The action that has so shaken the hon. members across the way took place in 1991, when Mr. Mulroney was Prime Minister of Canada. As the member for Gander-Grand Falls has
pointed out, the Canadian finance minister has done everything required, in order to plug this sort of loophole in future.
Second, we have heard about the moratorium announced by the revenue minister. Third, we have also heard that in future this sort of ruling will be made public.
Therefore we have seen that the government has been vigilant, notwithstanding the attempts of members across the way to demonstrate otherwise.
What we should note is that the auditor general did not say that the present Government of Canada had done anything wrong. He made no suggestion at any time to that effect. That has not been said by the members across the way. However, I think some members across have adopted the strategy that if enough mud is sent toward the government some of it is bound to stick and the objective will be achieved.
Maybe some of that is true, although I think it is holding Canadians in rather low esteem to try to use this strategy, but by and large it is not true and Canadians will see what those people across the way are up to.
There is also another interesting proposition when we are talking about money leaving Canada and going elsewhere. We all recall during the referendum of last year when the separatist provincial Government of Quebec attempted at the time to speculate on its own loss using provincial taxpayer money. In other words, what the government did at the time was it bought huge amounts of Canadian dollars and then resold them later, making money in the process and participating in an exercise that could be best described as betting on its own loss.
That was a rather strange thing for a separatist government to do. In other words, it went at it this way: "We will surely lose so let us participate in this exercise and rake in the profit that will be created by moving money across the Canada-U.S. border in two different ways and in a very short period of time". That was the exercise in which that government participated. In the flurry of activity that occurred at that time not much was said about it, but the fact still remains that it is true.
I have in front of me the Nesbitt Burns "Economic Research Provincial Handbook" produced by David Rosenberg, senior economist for Nesbitt Burns, dated September 1996, in which he describes the economic outlook of Canadian provinces. This is not designed to be a commercial in any way, but I really recommend this book to all colleagues because it is, after all, not published by the government. It is produced by an organization in the financial area and presumably when things do not go the way of the financial community it does not take too long to remind Canadians of its thoughts.
Here is what I read from the general overview. I will get into some of the provincial summaries a little later. In this document it states, from page 3, which refers to the economic growth of Canada:
Growth should be more conducive to an improved fiscal performance in both 1996 and 1997. The real GDP is expected to advance 2.9 per cent next year after this year's 1.8 per cent uptick, marking the second strongest gain this decade. Alberta will retain its growth leading status of the past five years, with 2.5 per cent growth this year, and 3.5 per cent next, while strong population gains should keep B.C. a close second at roughly 3.2 per cent in 1997.
It goes on to describe the Canadian growth that will occur and it complements the position that Canada is in. It is clear from this document that we are into some major growth over the next few years. I look at my own province of Ontario:
Ontario's auto production and exports are on track for another record year-which will likely be surpassed in 1997-as assembly capacity is in the process of being dramatically enhanced. Parts makers and assemblers already invested more than $13 bln in new plants and machinery during the first half of the 1990s, and more investment is on the way. The new $300 million Honda minivan plant in Alliston, now under construction with production to commence in the fall of 1998, will have an annual capacity of 100,000 vehicles. Toyota is spending $600 mln to expand its Corolla production and its Cambridge facility. Chrysler is consolidating its entire North American production of LH line at its Bramalea plant, in conjunction with a $500 mln overhaul of its operations as the firm gears up to build the new line of mid-size sedans for the 1998 model year.
It goes on to describe the great things that are occurring in this country everywhere. The unemployment situation is stated in the document. Of course we know about the 669,000 new jobs created by the government since we came to office. It also mentions the major gains in the area of reducing unemployment next year.
So, you see that the affairs of state are being well managed by this government, that the Minister of Finance, the Minister of National Revenue, the Prime Minister, and the whole cabinet, are doing an excellent job of managing the country's assets. Members may try to persuade the people of Canada to think otherwise, but, as usual, they are mistaken.