Mr. Speaker, I found the address just delivered rather exciting and interesting. The vision of Canada the gentleman portrayed is a very good one.
I wondered for a moment whether he was president of the chamber of commerce and not a parliamentarian. I think he missed a couple of things through his discourse.
I would like to ask him a couple of questions having to do with a particular letter sent by the Minister of Transport. I am sure he knows the minister very well and supports him.
Would he explain exactly what the minister had in mind when he referred in a letter to the dedication of a certain percentage of the fuel taxes toward the infrastructure program, in particular the Trans-Canada Highway? I think we all agree that the infrastructure program is a very critical part of the economy and the Trans-Canada highway is one of the major components of that infrastructure program.
In this particular letter, the hon. Minister of Transport goes on to say that the 20% fuel tax fails to do a number of things. He makes quite a list here. He says, “I should note that the federal government collects the road fuel tax as part of the consolidated revenue fund and uses the proceeds to fund such areas as health, welfare, education, defence and transport.” Now comes the phrase that I would like the hon. member to pay particular attention to “as well as to help reduce the federal debt”.
Just last week the Minister of Finance indicated that there was an $8.9 billion deficit coming forward for the next fiscal year. I wonder if the hon. member could tell us and convince us somehow that an $8.9 billion deficit is in fact not an increase in the debt of Canada rather than a decrease. If over the years this 20% fuel tax has been collected to reduce the federal debt, then I would like to know where it was that this money was applied to the federal debt? As I look at the government's balance sheets I notice that each year the debt is climbing. Yet for some reason or another, the Minister of Transport says that part of the 20% fuel tax has gone to reduce the federal debt.
I would like the hon. member to please address that question.