simply not have the same access to opportunity as others. Without equalization we would have a ghettoization. I hope that clarification is to the member's satisfaction.