Madam Speaker, I too am quite fond of the hon. member opposite and respect him greatly, but it seems to me that he wants to make a suck and blow argument, and that does not work either in this chamber or anywhere else.
We are not offering him sympathy. We are offering him a considerable amount of money. That amount of money was negotiated between the Prime Minister and the premier, and apparently it is not acceptable to the premier.
The offers which have been made in good faith by the Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance on behalf of the Government of Canada are the result of a complex and detailed set of negotiations among all of the parties. They directly address the concerns expressed by this hon. member and others, that equalization payments provide additional payments to ensure that these provinces will effectively be able to retain 100% of their offshore gas and oil revenues.
These arrangements are much more generous than what other provinces receive. We would not want to create inequities among the provinces for the fear that these provincial governments would not be able to address the legitimate needs of their constituents.