Mr. Speaker, what a problem we have. It is terrible. I came to this House in 1988. I recall the crying and the tearing of the shirts over the deficit. We were going to hit the wall.
Separatists did not want to have anything to do with the Canadian government because it had a large deficit. They were not talking about fiscal imbalance then, because there was none. We never heard about that. Today, because we managed to turns things around and be in a good fiscal position, there is a lot of wailing and complaining.
Are we losing sight of the equalization program, which helps provinces most in need? It may not be perfect, but it certainly helps provinces like Quebec.
I am from Ontario. I am an Ontario taxpayer. We do not get equalization payments. I pay, and gladly so. But I think we are being blackmailed.
This whole topic is a myth. I wonder what would happen if they pushed us back into a deficit. How would they speak about the country then? I want to know that.
If we ran a deficit, what would you say? I would like to know. Is that what you would like? I do not agree.