Madam Speaker, the motion before the House today asks for more consultations, and today we may hear quite a few statements full of good resolutions in this respect.
I think we heard this in what was said by the hon. member for Winnipeg North Centre who is also a member of the finance committee and who said he wants more equity in the tax treatment of individuals and more equity among the provinces.
I would like to give two examples: one concerning individuals and one which concerns the provinces. Although the hon. member must be familiar with these examples, he did not mention them at all in his speech. However, it is now time to act.
As far as individuals are concerned, during the election campaign it was made clear that family trusts were a tax benefit that was unacceptable to most Canadians. However, there was nothing about this in the last budget. Maybe next fall the finance committee will consider the issue. We are still waiting for information from the Minister of Finance, and they tell us they will have the information but we are still waiting. If the committee starts considering the issue of family trusts next fall, this means there will be nothing in the next budget.
We must not forget that this measure was introduced by a Liberal government and extended by the Conservative govern-
ment at the end of its mandate, and now they are trying to play for time instead of dealing with this obvious injustice.
As far as provinces are concerned, the last example which contradicts what the hon. member for Winnipeg North Centre just told us, refers to how the federal government treats Quebec tax credits for research and development. Quebec has introduced a tax system that benefits research and development, researchers and universities.
The system is simple: companies are allowed a tax credit of 20 per cent on research expenditures if they do the research alone and 40 per cent if they do the research in co-operation with a university. This is a very successful program. However, the federal government decided that the tax credit allowed by Quebec was to be considered as a subsidy, which was contrary to common practice. And it still is.
This means that the federal government imposes a 39 per cent tax on tax credits allowed companies and universities by the Government of Quebec. But not a word about this, although for years, the Quebec Minister of Finance has been asking for a review of this unacceptable tax treatment by the federal government.
Has anybody heard of any changes in this respect? Not at all, Madam Speaker. So if they want to be fair to the people and fair to the provinces, I wish the hon. member, who is a member of the finance committee, would respond to these two specific issues. It is time to act.