Mr. Speaker, it was a thoughtful question, one I suspect a lot of people are asking.
We have heard in the House repeatedly that one of the attractive features to lure foreign corporations to Canada is the low wages they are able to pay. This seems to be some kind of good news. It is a rather warped sense of good news.
One of the realities is that the radical changes to the employment insurance program resulted in that the majority of Canadians who paid into that program are receiving no benefits at all.
Mr. Speaker, imagine what it would be like for you to lose your job. When people lose their jobs and have no income, they become vulnerable to people who could exploit them in terms of paying for their services of one kind or another.
I am aware, and I know the hon. member is as well, that because of the changes to the employment insurance program, when some people get their employment insurance cheque, the amount is actually as low as $32, $50, $75. Mr. Speaker, I know you are a very frugal man, but imagine trying to live for a couple of weeks on $32. This is tough. Anybody who is trying to live on $32 a week, $100 a week or $200 a week will be vulnerable to people who are prepared to exploit the worker's skills, background, talent and so on. That is one of the reasons so many people today are in a very difficult situation.
That was one reason. The other reason is our taxation. It is fair to say that Canadians by and large with a few exceptions are paying too much tax, income tax and other kinds of taxes. It goes back to my friend who asked what we would propose, and that is a tax cut that would benefit every single man, woman and child in the country, not this group or that group.
There is a tax cut that every single person would benefit from. Even a little kid buying a teddy bear would benefit, or a parent purchasing a needed vehicle or a washing machine would benefit from a cut in the GST. This would benefit every single person.
Guess what the people who would benefit most from a cut in the GST would do with that saved money in their pockets. They would spend it. People are pushed to the wall and their savings are minimal, if they have any at all. They would spend those dollars.
Those dollars would go from business to business to business around that little community. They would support the small and medium size businesses. Those dollars would circulate around and around in the community benefiting the small businesses which hire people and provide employment opportunities. But instead, those dollars are coming to Ottawa to be used for some questionable purposes from time to time.
I do not know whether I have been thorough in my answer but those are some of the reasons Canadians are having a tough time getting by and why employers are able to pay such low wages and salaries.