Mr. Speaker, I listened quite carefully to the hon. member's comments and, unfortunately, I did not hear too much on the motion. He spoke a good deal to other government programs but he did not really speak to the motion, which in effect asks the government to remove non-renewable natural resources from the equalization formula.
The government has already done this with Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia and, by doing so, it has set the national standard.
The equalization program is a national program that must be applied equally to all provinces. Hence, by consequence, it should suggest that if Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador have non-renewable natural resources removed from the equalization formula for their provinces, it should be equal and the same for other provinces across Canada. However I hear that member and other members across the floor stating, no, that special circumstances require special deals. This is not what should be happening with a nationally administered program.
I would like the member opposite to explain how he can justify stating that there can be one special deal for a certain region of Canada but not the same deal for other regions of Canada.