Mr. Speaker, I was not going to rise until the hon. member kept giving us these factual errors. I think the best place to look is page 114 of the budget document, which shows a chart of the federal transfer payments to the provinces. It is today at an all time high.
The error the hon. member makes is that like provincial premiers he fails to include in his transfer numbers the transfer of tax points, which the government made to the provinces some time ago. If he looks at the chart he will see them.
The fact of the matter is that total federal transfers to Ontario accounted for 22% of total Ontario expenditures five years ago and now it is 27%. In the case of the province of Quebec it is 30%. In the case of the maritime provinces it might be 40%. The fact of the matter, if we calculate these things right, is that the federal contribution has been on the rise.