Mr. Speaker, as I listened to the member for Nepean—Carleton it sounded like he was painting an awfully rosy picture for Canadians in the next few years. I began to wonder whether he had his stats right. If things are so rosy why has Canada fallen so far in terms of standard of living? Why are Canadians facing such a lower standard of living now than we were facing five or ten years ago?
Our major trading partner, the United States, has been experiencing tremendous growth in standard of living. We have fallen behind the Americans by 25% in standard of living expressed in terms of GDP. We have seen 45,000 of our young professional people leaving Canada to go to the United States. If things are so rosy why is this happening?
We have the highest personal income tax rate in the G-7, about 15% higher than in the United States. The United States is experiencing tremendous growth and a tremendous increase in standard of living. Why are we so stagnant here if things are so rosy?