Mr. Speaker, when I was speaking yesterday evening I was talking about the loss of jobs that the harmonization plan is going to create.
If the finance minister needs evidence that this policy will kill jobs, all he has to do is read the study from Ontario. It stated: "Harmonization would remove $3 billion from the Ontario economy, and kill jobs and economic growth". That is why Ontario did not agree to harmonization. It knew this policy will kill jobs, jobs, jobs and not create them.
In order to kill jobs, jobs, jobs in the Atlantic region, the Liberals will kill jobs, jobs, jobs in Ontario, Alberta and B.C. The Liberals will remove over $300 million each from the Ontario, Alberta and B.C. economies to bribe the Atlantic premiers into signing on to harmonization.
Have the Liberals no understanding of economics? Do the Liberals not know that if Canadians feel insecure in their jobs they will not spend and purchase more than absolutely necessary? This failure to create retail sales will kill jobs, reduce federal income and force higher expenditures from federal tax dollars to finance unemployment insurance and social services. All this adds up to a bad deal.
The Liberals will cost taxpayers more, create fewer jobs, stifle government revenues just so they can claim to have fulfilled a broken promise from their Liberal dead book.
Since the Liberal policy will lower sales, end jobs and give companies leaner profits, the self-fulfilling prophecy of less retail sales will be reinforced.
Again the Liberal understanding of economics is suspect. An increase in subsidy money acts as an increase in regional money supply, increasing inflation. The bribe money of a $1 billion is a regional subsidy that will further harm regional job creation through inflation. The Liberals have stated many times that inflation is a job killer, yet they will increase regional inflation, killing more jobs, just to keep this Liberal dead book promise.
The Halifax Chamber of Commerce said that harmonization will increase new house prices by 5.5 per cent. Consequently that is going to lead, according to many experts, to much higher property tax within the area, this in an area that has difficult economic problems because of past government policies.
The Liberals will do anything, regardless of the effect on Canadians, to try to prove that they have integrity, even though all Canadians know, thanks to the Liberal dead book, their integrity is very, very low.
The finance minister will argue his harmonization policy to falsely fulfil a Liberal promise will not kill jobs. I would like to ask the finance minister if this is so, why is Greenberg stores closing five stores even before harmonization takes place? Greenberg has run a cost benefit analysis. It knows this policy will reduce profits and have acted accordingly. What cost benefit analysis has the finance minister conducted and will he release this information to Canadians? I think not because it is obvious he had done none.
When the harmonization policy takes effect it will increase the cost of doing business to Atlantic province retailers. This much is already confirmed and known by the studies done in the provinces agreeing to harmonization.
This will simply drive consumers near New England states to cross the line, purchase their goods where taxes are lower and add further problems to our current balance of payments. If the Liberals would only wake up and listen to Reform policies and try to implement something that would be far reaching from sea to sea, involving each and every province, then Reform would gladly have a look at their proposal. But they do things in a piecemeal fashion and cause all sorts of problems, pitting one province against another. It causes nothing but grief. It is no wonder that we are having difficulty in this land, trying to bring unity and understanding.