Madam Speaker, I am very pleased to have the opportunity this morning to speak on this bill before us which deals with amendments to the Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements Act, or more accurately to deal with the inadequacy of the amendments to the Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements Act.
On the way to dealing with the subject, I must say it was a bit like listening to two Sauls being converted on the road to Damascus when I heard the Alliance members singing the praises of equalization, of transfer payments and beating up on the federal government for having introduced such drastic unilateral cuts in 1995 for which the people of Canada, particularly the people in the seven have not provinces, are continuing to pay a terrible price today.
Why do I say like two Sauls on the road to Damascus undergoing conversion? No voice, no force, no power in this House worked harder than the Reform Party, now reincarnated as the Alliance Party, in trying to bring about the very kind of drastic cuts that were introduced by this government.
Having said that, let me clearly say that I and my party do not accept the notion that the Liberal Party should automatically, through force, implement the mean-spirited destructive policies represented by the Alliance. Yet that is exactly what it has done in recent years. It is absolutely clear that, not only the have not provinces but an overwhelming majority of Canadians, regardless of the party they represent, also do not accept that.
I neglected to say at the outset, that I intend to split my time. I would ask for the unanimous consent of the House to split my time with the member from Regina—Qu'Appelle.