-or Paul Martin, you can give a call not only to Revenue Canada, but also to the Prime Minister of Canada, and ask them for some kind of sweet deal.
Actually, what we would like to know is precisely what they are refusing to tell us. The young woman who is a white collar employee of the city of Saint-Luc or the bus driver working for the bus company in my riding are just fed up. They keep telling us they have had it with taxes, they are overburdened. How can a small family with a combined annual income of $45,000 and no tax loophole consider that the tax system is fair, when they hear about blatant inequities like the one being debated today?
The tax system should have the appearance of fairness. A principle of justice is that justice should appear to be done. Today, we do not even have a semblance of tax fairness.
Even the finance minister dared to say: "There is no problem with family trusts. I have my own." And we know it too. Bronfman and Conrad Black are sure to have one too, and their children will benefit from it for generations to come.
But what about the man on the street, the blue or white collar worker, the bus driver, the subway train operator, or the average worker in a company? Can they leave millions of dollars to their kids? I do not think so.
It is unfortunate that the hon. member for Nipissing has left, because the Liberal Party is so arrogant that it behaves as if it owns the House of Commons in a system where there are no rules to govern those who sit here. If it were not for the minimum rules we have around here, I think the Liberal Party would say that it owns the House of Commons and that it no longer wants an auditor general. Of course, because he does not always agree with them. But he is a watchdog; it is his role not to always agree with the Liberal Party.
The philosophy of the Liberal Party of Canada is quite simple: its members will continue to protect their rich friends. I think that we, in the Bloc Quebecois, will continue de protect the middle class citizens who are tired of being taxed and witnessing such unfairness. We will continue to protect the needy who are affected by the cuts, because, in order to balance the tax base and the budget, the government cuts programs for the underprivileged, taxes the middle class and turns a blind eye to all those rich families who flee the country with all their money.
This is not the philosophy of the Bloc Quebecois, but the philosophy of the Liberal Party of Canada. It will come back to haunt them in the next election. If they do not change their minds, the people will realize that such unfairness does not make any sense and the Liberal Party might meet the same fate as my hon. colleague for Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke wished upon the previous Conservative government earlier on.
It is all very well to have power, but not to the point where one becomes domineering and arrogant. The people will realize it some day. We sit here, in opposition, to make Quebecers and Canadians aware that they are much better served by an opposition party, by an auditor general who acts as a watchdog, as some kind of opposition, and wants to help the party in office to get back on track.
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