I do. Exactly. Let's pick up where I left off.
Even the positives in this budget are merely band-aid solutions on self-inflicted wounds. The cap on the Excise Tax Act would not be needed if this government had not implemented an escalator tax. The interswitching provisions would not have been necessary if the government had not cancelled the program from 2014.
I'm truly sorry for what this Liberal government has done to your collective industries and how it has let you down.
I'd like to start with one of the most serious issues. This is productivity, which, in fact, the Liberal Minister of Finance has said is the Achilles heel of the economy.
Mr. Gray, you talked a little about the disincentives to work. You mentioned seniors specifically, but I would broaden that also to parents and other taxpayers who are subject to clawbacks.
Low-income seniors are individuals earning less than $30,000 a year. With clawbacks, they are often faced with paying more than 50 cents per dollar if they wish to return to work. That means, if I'm a senior contemplating going back to work to help out, perhaps, the hotel industry or other industries in their time of labour need.... Maybe they want to make a little extra money. Maybe they want to give their grandkids a present. Whatever they want to do with those dollars, they have to hand over to the federal Government of Canada 50 cents on every dollar. These are people earning $30,000 a year. This is unconscionable.
Mr. Gray, perhaps you could talk about the impact on disincentives to work, such as the GIS clawbacks and other clawbacks and taxes this government is imposing on seniors and parents.