A Liberal said: "That's true". They raised excise taxes on gasoline by 1.5 cents per litre, which amounts to an increase in government revenue of $1.2 billion to $1.4 billion. That is a tax increase, is it not? It is a tax increase. I got that concession as well.
In response to the petition, here is what the Department of Finance, perhaps under the influence of the finance minister, claims: "-that the past two budgets presented to the House of Commons in March 1996 and February 1997 contained no tax increases in any area. In particular, these budgets did not propose any increases in the excise tax on gasoline".
It went on to say: "Since taking office the government's budget savings have been secured principally from expenditure reductions rather than tax increases. Ninety-one per cent of the $28 billion reduction in the 1998-99 deficit is due to expenditure reductions. These budget initiatives will enable the government to keep moving toward budget balance".
Let us see how close that is to the truth. Let us see how close that is to borderline misrepresentation.
These are bureaucrats that work for the Canadian people. Are they not supposed to be honour bound? What they said in the first sentence is true. They did not increase the excise tax on gasoline in this budget or in last year's budget. The increase was contained in the budget previous to that.
That is playing mind games. That is playing word games. We all know that. This kind of stuff makes me sick. It is one of the reasons I am getting out of politics. We do not have enough people who are prepared to tell the truth and hold the course. That is why politicians are held in such low esteem in the country. They do not keep their election promises.
Provincially it is slowly changing. Alberta especially has done an excellent job of holding the line. Ontario appears to be following, although it might be wavering on a few promises because of the pressure of the 98 federal Liberals in Ontario who want the Ontario government to start spending money.
There have been 35 tax increases. The department says there have not been revenue increases, but that there have been expenditure cuts. That is not true. Tax revenues have increased by $30 billion. Yes, a lot of it is due to growth in the economy.
Let us talk about that wonderful growth. It is 2.5 per cent. Boy, that is a booming economy. Darn, that is almost the rate of
inflation. It has been just a bit higher in the last couple of years. Boy, they have done a great job. Two per cent per year for four years. That is wonderful. We should all clap and be happy.
Yes, that has increased tax revenues. However, the 35 tax increases, which represent $30 billion in revenue, amount to about $12 billion in extra tax revenue due to tax increases. It is not all attributable to growth in the economy. If any member opposite says it is all due to growth in the economy they are misrepresenting the issue. He knows that.
Do I have time to wrap up my comments, Mr. Speaker?