Madam Speaker, there was a lot verbiage but I am not sure there was too much meat. I remember an ad years ago with a little lady standing at a hamburger counter saying “Where is the beef?” I guess that points to what the member was talking about.
The biggest problem we have in the country is underperformance. People are penalized to get out and make things happen. We have a tremendous problem with brain drain. There is a little bit of money in the budget to address that issue, but it is a significant problem. Taxes are driving people out of this country. We cannot bribe them to stay here. They will gradually migrate to where there is more tax incentives and work incentives.
We have a burgeoning underground economy. It is created by overtaxation. People have to make a living, put bread and butter on the table for their families and they do it in any way they can. If it means cheating Uncle Sam a little bit they are more than willing and prepared to do that. Many people said it was the GST that created the underground economy. It is not.
My background is in construction and the whole premise of the underground economy is not the GST. It is 7%. As a contractor I can pass that on and claim it back. That is not the problem. It is the income tax that I pay. It is the income tax that the plumbers, electricians, concrete finishers, carpet layers pay. It is the heavy tax load on everything. The not profit sensitive tax, a lot of them have become user fees and programs and things like that, drive the burgeoning underground economy. That is not being addressed. There must be fairness in the taxation system.
The member also talked about the debt and the deficit. We are paying $41 billion or $42 billion a year in interest on what has been a runaway debt. The prudent approach has added another $130 billion to that debt in the last number of years. Thank God we finally got our deficit under control, but it has been done by taxpayers; 70% of the deficit control was done on the backs of taxpayers. They are looking for some sort of relief from this overburden. They are looking to the government for some direction and leadership.
This budget is a small step in the right direction. We need to take large strides. We are going into a worldwide economy. Canada can be a leader. We do not have to settle for 17th place.