Mr. Speaker, I understand where the member is coming from, but it was the way he presented it that people will misinterpret the fact that he is basically saying that Newfoundlanders, or anybody else, should not have more money, regardless of the resources, than Ontario has. I am sure he did not mean that.
With all due respect to yourself, Mr. Speaker, the member and other members from Ontario, the reason Ontario is in that position is that it is the centre of Canada. The federal government is in Ontario and therefore there are spinoffs. I wonder how well Ontario would be doing if we were to move this building and all the associated work that goes into running the Government of Canada to Newfoundland and Labrador or to British Columbia.
I will use Alberta as an example. Back in the 1930s when things were rough in Alberta, before the oil days, Albertans were going through a very rough time. Atlantic Canada at one time, as history dictates, would send fish to Alberta to help the people because they were going through such a rough period. They discovered oil and things turned around. Alberta is now helping us.
Ontario is somewhere near the top of the heap. However if other provinces were to develop their resources they could surpass Ontario. They could be paying equalization payments to Ontario down the road. That is what Confederation is all about. I make no apologies.
What I am saying is that a province should be the prime beneficiary of its resources. Nobody denies that, but what the government is saying is that the provinces should be as long as it does not make them better than somebody else. That is not the way it is supposed to be and that certainly is not the way it will all turn out in the end.