Prime Minister Stephen Harper says people interested in his response to the Saskatchewan equalization controversy will have to wait a while longer.

"All I can say is, stay tuned," Harper told reporters in Regina Wednesday.

Equalization is the $11-billion federal program in which Ottawa makes payments to the so-called "have-not" provinces. Thanks in large part to surging oil revenues, Saskatchewan is currently considered a wealthier-than-average province and doesn't receive the federal payments.

Harper was asked about a specific Conservative campaign promise to make two changes to the equalization formula — one that would subtract non-renewable resource revenues from the calculations and another that would use a 10-province formula.

The changes could potentially result in hundreds of millions of dollars more going into Saskatchewan government coffers every year.   

Several weeks ago, Saskatchewan Conservative MPs wrote to Harper to say that if the government didn't live up to its promise, there would be repercussions in the next election. 

Speaking to reporters at Regina's RCMP training academy, Harper said he was aware his party made "commitments" to change equalization and his government prides itself on living up to its commitments.

"This is a complex area and we've said all along we're not going to do it overnight," he said. "We hope by the next budget we will make some substantive … progress on federal-provincial fiscal relations."

The night before, Harper spoke to Conservative supporters at a barbeque outside Regina. He didn't mention equalization in his public comments. Instead, he talked about what the government has accomplished to date.

"Friends, we've only been in office for a little over half a year, but day by day, week by week, month by month, we're demonstrating to people that Conservatives get things done for families and taxpayers," he said.

Harper also talked about what his government intends to do in the coming months.

"More of [Finance Minister] Jim Flaherty's tax cuts will kick in, we'll keep moving forward on the fight against crime, and Canada's new government will replace Liberal and NDP rhetoric on the environment with real Conservative results," he said.

Palliser MP Dave Batters said everyone at the barbeque would have liked to hear Harper talk about the issue.

"It's an important issue to the people of Saskatchewan, but it's something that we are going to deliver on," Batters said.

Batters said whether the final result is exactly as promised remains to be seen.

Still, he said he's confident his government will deliver more money to Saskatchewan under a new equalization deal than it's ever received before.