Mr. Speaker, I will always remember the statement of the finance minister who said that the years of bickering with the provinces were over and there was peace in our times.
The member for Blackstrap stood and basically lambasted Saskatchewan and the Premier of Saskatchewan, saying that the premier was “addicted to equalization”. She also outlined a scenario in which Saskatchewan's population had declined and the province was rundown.
I have never heard a member of the House speak so poorly about a province or region in our country in 14 years of being a member of Parliament, except once. That was when the Prime Minister referred to the Atlantic provinces as having a culture of defeatism, referring to their so-called addiction to EI.
Would the member maybe reconsider her slanderous remarks of the Premier of Saskatchewan and maybe apologize to him on the record before this matter gets any further.