Madam Chair, as is often the case, it is not as simple as the official opposition and the hon. member would suggest. In 1995 as I have already indicated here this evening, the country was facing a serious deficit situation and a debt wall. That had to be dealt with and we did deal with it. In part we dealt with it with the urging from the official opposition.
I have already acknowledged that we were dealing with a deficit and a debt. We had to take measures to bring the fiscal house of the nation back in order.
I take umbrage with the suggestion that there were no discussions with the provinces at the time. I take umbrage with the suggestion that this was simply dumped on the provinces. While we knew the deficit and debt had to be dealt with, and that transfer payments would have to be cut back as well, there were discussions with provincial and territorial finance ministers and governments.
That was the time at which the CHST was crafted. The provinces received additional flexibility which was what they wanted to deal with the fact that yes, there were fewer dollars flowing to them. We know that. That was no secret. We did not hide that fact but it is wrong to suggest that there were no discussions with the provinces in relation to what happened at that time. We were all facing tough choices.
Today we have an economy that is the envy of the world. We have an economy that produces the revenues that permits us to reinvest, be it at the provincial level or the federal level, in health care and other important social services.
I really do take umbrage with the hon. member's simplistic approach to the complex challenge we faced in 1995 and in fact, that which actually happened. All of us, the federal and provincial governments, were fighting to deal with our deficits and debts. All Canadians sacrificed. Now we are reaping the benefits of those sacrifices.