Mr. Speaker, I listened with interest to the remarks of my Reform Party colleague.
I cannot help but wonder why, during the 1995 referendum in Quebec, these people who find us so expensive stepped in to prevent us from leaving. If we are the drain on finances that the Reform Party members would have us believe, it would only have made sense to let us go, indeed to help us on our way.
However, when the member speaks about the social union and equalization costs, I would simply point out that, while it is true that British Columbia is one of the provinces now on the paying end, this was not always the case. Nor will it always be the case in future.
When the people who fled Hong Kong for British Columbia because of the impending takeover by mainland China return to their homeland, as some of them have already done, and when the U.S. boycotts against British Columbia lumber have achieved the desired effects, perhaps then British Columbia will find itself on the receiving end.
Canadian society and the equalization systems as we now know them can change at any time. What holds true today will not necessarily hold true tomorrow.
If we are costing them so much, if Quebec is not productive and it is not worth keeping us happy within the federation, I would like the member to tell me why she and her colleagues came to Montreal with their flags and paid so dearly to tell us they loved us during the 1995 referendum. I would like her to simply explain that.