Mr. Speaker, I listened with great interest to the speech of the member from the other side and I would like to ask a few questions in order to find out more about his way of thinking. Is he one of those who believe we should cut government spending even further or does he think we should strive to find new ways of increasing government revenues?
I admit that I draw my inspiration largely from the speech my colleague, the member for Davenport, made in this House last January 20, a speech I find very enlightened. The member for Davenport is among those who think we should make every effort to increase revenues, since everything has decreased over the recent years in this government, revenues and expenditures alike.
If we are to restructure and modernize every program pertaining to the redistribution of wealth in Canada, I would like to ask my colleague if we should not think about taxing lottery and games winnings. As the member for Davenport said, this would bring in $860 million a year. Should we not tax capital gains, a measure which would bring $665 million a year to the Treasury, and re-examine grants given to multinationals investing overseas, and particularly exemptions for foreign currency deposits which would represent a revenue of $500 million?
I for one think we should reconsider very seriously the issue of revenues rather than throw around words like modernize and restructure that will only lead, in the end, to a widening of the gap between the rich and the poor.