Mr. Speaker, I rise to comment on an issue that has been coming hour by hour from the Reform Party throughout this debate and it has to be stopped.
The argument being made is that the reduction of the excise tax on tobacco is a singular event and has no consequence on anything else the government did. The whole point of the initiatives brought in by the Prime Minister, the Minister of National Revenue and Minister of Health was to break the back of smuggling.
To break the back of smuggling they had to eliminate the profit motive. The combination of the reduction of excise tax, the export tax that was levied and the surtax on manufacturing collectively represent the elimination of the profit in smuggling.
If we eliminate the excise tax and apply the tax totally to export taxes, if we allow export taxes and that surtax to deal with it totally, all we are doing is shifting the burden from exports to the U.S coming back into Canada and forcing the creation of underground manufacturing facilities in Canada.
Members really have to open up their minds to understand that there is a comprehensive approach to one of the most serious problems that the government has had to face in its first three or four months of operation.