Madam Speaker, it is rather sad that the individual who just spoke would talk about the west like that. We are all in this federation together. I think he is somewhat missing the point.
Some people in the west wonder why there are people from Atlantic Canada, Quebec and Ontario going to the west on a western alienation committee to determine and tell them how they should feel. There is too much of that in this country, blaming one or blaming the other.
People who stand in the House to talk about the equalization index or any other issue should have the right to do so. They are not just here to talk about their own individual constituency, they are members of parliament who are here to talk about the federation as a whole. I think the member should respect that. It is unfortunate that he does not.
I ask the hon. member whether he thinks the equalization index in total is reasonable when we have three provinces trying to equalize for the other seven. How is that ultimately going to work given that, for instance, Nova Scotia, with its gas and oil, is coming around to an economic boon? I suspect that Newfoundland is coming around in terms of Voisey's Bay, possible oil production, mining and those kinds of things.
Is it not reasonable to expect that this equalization index would have to change one of these days and that it should not have been brought into the House by this government which had five years to bring the issue here and is now in a damn big rush to have it dealt with in the last few days before it needs it?