Mr. Speaker, last weekend in Montreal I attended a pre-budget conference that was a sham as it was clear that the participants, including former Liberal advisers and other advocates of the welfare state, had been carefuly selected by the Minister of Finance first to justify the need to slash social programs and second to attack RRSPs and the capital gains exemption on the first $100,000, which are the only measures benefiting the middle class smothered by excessive taxes.
Not a word was said by either the finance minister or any of the participants about the real tax breaks enjoyed by the wealthiest.
My question is for the Minister of Finance. Has he decided that, in addition to singling out the poorest, he would completely smother the middle class by attacking RRSPs and capital gains exemptions?