Madam Speaker, there are three parts to the answer.
Any system which removes a layer of administration, that is to say so that a tax is put together and collected by only one group of tax administrators, must by definition be more efficient than two separate tax regimes. That is the first answer.
The second answer is that opinions are clearly divided regarding the efficiency and ultimate consequence of this tax because those in other provinces such as New Brunswick, take a totally different view. They see this as a tremendous economic advantage.
The third response is that the government has shown itself to be remarkably flexible in wanting to accommodate the wishes of the individual provinces to overcome the deficiencies that may be present in such a scheme. It is that third element of flexibility,
negotiation, reasonableness and working together which I would wish to emphasize, because it is in that spirit that this country will move forward.