Mr. Speaker, the Canadian Constitution commits Parliament and the Government of Canada to make equalization payments that ensure provinces have significant revenue to provide reasonable levels of public service at reasonable levels of taxation.
The current equalization system just does not work. Newfoundland and Labrador suffers greatly. The 5 province standard as opposed to the 10 province standard results in $132 million less revenue for our province. Also, the Government of Canada claws back 8l¢ of every new dollar earned on natural resources, while the province gets a mere 19¢ on every new resource dollar from offshore oil and gas development.
There are new economic realities facing provinces that require a new equalization system, one that is fairer. The new Prime Minister states his government is a new government with a new vision. Action is required now for the Prime Minister to reform the current equalization system.