Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Finance. It deals with the reinstatement of the cap on equalization payments.
Recent information provided by the recipient provinces shows the reinstatement of the cap will cause them great harm. Given the fact that the Prime Minister, right before the election last fall, called for removal of the cap on equalization payments and all the provincial finance ministers now agree with that, will the Prime Minister or the Minister of Finance now lift the ceiling or at least rebase it on 1999-2000 levels, which would be $10.8 billion instead of $10 billion?