Mr. Speaker, I have read the Canada-Nova Scotia offshore accord and it is obvious to me that the member has not. He should pick it up and take a real good hard look at it because the accord states that the bulk of the revenues coming from the offshore should go to the province involved, either Nova Scotia or Newfoundland.
The separate side deal was for the Hibernia project. Newfoundland got to keep 25% of its revenues because of the cost of bringing the project on stream. It was a huge cost and some of the technology developed for Hibernia was the first time that it had ever been used anywhere on the planet.
The member's other question is really ludicrous. The principle of equalization is that when a province makes a dollar the federal government will claw it back. That is why we are standing on our feet today discussing the issue. That is what is not working.
If we read the history books and take a look at what happened between 1957 and 1965 we find that Alberta kept its equalization payments. Why not? It allowed the province the opportunity to build its infrastructure, to dig itself out of the hole that it was in and to climb up the ladder of opportunity.
We are saying all the provinces should be allowed to do that. It would not be forever. We cannot expect to implement it forever. The provinces should be given an opportunity to climb out of the hole and to get on top of their debts instead of looking up at them. They should be able to bring in the revenues they richly deserve.