Thank you, Madam Chair. I have a question on his opening statement, Madam Chair. Perhaps I should begin by commenting and congratulating the Minister for putting a very positive face on some parts of what was not the good-news budget he delivered yesterday. I do believe though it is a good budget in that the Minister has made his best efforts to grapple with our current financial situation.

There is no question that we have to work together to address some of these difficult issues, so that if some good news were to happen from the federal government or in any other areas, we will find ourselves in a position where we could do more things. It is always good to be in a position of having that room to work with, rather than being overly optimistic and having spent on the assumption of getting something and then end up not getting it.

One of his key objectives for the department on page 2 of his statement is to finalize the discussions with Finance Canada on the formula financing. We do know that this agreement expires in a couple of weeks, and I am assuming that the existing agreement will operate until such time as the new one comes into place. I know that the Minister was quite optimistic when he first went down to meet with his federal counterpart to work out this agreement, but he wasn't as happy when he came back with it. So I am wondering, for the record, what it was that this government was hoping to get from the federal government under this new formula, and what is the stumbling block that is getting in the way of us achieving the kind of agreement that the Minister was looking for. Thank you, Madam Chair.