Mr. Speaker, how many hours do I have for this response?
I thank the hon. member for his question.
I have a problem with a number of the Pavlovian tax policies of this government; the whole idea that government, by picking winners and losers, and by encouraging one type of activity and discouraging others, will in fact make decisions which cause or channel energies and economic focuses in one direction or another.
I think, frankly, that individuals participating in a free market can make those decisions best and that government intervention in making some activities more profitable, or some activities less profitable through a tax code, is in fact evidence of government trying to effectively control populations and individuals. I do not have an awful lot of faith in politicians when it comes to economic policies.
I would suggest that we make personal taxes in Canada more neutral in terms of their treatment of activities, that we treat the tax code as a means to raise revenue, not as a means to control Canadians, and that we also look seriously at reducing the disincentives that exist currently with the tax brackets which actually punish success.
While we should be trying to encourage success, we actually have punitive measures built into our tax code to punish success. That is perverse in a country where we are competing globally. We should be encouraging our Canadian citizens not only to compete, but to succeed globally.
We have a tax code in this country that causes people to be less competitive, less focused on success and, frankly, more frightened of their own government.
In terms of tax complexity, doing your taxes is the only do-it-yourself project that exists where if you do it properly you could still end up in jail. There is an inherent unfairness, not just on the enforcement side of it, but in terms of the whole nature of the tax code. I call it the Pavlovian nature of the tax code.
It is very important to let businesses and individuals make their own decisions. I think that would be a step in the right direction. I also believe that consumption taxes are less destructive.
I just criticized the Pavlovian tax policy, but there are some public policy initiatives whereby we can ensure that the cost of some behaviours are accounted for at the time, in terms of internalizing the externalities of people's behaviour. We can use a tax code to do that.
There are a number of areas that need to be discussed, but the Mintz tax report actually does a lot of it. The recommendations are fairly sound on a business level. If we were to apply some of those principles to the personal side, I think we would go a long way to effecting change and to introducing a greater level of fairness, equity and incentive for success for Canadians in the Canadian tax code.