Mr. Speaker, I would like to commend my colleague from Kootenay East for a great speech and also the member for Saint John, an individual who lives in the maritimes. She obviously knows firsthand what is going on with respect to the effects of the HST on the people in the maritimes.
When the government was elected three years ago, it had an excellent opportunity, a golden moment, to simplify the taxation system so that it would benefit all Canadians and kick start the economy. What did it do? It brought on a harmonized sales tax about which the federal institute of private businesses has said very clearly will cost jobs. It will put companies out of business. It will increase the cost of doing business. Worst of all, it will hurt those people who are most dispossessed and of the lowest socioeconomic groups in our society. In particular, it will affect people in the maritimes, an area that all of us know has been extraordinarily hard hit economically over the past 10 years.
This is an absolute outrage. I hope the public will get involved and provide constructive submissions to the Minister of Finance, the Minister of National Revenue and the Prime Minister in an effort to demonstrate what good, concrete, effective solutions can be put into place to provide a simplified tax system, a lower tax system, a fairer tax system to kick start the economy that will not hurt those people who are the worst off in our society but rather will improve the economy of the maritimes and the country.
What would the hon. member do to provide for a sensible taxation system that could kick start the Canadian economy?