Madam Speaker, as seatmates the member for Dartmouth and I have often had many conversations but it is rare that we get to have one on the record so it is my pleasure to continue this dialogue.
I wonder what the member's views are of dealing with surpluses, the last point she mentioned. A recent paper on fiscal imbalance from the finance department of September 2003 states that the federal government will not apply 100% of its future surpluses to debt reduction. I remember a time about two years ago when the Liberal government said it would be one-third, one-third, one-third, that any surplus would be divided equally in thirds. It would be one-third tax cuts, one-third debt reduction and one-third spending on programs.
What does the hon. member feel about this reversal? The current Minister of Finance is threatening to apply again, for the third year in a row, every penny of the surplus to debt reduction and not one cent to spending in regions such as her own.