Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Page 126 of the fall economic statement, annex 1, forecasts significant cuts in program expenses, starting the next fiscal year on April 1. Other countries have looked to address the issue of pandemic spending by putting wealth taxes in place or by increasing the corporate tax. We've seen those announcements, yet in the fall economic statement, no measure puts in place a wealth tax or addresses the endemic pandemic profiteering that we are seeing. However, we know that Canadians are going through misery in so many cases and need investments that will continue through the next fiscal year.
I'm perplexed by this approach. We have other countries putting in place wealth taxes, excess profit taxes, looking to address overseas tax havens and raising the corporate tax rate. In the fall economic statement, in Bill C-14, there's no reference to that in any meaningful way.
Are you looking to change direction in the budget so that those investments can be put into place and in doing so, will you heed the call for tax fairness that so many people have raised across the country, ensuring that the immense profiteering we've seen during this pandemic is addressed with the billionaires and the banks that have received so much in profit and so much increase in wealth having to pay their fair share?