Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for participating in this important debate.
It is somewhat difficult to participate in a partnership when one of the partners refuses to recognize the contributions that the federal government makes. One of the obvious points of disagreement in this debate is whether a $17 billion transfer in tax points is actually real money. It is certainly real money when the provinces receive it, but apparently it is not real money when the federal government sends it.
Does the hon. member think that possibly, in order to clarify this debate, we might convert all or some of those tax points back to cash and see whether this is in fact real money?