That is not what I said. My hon. colleague said that members who did not show up did not vote against it. That is true. However they may as well have because they were not here. The only votes that count are those who are here. Integrity is in question in either case. First, members should have been here to vote because that was what they were elected to do. Second, the government did not do what it had promised to do in the red book.
Is the government actually going to evaluate and re-examine the equalization formula? Is it in fact going to be fair or is it going to operate in such a way that it can be manipulated and can change the way in which moneys are distributed? These are very serious questions, which I think need to be addressed and need to be dealt with very quickly and efficiently.
I am going to stop my remarks at this particular point and emphasize that we support equalization payments, that the formula for equalization has to be re-examined and that to lift the ceiling at this time is probably not the right thing to do.
Therefore, we are going to oppose this particular bill but not for the reason that we do not like equalization payments. We like equalization payments. We want them, we need them and Canada needs to support them.