Mr. Speaker, the question my colleague asked the NDP member is very important. Unfortunately it seems as though the member did not quite hear it, so I will spell it out specifically for him.
We are talking about what the NDP government has done in the province of British Columbia. Businesses come to the province of British Columbia. By virtue of the fact that they put an investment into machinery or equipment or into inventory, the NDP provincial government goes ahead and charges them a tax for the privilege of actually having that inventory there. Believe it or not, this tax is applied to inventory and assets that the business does not necessarily even own. In other words there may be mortgages, there may be liens, there may be any number of things.
Take the example of an automobile inventory for a car dealership. Believe it or not, that NDP government turns around and actually charges a 1% charge on the value of the inventory. The inventory has not been sold. If the inventory is sold, the business actually reduces its tax rate by virtue of that amount being taken off.
What is this member's position as he sees it relative to a tax on wealth, a tax on assets? Let me make the specifics of what we are talking about crystal clear for him. Let us say that an individual had a home in greater Vancouver. It is not unusual for a home in greater Vancouver to run in the $200,000 to $300,000 range. Another individual may have an equivalent home in Winnipeg that is in the $100,000 range. These are the assets, the wealth we are talking about. Would he and the NDP at the federal level see going after taxing wealth in the hands of Canadians?