Mr. Speaker, I have a brief comment and then a couple of questions.
With respect to the point made by the hon. member pertaining to the supplementary estimates, the $12.328 billion, that is what the transfers would be in 1997-98 if the floor were not established. With this floor and this bill going forward it will be $12.5 billion. According to law we certainly must publish what the entitlements will be. Now the law is changing with Bill C-28 and the provinces know the amount will be topped up once the law is in place. Therefore the rhetoric we heard on the other side is nothing more than just that.
With respect to the comment about student debt and the importance of dealing with the plight of students and that RESPs are not good enough and that the cost of education is rising and that governments need to look at education and the cost of education, I find it somewhat ironic that the Reform Party, in particular this member, is now saying the federal government should be responsible for education and that we should control curriculum. That is the only way we would be able to control the outcome which is what the hon. member is talking about.
This is a party that puts forward the concept that we need to weaken the federation, that the federal government does not need to be in the face of Canadians or the provinces. Now we have the comment that we should be responsible for education. I find that somewhat ironic.
The member then talks about the tax aspect of this bill, that this is nothing more than a tax grab. Is this hon. member then saying he would support the practice going on out there by some corporations with respect to transfer pricing? Is he saying the legislation in front of us today would not allow corporations to manipulate the tax system by setting prices within their multinationals?
We are saying that the transfer price cannot be artificial or arbitrary with this bill and he calls that a tax grab. He calls a tax grab the fact that individuals will not be able to transfer losses between unaffiliated companies. Companies are not in the business of transferring losses. Companies should be in the business of earning a profit and creating wealth, not manipulating the tax system.
The bill is merely reflecting what professionals have said in this country. Accounting professionals who have looked at these things have said this is what is going on and it should be tightened up, rules to apply when a corporation becomes or ceases to become exempt from income tax.
I am sure the hon. member would support this. A tax exempt crown corporation is not able to store up tax deductions or credits it does not need. When it does become commercialized, if that be the case, it cannot use those tax credits and cannot store up those tax credits so it could circumvent the tax system. That is what this bill is all about. That is I think a reflection of what Canadians talk about when they say they want a fair tax system.
I find the comments that are made somewhat ironic, but I certainly hope the hon. member will answer the question with respect to education and those particular changes to the tax system.