Civility is not within that new member's lexicon.
We must recognize that Canadians with disabilities need to have the added costs they bear each day taken into consideration. We have done that through the tax system.
Education is a great leveller in our society creating equality of opportunity. We will never as a government be able to create equality among individuals but we can at least create equality of opportunity.
This is why in spite of our fiscal difficulties over the last four years this government has introduced numerous measures to help students in the education system. These include increasing the levels for registered educational savings plans, the educational tax credit, deductibility of ancillary fees and expenses for students.
There is also the innovation foundation to which we have contributed $800 million. In conjunction with the private sector and other levels of government, there will be a $2 billion fund for investment in research and development in our hospitals and institutions of higher learning.
Last fall our Prime Minister announced that access to education is very important to him and to this government. He announced the creation of the millennium scholarship fund. The finance minister a couple of weeks ago said that we can look forward to ongoing measures to assist students in the next budget.
These are some of the concerns we have had about creating opportunity for all Canadians. We have put our money where our mouth is.
From the NDP we have heard about, and I will quote the member for Qu'Appelle who was supported by the member for Vancouver East, “the obscene profits made by banks”. Yes, they made record profits last year but they have also paid record taxes in Canada. Canadian banks pay 64% of their net income in Canadian taxes.
Compare that with the United States where it is only 54% of net income and the U.K. where it is 52%. Canadian manufacturers pay 47%. Canadian credit unions pay 45%.
Are hon. members in the NDP suggesting that credit unions should be brought up to a 64% of net income tax level in Canada? Let us hear about it if the Canadian bank profits are obscene. Do they want even higher taxes on the banks in light of these figures?
I say to the hon. member for Qu'Appelle that on December 4, 1996 the leader of the NDP said in a press release that she welcomed bank profits if they were earned through good management, sound long term investment and progressive participation in the Canadian economy. The leadership race in the member's party is over. He lost. Maybe it is time he started to support his leader.
We take no back seat to anybody in terms of taxes in these areas. We are the ones that increased the corporate surtax, the large corporation tax, and introduced the temporary surtax.