Mr. Speaker, I find something odd in what the member for Verchères—Les Patriotes has said.
He speaks about the fiscal disequilibrium. He probably knows but is not prepared to share with the House some of the facts. If we look at the provinces collectively, they actually collect more revenues than the federal government. If we look at the debt loads, the federal government has a larger debt load than the provinces. We only have to look back to September 16.
At this time, the Prime Minister and the provincial first ministers have reached agreement on a ten-year plan for consolidating health care, by virtue of which the provinces and territories will receive $41.3 billion over a period of 10 years.
When members of that party talk about fiscal disequilibrium, it seems to me that they are missing the point. They are not familiar with the numbers or they are just stirring the pot for political purposes.
I wonder if the member would comment on the fact that the revenue streams for the provinces exceed that of the federal government and the debt load of the federal government exceeds that of the provinces. How can he see that as fiscal disequilibrium?