Madam Speaker, I listened with intent to members of the Bloc and members of the Reform Party. I must say I heard a lot of rhetoric from the member for Richelieu but not many solutions to the problem he has put forward.
I am wondering where members of the Bloc have been. A lot of the points they have brought forward have been discussed. In the motion they have put forward today they refer to no taxes on lower and middle income taxpayers. As a Liberal member the last thing I want is taxes. I think Canadians are overtaxed. As a government and as a member of Parliament we are working toward reducing taxes if anything. That is what the Canadian public wants.
The member for Richelieu spoke extensively about commitments. The recent byelections show where the Canadian public stands and that the government has fulfilled its commitment. That is why we won three out of three seats in the byelections. It is a pretty good signal for the government. We are following the agenda we put forward in the red book. We are fulfilling those promises and we will continue to do so.
I heard both Bloc and Reform members talk about tax increases. I have never heard the minister say that there would be tax increases in the budget. He has said that we will have a fair taxation system. No taxes does not mean that we do not want fairness and equity. We want fairness in the tax system and we want equity in the tax system. That is what the minister did in the last budget and that is what I am confident he will do in this budget as well.
Bloc members have talked about the other part of the motion which deals with trimming the fat from government. This is why I say I do not know where they have been. That is what we talked about; we talked about getting rid of duplication in government.