There is something else that is strange about the budget. The Minister of Finance should be arrested and charged. I will tell you why, Mr. Speaker. A few years ago an individual called Doug Small leaked a little bit of a federal budget. He was a broadcaster in Ottawa. He leaked a few phrases of the budget and was charged by the RCMP. He went to court for leaking a budget.
The Minister of Finance leaked the entire budget. Every major issue has been out in the public domain for weeks and weeks. He should be charged by the RCMP for leaking his own budget. Why did he do that? Why did the Minister of Finance leak his own budget?
I will tell the House. I will have trouble saying it, so I will have to muster up my courage. When the Conservatives were in office they had guts. They actually believed in certain things. I do not believe in them. Most Canadians do not believe in them, but the Tories believed in them. They said the GST was good for Canada. They did not leak it out.
I remember Michael Wilson rising and saying “We will introduce a GST tax for every walking Canadian”, and the Tories jumped up in applause. They thought it was a great idea. He also said “We have a better one. We will give a $500,000 capital tax exemption for major capital raised in the country”. There was a standing ovation for that one.
They announced it during the budget. They did not float it out weeks before and then do focus groups, polling and trial balloons to see what works and what does not work. This is not leadership. This is cowardly leadership where before they say a single word as leaders on financial matters, they test every single phrase, every single word, every nuance. If it does not fly then they will not say it. If it is popular then they will say it. That is not what leadership is. Leadership is when they come in here based on convictions and make announcements on what they want to do. That is not what happened.