Madam Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague from the Liberal Party for his speech.
I want to ask him some questions. I do not think that some of the members across the way get it. If the member is listening to the assertions put forth by independent think tanks not only within Canada but from around the world, they send one clear message. Canada is not competitive because our tax structure is choking the life blood out of our private sector.
As an example, a family of two earners in the United States earns 42% more than the equivalent family in Canada. That can be extrapolated to private sector companies. How can companies compete in Canada with their counterparts in the United States if they are saddled with a tax structure that is at least a third higher than what they have to compete with south of the border?
The central failure our party is trying to impress on the government in this budget is that the government's budget has failed to address the issue of productivity because it has failed to address the issue of high taxes. The member from Vancouver mentioned we want to be productive and therefore the government is investing in research and development.
That is not the issue. If the private sector is given the money to invest in its companies it will invest in research and development. The fact is it cannot because the tax structure is too high.
Again I ask the member from the Liberal government will he go to the finance minister and ask him to lower taxes substantially and do it as soon as possible. Then our private sector would have a fighting chance to compete in the global economy.