Mr. Speaker, I will try to answer in a minute.
I agree the Reform Party certainly has been championing the balanced budget idea for a long time. We would love to see balanced budget legislation to make sure it stays there, once it is there. We are not convinced it will, depending on who is in charge of holding the purse strings.
How has the budget been balanced? We have the highest income taxes in the land. Tax freedom day now is a full six months into the year. In British Columbia we spend 54%, our highest tax rate, just on personal income tax. Fifty-four per cent of income goes to income tax, plus the GST, plus the service charges. We have the highest taxes in the G-7. Canadians pay 56% higher income taxes than the average in the industrialized world.
We have to thank the Canadian people for balancing—