Mr. Speaker, we are committed to treating all provinces equally, and we have demonstrated that. In fact, federal support to the provinces and territories is at an all-time high.
The larger issue is that Newfoundland and Labrador is no longer an equalization receiving province. It is now proudly a have province. The province is one of the strong economic engines we need to keep Canada strong and we should be celebrating that. To quote Premier Danny Williams, “It's a tremendous sense of relief and gratification that we've worked so hard in Newfoundland and Labrador”. He went on to say that that percolated throughout everybody in his province who can sit at home and say to themselves that they were no longer a have-not and that was huge.