Mr. Speaker, I listened carefully to the comments made by the member opposite, and even though I seldom agree with the Bloc Quebecois members, I must say that I share his feelings regarding the need to put a stop to smuggling. Needless to say that, as the member representing the riding of Glengarry-Prescott-Russell, which includes Akwesasne, I will fully support any measure which might be taken, and which I hope the federal government will take soon to eliminate contraband. I do hope we will convince those stubborn members of the Ontario Legislature that the problem is not one which exists exclusively in Quebec, or in a region of Canada called Quebec, to use the words of Fred Laughren, the Treasurer of Ontario.
Two other comments were made by the hon. member and I want to ask him a question on those. The member referred to the issue of streamlining income tax returns. It just so happens that today I contacted Revenue Canada about something currently allowed in the tax return, namely the possibility of contributing or overcontributing to a registered retirement savings plan. As the hon. members know, we and our constituents all have the option of making an overcontribution of up to $8,000 to an RRSP. However, Revenue Canada has currently no way of keeping tab of these overcontributions, unlike, for example, in the case of the capital gain exemption, for which a cumulative total is calculated, thus enabling Revenue Canada to know whether a taxpayer has used $25,000, $30,000, $35,000, $40,000 or more of the total tax-free capital gain. However, such control does not exist for overcontributions made to a registered retirement savings plan, and I wanted to point this out to the members of this House. As for simplifying tax returns, I think that rather than being an area requiring streamlining, it is one where we need to keep data which are not currently being kept.
Finally, the hon. member opposite tells us that we cannot replace the GST in two years because it will be too late. Are we then to conclude that when this House asks its members to refer the GST issue to the Finance Committee, we can expect a quick and even a unanimous approval from the Bloc Quebecois, so that this review can be completed and a recommendation can be made as quickly as possible to the House?