Mr. Speaker, the member likes to cite quotations. May I just cite Mike Harris on June 14, 1994: "If I want something that works, and I will tell you this, if we had one value added tax, one base, one bureaucracy to collect it, the manufacturers and the businesses in Ontario would save over $1 billion by being able to deduct these costs that you cannot deduct today on the sales tax". Mike Harris said: "It has been one of the areas of major competitive disadvantage that Ontario manufacturers have and Ontario businesses have".
I will close by simply saying this is what Mike Harris said. He said to stop the rhetoric. He said to stop the politics. He said to stop the finger pointing and get on with harmonization. Mike Harris was right then and the government is right now.