Mr. Speaker, I particularly concur with the hon. gentleman's comment with regard to cooperation, that it is in cooperation with municipally generated programs. The hon. member made a good point in terms of needing to work cooperatively with the provinces and municipal governments in Canada. That is what the government has been doing since it first came into office. The fact is that the government has made sure through the national infrastructure program, through the strategic infrastructure program and others, that they are municipally generated.
The issue the member touches upon is that we do not want to abrogate responsibilities. Simply by having one order of government raising money and turning it over to another order of government so that order of government does not have to take responsibility for it but can spend the money is an issue with which members in the House have to deal. If members think that this is a good approach, then obviously there are going to be implications. The member's point about cooperating is a very important one. Simply, the provinces getting money from the Government of Canada and hoping they will turn it over to municipalities, at least in the province of Ontario, has not been successful. I commend the member for that point.
I would ask the member very specifically about the issue of vacating tax room. Let us assume for a moment that we agree with the Alliance motion. It is based on the premise of the provinces being able to take the money and turn it over to municipal governments. How would that be structured to ensure that in fact it would work? Why is the option of cooperation probably the better road to take?