Mr. Speaker, I hope every provincial premier in Canada was listening to that tirade of hate about the incompetence of provincial governments in not being able to make a decision regarding such things as the distribution of the gasoline tax. I think that is terrible.
For instance, the member just mentioned that the government will pay its share if the provinces pay theirs. In Saskatchewan we have to try to come up with 40% of a government program in a province that now has less than a million people and many times we cannot do that.
If the Province of Saskatchewan cannot determine the percentage of the amount of gasoline tax that comes into that province, or that goes to that city, what he is saying is that the government of Saskatchewan and all other governments are totally incompetent, that this government wants to deal directly with the municipalities. That is not the function of our Constitution and it is not the function of this government. No government can ignore provincial governments.
Let me read very quickly what the motion states: “That, in the opinion of this House, the government should initiate immediate discussions”, and members should listen carefully now, “with the provinces and the territories to provide municipalities...”.
It has to go through that. We do not go out and say, “Here is your health tax, but you must spend it here and here”. It is not done in health, so why would it be done with taxation from gasoline?