Mr. Speaker, I would like to congratulate the minister on coming back to join us here in the House and on his very successful recovery. We all had him in mind.
The minister managed to work himself up into quite a frenzy over a proposal to continue with the status quo. He spoke as though the transfer of tax points between senior levels of government would somehow undermine the federation and the very glue that bonds it together.
Will the minister not admit that tax point transfers from the federal to provincial governments to allow them to finance programs more transparently within their own exclusive constitutional jurisdiction is a longstanding historic practice of the Canadian federation?
When he does admit this, why is he concerned about the motion which simply suggests that the first ministers gather for the purpose of reapportioning the tax base among the federal and provincial governments through the transfer of tax points? Is this not an ongoing process? Does this not happen from year to year? Is the negotiation of who finances what not a work in process in terms of tax points and cash transfers? If so, why is he so concerned?