Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will certainly respect that direction from the Chair.
In April 1990 the Liberal finance minister, whose name is well known to all Canadians, said this: "I would abolish the GST. The manufacturers sales tax is a bad tax and there is no excuse to repeal one bad thing by bringing in another one". I consider those words to be words of wisdom. One has to question why a bad tax like the GST is now being replaced by another even worse tax, the HST, in three of our provinces.
Those two statements by the Liberal finance minister were made while he was in opposition. Here is a statement which he made while he was the finance minister on June 21, 1994. Again this is a statement which I would agree with very strongly: "It is almost impossible to design a tax that is more costly and more inefficient than the GST".
The finance minister has certainly outdone himself. He has now brought in the HST with TIP, which is more costly and more inefficient, if that is possible, than the GST.
This is not just something for political rhetoric and political points. These taxes affect things which are very important to Canadians. In particular they affect jobs.
Bill C-70 as now constituted will increase costs to retail business and result in a net loss of jobs, particularly in Atlantic Canada. Perhaps I should repeat that for the benefit of members who represent Canadians in the three Atlantic provinces. They are supposed to be their voice but we have heard precious little from the members of Parliament from the Atlantic region. They should be sticking up and standing up for the interests of their constituents. For their benefit, perhaps they need to be reminded that Bill C-70 in its present form will increase the cost of doing business in the three Atlantic provinces. It will create confusion among consumers when shopping. It will decrease retail sales and will cost many, many Atlantic Canadians their jobs.
I know that many others who have spoken on this bill have been very clear about the concerns that have been raised by retailers who do business in the Atlantic provinces. The bottom line is that these business people, these job creators, these people who pay the wages of real Canadians in those three Atlantic provinces estimate that they will lose at least $100 million because of this foolish proposal by the Liberal government to hide its tax in the sticker price in those three Atlantic provinces only.
When these things happen, the bottom line is that Canadians themselves have to pay the costs which costs Canadians more money. In addition to the fact that our taxes have been increased by this government by at least $24 billion every single year since it took over our affairs, it is now increasing costs by attempting to pretend it has kept a key election promise.
It is important to emphasize that democracy itself is at stake when we talk about the way our taxes are structured. There are two elements in the way the provisions of this bill have been brought forward which I think Canadians, particularly Canadians in the affected Atlantic provinces, should be concerned about.
One is that I did not see one single member from those provinces who represent thousands of Canadians whose jobs, incomes and spending discretion is going to be affected. I would also say that with closure being brought in, the concerns that they have are being stifled and cut off in this House.
I see I am also being cut off because my time is finished. Thank you, Mr. Speaker, for giving me the opportunity to make these remarks on this bill. I urge this House to reject it.