It's really quite simple.
Mr. Del Mastro is correct in saying that the legislated tax rate is going down. Mr. Del Mastro is correct that most Canadians will pay lower tax overall. But neither of those two things is our point.
Our point, as confirmed by the finance official, is that unless we pass this amendment, the lowest income tax rate that Canadians actually pay will be going up, and we, on this side, are opposed to an increase in that income tax rate.
The second point is that, as Dale Orr stated, many Canadians will in fact be paying more income tax, more total tax overall, as a consequence of this budget. That is absolutely true.
Mr. Orr is a non-partisan economist, and he has calculated that on the basis of what Canadians actually pay, the well-heeled Canadians who live in Mr. Turner's $800,000 homes will be paying less because they pay so much in GST...because they spend so much they will be paying less.
Those with four-year-old children might be paying less, but there will be many taxpayers at the lower end of the scale, according to Mr. Orr's analysis, who as a consequence of this tax hike will be paying more tax. Therefore, the effect of our amendment is to prevent this income tax rate actually paid by Canadians from going up. Therefore, we would turn a misstatement by the Conservatives into a positive statement--i.e., that all Canadians would be paying less tax.
That would only be the case if this committee passes our amendment. Otherwise, there will be many Canadians who as a consequence of the increase in the income tax rate actually paid will end up paying more tax, and we don't want that to happen.