Madam Speaker, first, I am very glad I made the member smile. As we know, newspapers say that Reformers do not smile very often. So I am very happy to have helped him along today.
I also would like to say that I think the reality of this initiative is something like our health care initiative. The reality is that particular initiative across Canada had to start in two or three provinces. The GST is being implemented in the same way in two or three provinces. As we move across Canada we will eventually have a GST in place that will help the retailers an awful lot.
The reality of this is reflected in a poll I conducted in early 1994. My retailers told me very loudly and clearly that it was very important to have a tax at the end of the sale that is not visible. The retailers originally asked the Conservative government 10 years ago to make the tax visible. They have since come forward to the finance committee and admitted they made a very serious error, that it has really hurt the growth, the competitiveness and the buying patterns of all Canadians. That is what we are hoping to achieve with this change.