Madam Speaker, I would like to raise the same concern, the targeting of the oil and gas sector, and probably Alberta in turn.
Under the equalization system in Canada we are talking about $10.5 billion. I believe the member's province has been receiving about $5.5 billion in equalization and transfer payments, and that has been going on for a considerable period of time.
On the other hand, the province that has been carrying the ball on equalization to the tune of about $6 billion a year has been the province of Alberta. It just seems to me that the winner in this scenario, a healthy Alberta economy, means $5.5 billion for the province of Quebec in its equalization program.
If the Alberta economy is not healthy and it is not able to pay this $2,000 per capita every year into the equalization fund, and the oil and gas industry is in trouble, where in the world does the member expect this $5.5 billion to come from that they take for granted in the province of Quebec?