Madam Speaker, I listened with great interest to the hon. member's presentation this morning.
One of the things I should tell him and other members of the Reform Party is that they are not the only party or the only body
to invent public forums to create the opportunity for people to provide direct input to their members. Like the Minister of Finance and many other members of this House, I have had many public forums.
Last fall we talked about the debt and the deficit. We talked about the ratio of offshore debt which we currently have and the concerns which that gave all of us here in this House as well as Canadians.
He referred to the goal this government had set of bringing our debt under control over the next three years, starting with the current year of bringing the deficit down to $39.7 billion, to go on to $32.7 billion and $25 billion in the third year, to reach our 3 per cent of gross domestic product. I want to assure the hon. member across the way that is only the first goal. The second goal will be to achieve a balanced budget as we go on to tackle and to break the back of the debt which this country has.
One of the things I have often heard from that side of the House is: Let us fill those loopholes that are in our taxation system; I am sure learned accountants across the country will find new ones if new taxation forms, but let us fill them. The minister has indicated on many occasions that he will make every attempt to fill those loopholes.
The system which we have to work with today, which has been inherited and has been added to over many years is cumbersome. We would like to streamline it. There is no question it needs to be done. I believe the minister will make every attempt to fill those loopholes to make our tax system more fair and equitable to all Canadians, regardless of whether they are in the upper echelon of social status, in the middle income group, or in the lower income group. That is what balance and equity are all about.
There will be those who will consider that attempt to fill in those tax loopholes as a tax increase, no question. Anyone it is going to affect will consider it a tax increase.
I would like to ask the hon. member across the way if that is not really indeed what he and his party stands for and would support and which the minister, I certainly hope, will bring forth in his budget.