Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Deputy Prime Minister, who will appreciate that in an effort to manage the deficit and the debt, the government has been calling upon Canadians, UI recipients, students, farmers, fishers and many others to pay their fair share.
She will also be aware that last week we heard the Royal Bank of Canada is expecting to see its profit margin in excess of $1 billion this year. If she looks at the financial record she will find that in 1992 in spite of $63 million in profits the Royal Bank paid no income tax at all.
Last year in spite of $324 million in profits, the Royal Bank paid no income tax and also got a tax credit to apply for this year. Will the Deputy Prime Minister not admit that when a teller at the Royal Bank is actually paying more income tax than the entire Royal Bank of Canada there is something wrong with this picture?