Mr. Speaker, my question for the member is on the point he made about the need for the provinces to have control over much of the programs. In effect what I hear him saying is that the federal government should be nothing more than a cash cow for transfers money with absolutely no standards and no national requirements at all.
This country is a federation. The hon. member talked about confederation. While we all agree that the provinces have specific jurisdictions, it is important that we as a federal government remember that we believe Canadians have a right to the same quality and level of and same access to services wherever they may live in the country. Therefore we would like to see a strong federation with strong provinces, not a country that is really not a country at all but 10 nation-states doing their own thing whenever they feel like it. How does the hon. member see that unfolding?