Mr. Speaker, the member is pointing out one of the problems with the program to which I alluded toward the end of my speech, that is the inefficiency of the program.
The member who just spoke is from British Columbia. British Columbia has a situation where the transfer payment is based on gross income. Taxpayers in British Columbia are forced to contribute more to the program even though their province is in recession. If we had a net scheme rather than the current gross scheme, we could address this kind of problem.
Another thing that has been pointed out by experts is that there are incentives in the program for provinces to manipulate their own tax structures to maximize the amount of equalization they receive. I think the member was also referring to that.
If that is so, it clearly adds inefficiencies into the system where provinces could have a brighter economic picture. The current structure of the equalization program actually rewards less efficiency in the management of provincial economies. Experts say this is the case and that it should be addressed in the legislation. It is not addressed at all. The member is quite right in suggesting that area needs to be talked about and needs to be cleared up.