Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to speak to Bill C-70 and the third group of amendments on harmonizing the sales tax in the maritimes.
We have hard much about how the harmonized sales tax is unfair and complex. I am going to get into some solutions to the GST that the government could employ in order to give all businesses a leg up against competitors in other parts of the world.
The government had an enormous opportunity when it came into office three and a half years ago to finally help Canadian businesses to become competitive with their counterparts in the world. Instead the government has taken an entirely different approach other than business as usual. It has done the exact opposite and complicated our tax structures.
The most recent example is the HST. This sales tax does not make the taxation system simpler. It does not provide an impetus for the private sector. It does not create more jobs. It will do the exact opposite. It will cost jobs. There are some very sad examples of this, particularly since this affects the maritimes. It is supposed to help the maritimes but will actually have a devastating effect on many businesses.
Who is this going to affect? It will cost more for children's clothing, books, auto repairs, gasoline, home fuel. It is not the rich who pay for this but the poor on fixed incomes who really pay. Let us look at some real life examples of businesses on the east coast that are going to be affected by this.
The Canadian Real Estate Association claims that the increasing cost of a new house in Nova Scotia or Newfoundland will be over three and a half thousand dollars. The GST harmonization in New Brunswick will cost almost 80 jobs in Moncton and Buctouche. There are other examples in New Brunswick. There is a 50:50 chance of other store closures in the Greenberg chain and a loss of over 70 jobs in places such as Atholville, Shediac and Moncton. This tax will not alleviate the strain and duress that Canadians from coast to coast feel. It will make things worse.
The Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses made it very clear that harmonizing the sales tax is good but that it has to conform to certain criteria. It stated that a properly harmonized tax is good, but it has to be one sales tax across the country at a lower rate than the present rate. It must have one set of rules, one set of audit procedures, a single remittance requirement and one tax collector.
The HST proposal that harmonizes the sales taxes will not do that. It violates the principles put forward to the government by the business community through the Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses. It said to the government: "Here are some good solutions. Take them and use them". What did the government do? It ignored them and went in the opposite direction.
I am sure many members will empathize with me. Before I got into this business, as a member of the public I often wondered why in the world did governments continue to propose solutions that have little or no relevance to what is actually going on in the trenches? I am no closer to answering that question today after three years in this House than I was before I got into this business, and that is sad.
It is a disgrace and a shame that we have repeatedly failed the Canadian public by not putting forward good, effective solutions to the problems that affect us. In no other realm have we violated the trust of the Canadian public more than in the field of economics. This opportunity to harmonize the sales tax was a great chance but a failed opportunity on the part of the government.
Some very good solutions could be put forward, but first I will talk a bit about the GST. I will not discuss the fact that the government violated the public's trust on this issue because that has been spoken about before. Once again I plead with the ministers of revenue and finance to please simplify this tax or eliminate it. It is a complicated tax. I do not know if they really understand the incredible stress and burden it places on the small independent businesses that are trying their hardest to eke out an existence. These businesses are getting it in the teeth and the simplification or the elimination of the GST would be a welcome respite for people who are the underpinning of our economy and the true creators of jobs in Canada.
This tax is not applied fairly. In the medical field, the GST is not applied fairly at all. Physicians are actually singled out and treated unfairly by this tax. I will show members how.
Medical services are designated as tax exempt under the Excise Tax Act. Physicians, on the other hand, are denied the ability to claim a GST refund for purchases such as medical equipment and medical supplies that are necessary to deliver quality care.
Why did the government not support motions put forward by my colleague from Medicine Hat to make that issue fair for all medical personnel? Why are physicians being singled out? Only the government knows that. It is unfair and discriminatory to this group of individuals.
I would like to discuss some things we can do to try to improve the economy in our country. The first thing is to look seriously at introducing a simple, flat tax. The flat tax tells people that the harder they work, the more they are going to keep. Our present taxation system tells the Canadian public the more they make, the more the government is going to take from them.
That is a very serious problem because it takes away the incentive to go out and strive harder. A flat tax with a greater margin of exemption at the bottom takes out the lowest socioeconomic groups from paying taxes and puts more money in their hands.
My colleagues in the Reform Party have proposed that and we have the flat tax in our fresh start platform. It shows ways that the government can actually put more money into the hands of all Canadians, but in particular those who are poorest in our society. I encourage the government, once again, to take a look at that. Frankly, I am not very confident that it will take the initiative.
The complexity of the tax structure absolutely restrains, restricts and compromises the ability of the private sector to go out and be as aggressive as it can be.
Government regulation, in fact government over regulation, must be diminished greatly. If I was a private business person considering opening up a business, I would think very carefully about not doing it because of the level of government over regulation. Three levels of government are the hoops that many business people have to jump through, and that acts as a huge restraint on maximizing the great ideas that they have economically.
We must also deal with education. We need a much stronger education system and it needs to be brought into line with what is taking place in the global economy and what the needs of our country will be in the 21st century. Currently students, faced with an over 20 per cent unemployment rate, are having great difficulty earning the funds to get themselves through school. Almost two years ago Reformers suggested an income contingent loan replacement plan which would provide more funds to students going to school.
Our educational system must reflect the needs of the 21st century. Therefore, closer co-operation between the private sector and the education system is essential if we are going to maximize the needs of our country and the needs of our students. The ICLR program would enable more money to be available for students to get the training required. We also need a far greater input into job training in the work force.
Much to my dismay, I have learned that our country is one of the lowest in all developed countries in investing in their workers in developing the trades and the educational systems they will require along with the skills to be aggressive in the 21st century.
In closing, if the government was to have a flat tax, decrease the complexity in our taxation system, have a strong educational system, decrease the tax burden on Canadians and simplify the tax structure, we could provide enormous input, incentive and impetus to our private sector. As a result, we would create more jobs and have a more secure future for all Canadians.