Mr. Speaker, I have listened to the hon. member and I sympathize with her.
When the tax was debated in the House I remember speaking against the BST being introduced in the Atlantic provinces. I did not call it the BST but I did use two of those initials. I may have dropped the t a few times.
Many things were said by the government. Actually, its members were the official opposition when the GST was brought in. At that time Liberals said that public and private libraries would have to reduce the purchase of books and newspapers by about 10% annually because of the GST. The present Prime Minister said that.
The minister of finance said at that time that the goods and services tax was a stupid, inept, incomplete and incompetent tax.
All through the debate today we have heard about hypocrisy. I would think that this is the height of it. Now we have the Prime Minister saying it is his personal tax and how much he loves it. When he leaves the country and talks to other leaders around the world, he brags about how he introduced it and not the Conservatives.
I know the hon. member was not in the House during the time of the BST and the debate in this House. I wish she had been here. Perhaps we would have had more help. I do not recall hearing from her party at that time. I would like to know if anybody from the east has put into dollars and cents how much the blended sales tax has really cost the people back home.