Mr. Speaker, the short answer to the member's question is that we favour reducing the GST rate by 1% which saves taxpayers about $3 billion. That is one of the tax relief measures contained in this menu of tax relief measures.
Our longer term proposal for the GST is to flatten and simplify the income tax system and integrate the GST into it thereby eliminating it all together. We favour this as an intermediate measure because the other reform is a huge and complicated one, the 1% reduction in the GST.
There is another point I would make to the members of the NDP, and I make this sincerely. There is an awful lot of disagreement between Reformers and the NDP on a lot of things but I plead with the NDP to look at this issue of debt reduction and tax relief from a social standpoint. This is an area in which the NDP professes to have deep concerns and values.
We argue that high debt is socially irresponsible. It is the interest on that debt that is eroding all the programs the NDP hold most dear. We argue that these are punitive tax measures, particularly the ones that hit the lower income people. We can argue what is the best way to help those people, but surely leaving more money in their pockets has to be the socially responsible, not just the fiscally responsible, thing to do.
I appreciate the member's question. I would appeal to the members of the NDP to support these measures, perhaps for somewhat different reasons than ourselves, but to take into account the social as well as the fiscal implications of what we are proposing.