It would be nice if he listened, since I listen to the minister when he speaks.
We are currently creating two classes in society: the very poor and the very rich. It cannot work that way. In my riding, the GM plant closed and that affects me personally. There was also the big fiasco with the Mirabel airport. How do you think that affected the area? How many people were working, who are now unemployed or have had to relocate to find work? It is an unbearable situation in society and it is a difficult experience to go through. The Nike company laid off 150 people when it moved production to a less expensive country, such as Mexico, where the cost of labour is very low.
These are things we are all aware of. We know how this works in each of our ridings. We can bring something and help them in their equalization formula.
I think that this bill goes against parliamentary democracy in this House and I think that today we have the means to sit down with the provinces and rework the numbers to find a formula that is fair for everyone, in order to reach an agreement that will last another five years. This agreement has to be made immediately and we have to stop trying to satisfy the future prime minister, the member for LaSalle—Émard, and do our work as parliamentarians right now.