Mr. Speaker, first, I would answer the question, yes, I have the report. Is my interpretation different? Yes. Are we surprised? No. If we had the same interpretation, there would be no reason for this discussion. The fact is, Quebec has benefited significantly from transfer payments.
I did not hear my hon. friend across the way say that during the years 1981 to 1997 we had $508 billion in accumulated deficits. Since 1997 we have accumulated surpluses of $35.8 billion. The federal government has transferred significant dollars to the provinces in recent history.
I again go back to the historic accord of September, 2000, when we transferred over $21 billion through the CHST, in terms of health care funding, to the provinces. Quebec was a signator to that. At that time, the government of Quebec said that that was the amount of money it needed to operate those programs, and so did every other province.
Obviously my colleague across the way may not have the same memory that I do or it is awfully short. Very clearly, Quebec has benefited.
There are obviously differences. My colleague across the way uses the conference board for his benefit. The government of Quebec says, through the ministry of finance, that it will not be in a deficit, although we are led to believe that Quebec will be in a deficit. I am not sure which it is.
The point is, how can we forecast 20 years ahead to say that we will have unlimited resources? It is impossible.