Mr. Speaker, the federal government is demanding that provincial governments repay any overpayment in respect of fiscal equalization, based on the periodic adjustment of the parameters in the formula. Last year, Quebec was billed for an amount of $1.2 billion by the federal government. In October 2004, Saskatchewan was billed for $590 million in equalization adjustments.
Could the Minister of Finance tell us whether, like Quebec, Saskatchewan will be allowed to repay this overpayment over a certain period and, if so, over how many years?