Madam Speaker, I have a motion on the floor of the House right now. It is one that I think is perfectly reasonable and that members across would like to support. It is the one that says the agency should not come into force until at least half the provinces agree to participate.
That is very reasonable. We are a federation. We tend to work together as a federation. It will be a new program in which the federal government expects the provinces to participate. Before the agency takes effect we should have an amendment accepted by the House that at least half the provinces sign on to beforehand.
One of the problems I have with the agency is that nobody has actually said we are going to do this, we are going to sign on. We know, Madam Speaker, that your province will not sign on. Quebec will collect its own taxes. We know hear the province of Ontario is not very enthused. The member who just spoke is from Ontario. She is very close to her premier. Her premier will probably not sign on to it, at least not at this stage. Maybe they will in four, five or six months.
Until that happens the bill should not take effect. In the provinces of Saskatchewan, British Columbia and Alberta there is a great deal of skepticism about the bill. It is a brand new agency.
This is a new agency in this country. Income tax is now collected by the Department of National Revenue, but with this bill a new agency will be established, with approximately 40,000 employees, or 20% of the federal public service. A good number of people are very unhappy with this bill: Revenue Canada employees, provinces and many taxpayers from coast to coast.
I moved an amendment to this bill, to get half of the provinces to agree with it before it was passed.
I see in the House the member from Abitibi. He would certainly agree with my motion. He is a great federalist. I think he would also want to see the majority of the provinces agree before the bill proceeds. It is a very reasonable motion.