Mr. Speaker, my question to the parliamentary secretary is quite simple.
Yesterday, the Quebec finance minister, Monique Jérôme-Forget, who is a Liberal, a federalist, stated in her comments on the budget that Quebec will lose hundreds of millions of dollars because of changes made by the federal government to the equalization formula submitted to the provinces in 2007. Today, the Premier of Quebec, Jean Charest, a Liberal and a federalist, made the same comment. I would like the parliamentary secretary to tell me whether or not the federal government, the Conservative government, has changed the equalization formula without consulting the provinces.