Mr. Speaker, Reform Party members took a big risk in terms of the strategy they were to use with regard to the budget. They went out and incited Canadians on the issue of no new taxes and cutting spending. That is exactly what the finance minister did with $7
of cuts to $1 of increases, and those revenue increases included no personal income tax increases.
Reformers presented a budget to the House which said that we had to keep the poor poor and make the middle class poor. They said to Canadians: "Just stop eating for a year and use that money to pay down your mortgage. Then everything will be fine". That is like saying the operation was a success but the patient died.
The question I have for the member concerns the Canadian social transfer. That social transfer is a combination of the CAP and the EPF. The member would well know that as there is growth in the economy and as the value of tax points goes up, the amount of cash transferred to the provinces will go down. In some cases the amount of cash will be zero. That being the case, what leverage would the federal government have over the provinces in terms of maintaining standards?
Would the member not agree that consolidating those transfer programs under one umbrella allows the federal government continued leverage to ensure that the national standards of health care, environment and others are maintained in Canada, the best country in the world?