Mr. Speaker, the issue of the CHST cuts continues to come back. I remind the member that the cuts which the federal government made to its own fiscal expenditures were more than the cuts it made to the provinces. There was a sharing of the burden. There was a lesser percentage of revenue.
The member probably knows, and would probably like to confirm, that at a time when he admits the provinces were cutting health care and education because of the transfer cuts, was not the province of Alberta running surpluses and still cutting health care? Was not the province of Ontario actually giving 15% income tax cuts while cutting health care?
The cost to the province of Ontario of the tax reduction was in the order of $1.2 billion. The reduction in transfers from the federal government was in the neighbourhood of $400 million. There was a significant difference.
If the actions of the provincial governments were taken into account at the same time they were cutting health care and education, it would be very clear that the priorities of the provinces were not the same as the priorities of the federal government and the people of Canada. The priorities of the provinces were to either accumulate surpluses or grant tax cuts.
The member also should acknowledge that in any analysis like this he cannot ignore the reality of equalization payments in Canada, of which Quebec is the single largest recipient.