In the 1980s, when the federal government created the goods and services tax, we introduced a value-added tax with regard to business input. We approached this committee at that time to say, “Look, this is a significant tax on our most significant business input. It was introduced simply to raise revenue to reduce the deficit at the time. Shouldn't it be harmonized with the GST?” The committee said, “Yes, we agree with you; it should be. It's a regressive, archaic form of taxation, but we have a deficit. We can't afford it right now, so come back in a few years.” We keep coming back every year asking for it to be harmonized.
We've seen it eliminated, for example, on jewellery and other things. It's sort of odd that commercial fuel is being viewed as a luxury. I think it's an old way of thinking about these things.