The member says it is not a tax cut, but before we indexed it members opposite were saying that because it was not indexed we in fact were raising taxes because there was no inflation put in. They cannot have it both ways.
Even when we talk about child care, the fiscal responsibility issue can really hit home. In the throne speech we talked about a significant contribution to child care because of its importance. We know it is a provincial responsibility, but the health and well-being of people is still the responsibility across the board with regard to the Government of Canada. We cannot ignore a need where it is demonstrated.
We had a program of early childhood development to which moneys were contributed. Reporting was required from the provincial governments with regard to where they spend it, how was it applied and how did it meet the targets that were set. We are now looking at the same situation again with regard to the investment in child care. It may be a provincial responsibility, but the health and well-being of those children, our future leaders, are very important to us.
Providing daycare may be someone's choice, but it may not be everyone's choice. How do we deal with that? That is another area. That is why I said at the very beginning, every time we touch an item in this place, whether it be Bill C-24 and the fiscal arrangements act, or health care or child care, there is a ripple effect. Some get it, some do not. Every budget is not a stand alone budget. It has to be taken in a context of every budget that came before it.
Responsible government is all about that. It is about making tough decisions. It is about establishing priorities. It is about delivering on those priorities. It is fiscal responsibility as well as social responsibility. As a rule of thumb, good fiscal policy makes good social policy and good social policy makes good fiscal policy. That is exactly what the government has delivered.
Then we look at issues such as cities and communities. The government will be making an investment. We have already forgiven the GST. We are also now looking at 50% of the gas tax. These moneys go not just for cities, but for communities as well. I heard the member for Yukon speak earlier. He is a member of Parliament who digs into his own community and shares with the House some of the issues that are so important; 33,000 people, each one of them a Canadian, each one of them entitled to share in the wealth and the riches of our country and to fully participate in national programs.
Those are the kinds of things we have to hear. When we hear stories like that, we hear how we are fighting to ensure that everything which happens from coast to coast to coast is linked into the overall objective. The member for St. John's South—Mount Pearl said that section 36 of the Constitution is about nation building. We have to continue to talk about nation building.
It has been helpful to the House to have the debate about the offshore oil reserves. The member across has raised issues about Saskatchewan. Is it really a have province now? It is an interesting question. It is probably a surprise to many Canadians that all of a sudden Saskatchewan is labelled as a have province because it has been the beneficiary of high oil prices. I am not sure if that is sustainable. I am not sure if oil prices will remain at those levels.
I asked the member for St. John's South—Mount Pearl a question. When we deal with an equalization formula and when we deal with the unique situation of Newfoundland and Labrador, as he put it, the pendulum swings. We help sometimes and sometimes we need some assistance ourselves. Here is an opportunity. I asked him once the oil revenues brought Newfoundland and Labrador up to the Ontario standard or a standard at which the province would no longer be eligible for equalization, what then? I think it will be a long time coming before we get the answer.
Newfoundland and Labrador has an interesting history, a very proud history. However, there have been many attempts in the past, whether it be through special fisheries, et cetera to try to get the fisheries industry back on its feet again. It has not happened. There have been tremendous economic development programs through ACOA to get new business, new enterprise going there. Many of those things have been false starts. I am not sure why. We need to know more about that. As we get to the point where there is a non-renewable resource that will generate revenue for the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, what happens next?
That was the question to the member. Where do we go from there? Where do we invest? How do we stop the brain drain from that province? The young people are not staying. There is no work. There is no economic development. There is no challenge for them there. Newfoundland and Labrador needs help. Is this is a situation where we need special arrangements to ensure that we can help a province that has had a very difficult time? Maybe it is. It is tough decisions.
I know the premiers, particularly the Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador, have made passionate arguments about why it needs this. Why does Saskatchewan not need it? What happens if Alberta says that if oil revenues all sudden are not going to be included, maybe it should exclude them in Alberta, maybe Alberta would be less of a contributor. It is kind of an interesting argument, but it is quite unlikely. This demonstrates that tough decisions have to be taken.
I also wanted to make mention of the environment. Recently, I had a conversation with the member for Ottawa South about the environment of Canada and how it related to our overall responsibility for the health and well-being of our people and how important it was that we needed to start reassessing the priorities with regard to renewables and sustainable energy development.
When moneys are transferred between province and province and the federal government tops up this and cost shares on other things, all these add to the pool. However, each and every region of the country has a responsibility to look at the health and well-being of its people. I know, as past vice-chair of the environment committee, we talked an awful lot about the health connections to the environment. We talked a lot about the need for people to understand Kyoto. We talked about the need to understand what buying credits would do for it. We talked about the need to assess the fact that we have a neighbour, the United States. It has coal generation in the Ohio Valley, which contributes probably most of the environmental problems to the GTA particularly, given the prevailing wind parameters.
We also talked about the need to develop renewables, about wind power and about solar. What were the opportunities? Somehow this has lost its position on the table. I encourage members to move on and to start to talk about how we convince Canadians that investment in the environment is an investment in the health and well-being of Canadians. That is not just the responsibility of the federal government. It is the responsibility of each and every level of government right down to the municipalities, to those who have the authority to generate initiatives that will help us to meet our goals and targets. One important target is to continue to improve the health and well-being of all Canadians.