Madam Speaker, it is a very in-depth question and I am not sure anyone has a complete handle as to all the insidious tax bites that we have seen throughout the country. I believe the number is somewhere around 37.
Most people have no concept of where that tax bite is getting them other than when they look in their wallets at the end of the month. The month drags out to 30 or 31 days and their wallets are only good for about 20 or 21 days. We are seeing that shortfall in revenue, disposable income, taxes that show the average family of four paying out $21,000 for income tax and only having $17,000 of its incoming going to food, shelter and clothing. It is creating a generation of have nots in this country.
On top of that, these are the same people who are being asked to finance the increase in CPP. They are the same people who are being asked to finance the paying down of the debt that we have seen accumulate over the past 30 years. It is quite a challenge to most people out there to make both ends meet and still come up to the tax levels that have been created for them in this country.
As other speakers have indicated, it creates tremendous brain drains. We see people educated here who cannot afford to work here leave the country. That is revenue that is lost to this country for generations to come. It is a shame. We have to stem that tide. We look to this government to give us the leadership and the direction to slow that tide down, turn it around and get those people staying at home working where they should.