Mr. Speaker, this is a very important debate. It touches not only on equalization but on the whole question of the gap in the horizontal and vertical fiscal arrangements.
On October 26 the Prime Minister and the premiers reached a new framework agreement on equalization so that over the next 10 years everything was basically set in motion with the agreement of all of the stakeholders.
Subsequently, with regard to Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia, the question about the offshore oil revenues came up. As a consequence, there was in February a change made to the treatment of the offshore oil revenues, taking into account that only a factor of 70ยข on the dollar was being taken into account with regard to their fiscal capacity. The bottom line is that there was a situation in Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia that was an inequity, which was identified and has been dealt with.
It appears that the question of Saskatchewan is an argument on a similar basis, but I am not quite sure. I would ask the member to explain how the Saskatchewan situation emulates the situation that existed in Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia.