Mr. Speaker, in its report, the Liberal majority on the finance committee recommended full integration of provincial sales taxes with the Liberals' hidden GST, in order to have just one national tax from coast to coast. This proposal would oblige the provinces to comply with federal legislation that would determine administrative procedures and the range of goods subject to GST.
My question is directed to the Minister of Finance. Does he support the approach recommended by the report, which bodes ill for the autonomy of the provinces since fiscal policy would, from now on, be dictated by Ottawa, thus relegating the provinces and Quebec, at best, to the role of branch manager for the federal government?