Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for his question and I will respond to it in two parts.
First, he implied that we should be thankful for the minister not increasing personal income tax. I remind the member of the fact he knows well that all these taxes come out of the pocket of the same taxpayer. Automobiles do not pay this fuel increase of 1.5 cents a litre on gasoline; people pay it. The tax increases of over a $1 billion a year in the budget are going to be paid by real people. Ordinary taxpayers do not care much about where it is coming from. They end up having to pay it.
With respect to the member's second question on the implications of flat tax on the budgetary situation and the impact on taxpayers, I say it comes back to the concern about the total tax load. If we could get spending capped and then down to the point where we could offer tax relief, which is the whole aim of the taxpayers' budget, the total tax load on Canadians under a flat tax system or any other system would be lower than it is under the current system.
Our aim is to deliver genuine tax relief second through tax reform but first through getting the spending down, which is the root cause of high taxes.