Mr. Speaker, I listened very closely as I always do to my hon. colleague's comments, but let me make a few comments of my own in response to the remarks I just heard.
The first comment I would make refers to my hon. colleague's comments concerning his previous government's efforts to raise transfer payments. He called it at one time “to record highs”. I would remind all Canadians, including of course the hon. member for Wascana, that it was his government that cut $25 billion in health care transfers to the provinces during his terms of office while he was in cabinet and he did nothing to stop that, absolutely nothing.
Second, I would point out that during the 13 years that the member was in cabinet, the Liberals did absolutely nothing to help the equalization problem in Saskatchewan. If they would have done as we have recently done in budget 2007 and removed non-renewable natural resources, 100% removal, it would have meant during a decade of have not years in Saskatchewan $4 billion in additional revenue for the province.
Those figures come not from me, but from the department of finance in the province of Saskatchewan. Yet, the member has the gall to stand up and make it appear that the Liberal Party is the great protector of Saskatchewan. I would suggest only this, that it was absolutely not the case.
The hon. member for Wascana has spent a lot of time on this cap. I have asked three members in the Liberal Party opposite the same question today and none of them has given a response except for the member for Halifax West who said that my comments, which members are about to hear, were absolutely false.
In March of this year the leader of the official opposition said on live television, the Mike Duffy Live show, that in his opinion non-renewable natural resources should not be excluded from the equalization formula. Further to that, he also stated unequivocally that in his opinion there should be a fiscal capacity cap because he felt there was no way that an equalization receiving province should end up with a fiscal capacity higher than a contributing province.
The very cap that the member is criticizing is being advocated by his own leader, except for one small detail. Although the leader of the official opposition stated that, and of course there is proof because not only do we have transcripts we have the tapes of him stating this on live television, the member for Halifax West said “he did not say that”. The leader of the official opposition says “I did not say that”. So who is being disingenuous here? It is clearly members opposite.
I would ask the member for Wascana one thing. Does he stand by his leader's comments refuting that he made those statements about putting on a fiscal cap? When was the Leader of the Opposition telling the truth, before or now?