Mr. Speaker, I believe the arithmetic that the hon. gentleman is using is arithmetic which, for the purposes of the argument, eliminates the impact of non-renewable resources in the calculation of the figures. This is one of the thorny questions the expert panel will have to grapple with.
In my experience over the last number of years, there have been three issues in particular that have bedevilled the equalization system and have raised questions of equity, not just involving Saskatchewan but involving a variety of other provinces. The first is the treatment of property taxes. That hits in different ways in different parts of the country. The second is the extent to which user fees are considered to be sources of revenue and therefore are or are not included in the formula. The third is natural resources, both renewable and non-renewable.
Because we recognized the complexity of all of this and the issues that cut in such different ways in different parts of the country, we started to reform the equalization system last year. We did this first by making more money available to it, putting a floor under it to try to give every province a leg up while we were going through this period of transition. We also created a panel of impartial, non-partisan, independent experts. I mentioned their names in my remarks. They will do the government, the opposition and the whole country, including all of the provinces, a great service by analyzing these bedevilling questions and giving to all of us the best advice about how to fix this incredibly complex formula and to do so in the interests of Canadians everywhere.