Mr. Speaker, Bill C-70, which is the son of the GST, the most hated and the most reviled tax we have had in Canadian history, has been revisited upon us, especially upon those people of Atlantic Canada.
The government said that it would axe, scrap and abolish the GST. It did not say it once, it said it on innumerable occasions during the election campaign.
In previous speeches I have read into the record the Prime Minister and other members of the Liberal government who stood in this House and condemned the GST. They said that at the first available opportunity they would get rid of the GST. Canadians who voted for the Liberals at the last election believed that they would follow through on their commitment to axe, scrap and abolish the GST.
Today we are debating the son of the GST. The son is larger than the parent. It now means more tax, not less tax. It now means that we are going to tax more areas. We are not going to take the government of out people's hair, we are going to expand it everywhere.
We had a debate a few months ago in the House about books. Books and learning materials are important to all Canadians. They are important to our young. They are important to many people in the information society in which we live, yet the tentacles of government have reached out and now cover books as well as everything else.
The Minister of Finance thought that he would make a grand gesture and say: "Yes, books are important to students. Books are important to schools. Books are important to universities. Therefore, the books purchased by universities are going to be exempt from tax". However, students will still have to pay the tax. The universities are going to be exempt, but the students are going to have to pay. That means that the government, through its smoke and mirrors policy, through its sleight of hand policy, is saying: "Books to the universities are going to be tax free, but students are going to get squeezed even more". The Minister of Finance cannot keep his fingers off anything.
We have seen how the government has cut transfers to the provinces for health and education. We have seen it in the headlines of the newspapers. In Edmonton last week there was a headline which pertained to the University of Calgary that stated that fees are going to go up $300 a year. Fees are going up not because it costs more for the university, but because the government is going to pay less.
While the government is going to pay less, it is going to take more from university students. It is going to take more by way of the GST and the students will have to pay more for their university tuition while the Minister of Finance stands in the House and brags about how he is bringing down the deficit. It is despicable that he would have the gall to have a smile on his face while he is bringing down the deficit on the backs of students and on the backs of the people who we need to be educated to maintain our standard of living in the future. It is amazing how shortsighted the government is, that it would smile and take the credit for this type of thing. University students, which include my son, have to scrimp and save and do without so that the Minister of Finance can sing his song of deficit reduction. Shame.
I remember it being said in debate when the GST was first introduced that second hand goods would not be taxed, that the government would tax goods once and once only. That is why it said that it would put a tax on new housing but that it would not put a tax on used housing. The Liberal Party at that time condemned the Tory government and forced it into making the commitment that goods would be taxed once and once only.
Now the Minister of Finance has introduced this son of the GST, and what has he done? He has taxed used cars. Every time a car goes through a car lot the Minister of Finance picks up the GST because that is one of the new rules contained in the son of the GST. Therefore, car dealerships in Alberta and right across the country will now have to suffer greater competition from the backyard dealerships, the private sales and so on. Livings will now be harder to come by because the Minister of Finance squeezed them for more money. Every time a car goes through their lots, he now collects the GST.
That is what we are up against, a tax grab anywhere, everywhere. Is there anywhere that the Minister of Finance has not looked for tax? Is there a stone he has not turned to look for another tax dollar? I doubt it very much. That is why this government no longer has any integrity. That is why the Prime Minister's popularity is coming down in the polls. People out in this great country of ours are starting to realize that what the Prime Minister says and what the Prime Minister does are two different things.
Surely we deserve better. We thought we could get better but unfortunately the government is quite content to maintain this double standard.