Mr. Speaker, I am working on the assumption that the member and her party will be supporting Bill C-24, so I am somewhat hesitant to be critical of her somewhat wandering ways on a variety of issues.
As I said earlier, this has nothing to do with the offshore accords. The offshore accords are altogether separate and, as the member rightly points out, will require separate legislation.
The other point is that for this fiscal year, Nova Scotia will receive an additional $151 million to do with as it sees fit, in that we are bringing the threshold for this fiscal year up to $10 billion and Nova Scotia's share is an additional $151 million. That will translate into about $1,250 per person. Thereafter, Nova Scotia's share under the bill will be $1.343527 billion. That is something that the premier and the finance minister of Nova Scotia have spoken to us directly about. I assume the hon. member supports the representations made by her premier and finance minister.
I wonder if the hon. member would mind commenting on the fact that the Government of Canada has essentially bought down the risk of the equalization receiving provinces by implementing a formula that is $10.9 billion in the next fiscal year and a 3.5% escalator thereafter, which is a guaranteed floor to the equalization receiving provinces. Effectively, that means that if Ontario, which is the largest contributor to the federal revenues, were to have a bad year then the federal government would be forced to find revenues somewhere else while guaranteeing the equalization receiving provinces from the economic shocks of Ontario.
I wonder whether the hon. member in general thinks that is a good idea, or should some other way be introduced that would in effect be the current situation, which is that the equalization formula goes up and the equalization formula goes down largely in accordance with Ontario's economy. Which does she prefer, the guaranteed floor or the equalization variables that currently exist?