I thought it was very wise of Mr. Sorbara not to allow Mr. Ellis to respond, because I think, Mr. Ellis, based on your very informed testimony, you would have demolished that lengthy speech you heard. My friend Mr. Sorbara could make a lot of money in the fruit business because he's good at cherry picking.
If we look at the real facts of this economy right now, we are now in a no-growth economy. In the most recent quarter, the economy actually shrunk. In the last year, wages did not keep up with inflation. There's been effectively no middle class income growth in Canada since this government took office. That comes after a record increase in median income during the Harper years. In fact, since we've been recording median income, the only prime minister that saw growth in that was Harper.
On the issue of the debt, the Harper government paid off $40 billion in debt before the recession struck. We were the last country to go into deficit and the first to come out with a balanced budget. We left that balanced budget to this government, which squandered it despite the fact that revenues have exceeded all expectations and despite some very large tax increases.
Our friend omits the fact that he's specifically targeted your members. His government has brought in penalties for businesses that save within the company, for those small family businesses that share income and work with family members. It increased payroll taxes. The new carbon tax, of course, will cost your members money, but they will not get a rebate. That's just a short list, but unlike Mr. Sorbara, I'm actually going to let you respond to my intervention.
The Liberals keep saying that small businesses can just pass the higher cost of the carbon tax on to their customers. Do you agree with that characterization?