Mr. Speaker, I listened with some interest to my colleague from the Bloc. I want him to know that as an Albertan, as a member of the Reform Party and as a member of the House I consider him to be part of the Canadian family. He is a Canadian. He lives in Canada and he serves in Canada's parliament.
I heard throughout his speech too often that Quebec was not getting its fair share. I have done a little study on equalization, which is what he was talking about. As I recall, the Quebec population is now about 24% of Canada's population.
The numbers I have over the last 10 years show that of the equalization that was paid out to the seven so-called have not provinces, which excludes Alberta, Ontario and British Columbia, Quebec received in excess of 60% of the money as a percentage. Overall in Canada, including all ten provinces, Quebec received between 40% and 50%. The peak was around 48% in one year according to my records.
With a population of 24% and getting 48% of all equalization payments in the country, how can the member say that Quebec is not getting its fair share? It is getting twice the average, which seems to me to be inconsistent with his statement. Before I sit down, with that I would like to invite him to stay in Canada.