Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for Calgary Southwest for his comments. While there are many comments I would like to make, I would like to focus on one aspect.
I think there is no question that all of us in this House agree that the debt and the deficit are a problem for Canadians. The question is how to address that in a fair and balanced way.
I am going to speak to one issue that the member for Calgary Southwest raised and that is the question of taxes. I agree that the middle class has been absolutely overburdened with taxes. We have a situation now in which individual Canadians are paying far more in taxes than they did in the past while corporations, for example, are paying far less.
The member for Calgary Southwest talks about a tax revolt. I find it revolting that while people cannot put food on the table we have the rich and privileged in this country who can shelter their money in a private trust. I find it revolting that while there are Canadians in this country who are working every day and all members of the family are working and cannot make ends meet that we have 90,000 corporations that are still not paying a cent of tax. I find it revolting that while there are people who cannot make ends meet for their children, while there is 18 to 20 per cent youth unemployment in this country that we still have many people in this country using tax shelters and they are the rich and they are the corporations and we must address that tax in equity.
No one is talking about putting a further tax on the already overburdened middle class but we have a group in this country not contributing its full share.
I want to ask the member for Calgary Southwest if he does not believe that we need to shift the burden from the individual, from the middle class, to make sure that those who are privileged and wealthy in our society are paying their fair share. I would like to ask the member if he agree for example that in RRSPs there should be a provision, as there is now, that allows that Canadians are having investment in foreign countries through those contributions rather than in this country where we need to develop business and jobs.