Mr. Speaker, I do appreciate the remarks by the hon. member, who is the senior critic for natural resources. I have three questions for him.
Briefly, the federal Liberals are charging GST on taxes. I have never heard of any country in the world where the government charges a tax on top of taxes. I would like to find out if the member thinks it is unfair to charge GST on other taxes.
Second, we know that there is a deficit financing tax on gasoline. When the deficit is gone, the specific tax applied for that particular purpose, that is, to eliminate the deficit, has to be gone. It is still on. I would like the member's opinion. How can the Liberals charge a tax for a specific purpose but when the purpose is fulfilled shamelessly continue ripping off more money from Canadians?
Third, gasoline prices have gone up recently. In the month of August, they were 10¢ higher and in some places 15¢ higher than prices in the previous month. We also know that the Liberal government is charging the GST on gasoline, when the Liberals of course said before the election that they would eliminate the GST. The GST and other taxes on gasoline amount to several billion dollars in an average year. That comes to about $220 per person in Canada.
We also know that taxes are about 35% to 45% of the cost of gasoline at the pump. In the United States, that figure is about 25%. The taxes are already higher in Canada and, on top of that, there are taxes on taxes. Therefore, my third question is about whether the government has a motivation to keep the gasoline prices high so it can take in more money in the form of taxes and throw it into the black hole here, which is mismanagement of the government, unaccountability, fraud, corruption, and all kinds of things, as we know. Does the member think it is in the government's best interests not to lower the price of gasoline at the pumps? Does he think the government would rather keep it high?