Mr. Chairman, the member for Athabasca talked about a former national energy policy, and there is a relevant point there.
In the past governments have tended to raid natural resource profits from individual provinces or territories. We have set that precedent and somehow or another we have to move away from that precedent. The specific instance I am referring to is the east coast.
The oil field on the east coast is now bringing in an unprecedented profit that was never there before. That is in direct loggerheads with equalization payments. When Alberta found its resources under the ground, the federal government accommodated Alberta by allowing it to keep the profit from those resources and its equalization payments from 1957 to 1964.
We have been asking the federal government to recognize the advantage it gave to Alberta so it could get out from under and become a have province instead of a have not province. Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, Quebec or any province is never going to get out from under the yolk unless they are allowed to keep some of their profits. It is not just the oil field. It could be the mining industry or the diamond industry in the Northwest Territories or in Nunavut.
I would like the member's comments on that.