Mr. Speaker, it is a privilege to ask the hon. member his first question as a member of the House. I congratulate him on his discourse today.
My question for the hon. member is quite a simple one. He has referred to the heritage of the social democrat movement. In keeping with that, I would like him to reflect on the current realities incumbent in that movement and what is happening in both the U.K. and Germany with governments committed to corporate tax reform and reduction.
The chancellor of the exchequer in the U.K. has moved to lower corporate tax rates and capital gains taxes. The finance minister in Germany reduced corporate taxes in the last budget. Does the hon. member join his social democrat friends in other countries?
In fact the economist for the Canadian Labour Congress who recently spoke to the finance committee acknowledged that the greatest level of economic growth of any type of tax reform would come from reducing corporate taxes.
Does the hon. member agree with his social democrat friends that Canada needs to reduce its corporate tax burden?