Mr. Chair, thank you for that. This is the first I've seen it, although I had a chance to talk to Mr. Paquette very briefly beforehand.
The average tuition in my province of Ontario is somewhere near $10,000 a year—not in residence—so those numbers may not be satisfied by this. I don't want to be seen as putting a stick in the mud; however, I do recognize that the government has gone one step ahead. Although the bill has not passed, I don't know if the ways and means have been proposed at this point. But clearly I would want to make this in the context of RESP regime as it currently exists.
The move from $4,000 to $18,000 was to respect and be consistent with the RRSP so you wouldn't have one switching over to the other. I'm most concerned about the number proposed. Although I understand that the proposal by Monsieur St-Cyr is a very sincere one, I also think it may fail to address the ability of people to match, in a four- or five-year period, the contributions necessary for a student to go to school.
I'm not opposed to the suggestion—it's the first I've heard of it—but I also recognize that we're all in a bit of a pickle. The entire clause 2 of my bill has been rendered, if you pardon the expression, rather moot as a result of the announcement by the Minister of Finance. What is important here is to capture a larger number of people who will be able to take advantage of RESPs before taxes, as opposed to the existing regime, which is after tax.