Mr. Speaker, I think one question needs to be raised. Why are we doing it now in relation to the change in the Liberal leadership? Does it mean that the new leader does not want to deal with this issue? That question needs to be asked.
In terms of the deals that come up on the equalization side, there is no doubt the reason it is in place since the Constitution Act, 1982 is to make sure that the money flows. If the money does not flow, then I believe the provinces have the constitutional right to complain.
There should be provisions in the agreement for provinces whose wealth creation initiatives are successful and they are creating more wealth. It is not good enough just to say that because a province is making more money the federal government wants it all back and the province cannot have any of the equalization.
There are a lot of things that need to be done. The first thing is that the federal government has to be at the table.