Thank you, Mr. Chair.
We are going to vote against the amendment. Some of what my honourable colleague has had to say contradicts the promises we made to Canadian men and women during the election campaign, with regard to tax reductions. Indeed, that topic was the main issue in many debates. Of course, this was something that was at the heart of our electoral program and our commitments to Canadians, and I dare say influenced the choice of many electors.
We also heard Mr. Zorn earlier, as well as other witnesses. Mr. Zorn talked about this and mentioned a series of other initiatives that will be taken by this government. This tax cut will contain inequality in Canada, and will reduce it.
However, there is something even more important. The member would like us to reduce the first tax bracket from 15% to 14%. It is important to remember that many people in that bracket already do not pay income tax. In fact, I believe the majority of those people do not pay any tax, for different reasons. For instance, there is the GST tax credit, the child tax credit, and others, and these are measures that reduce taxes for these people to zero. And so we oppose this amendment, for the reasons I have just listed.
I would add one last point. The reduction of that tax rate would have a very negative effect on people in that bracket. The tax rate used is the same as the one used to calculate the tax credit for medical expenses, the tax credit for persons with disabilities, and so on. These people would then benefit from fewer tax credits because of the reduced tax rate.
For all of these reasons, we will oppose the amendment.
I will yield the floor to my colleagues.