Madam Speaker, we have been listening to the Liberal spin on the budget since February. The fact is there are two stories. There is the story the Liberals would like Canadians to believe. Their spin doctors are trying to convince Canadians that they should feel good about the February budget. And there is the real story, and the facts that back up the real story. I will go through a few of the spin stories of the Liberals and then the other story and the facts.
The Liberals claim they are giving Canadians $1.5 billion in tax relief this year, $2.8 billion next year and $3.4 billion by 2001-02 for a total of about $7.7 billion. That is their story. The fact is that Canadians today are paying $2,000 more in taxes than they did in 1993. The average Canadian is paying $2,020 more in taxes than he or she did in 1993.
At the same time Canadians are getting less health care. Since coming to power, the Liberals have cut $1,500 per taxpayer out of health care transfers, $1,500 out of health care transfers for every single Canadian. Since the Liberals took power, federal taxes per taxpayer are up by 24%. That is the $2,000.