Mr. Speaker, I would suggest the hon. member may want to take a look at his remarks when they appear in Hansard , because I think he was in breach of the rules of the House by suggesting that we deliberately mislead anybody. That has certainly never been the intention of this party or this government.
Clearly what we were faced with when we took office was a decision by the past government to raise the level of premiums. That was already in the statutes; it had already been decided. We in fact reduced that to its bare minimum so that the actual raise was only 2.3 per cent for this year. To live up to the commitment we had made and that we undertook we froze the premiums for the entire year of 1995 so small businesses will have the two-year stability of a constant premium rate. That will give them the kind of incentive and stimulation they need to go out and create jobs.
In the meantime, if he and his colleagues were prepared to work with us and collaborate with us on a broad review of our social programs we would be able to take a look at the issue of payroll tax and give a real sense of hope not only to the unemployed but to the business people who would give them jobs.