Mr. Speaker, I read an article this morning in the Globe and Mail , a newspaper that often is not too kind to the Liberal Party. The article was by Hugh Winsor. He talked about the Alliance tax plan. Here is what he had to say about the Alliance tax plan:
The Alliance plan is totally predicated on a presumption of tax greed: that everybody wants lower taxes, even if it means fewer services from the government. It is a plan clearly skewed toward higher incomes.
That really captures the essence of the Alliance's tax plan.
In the House this morning the member for Elk Island and others have talked about low income Canadians. I would like to acquaint Canadians and the House with the impact yesterday's economic statement will have on some Canadian taxpayers.
For example, a one earner family with two children with an income of $40,000 a year paid about $3,325 in federal tax last year. The Alliance has not said when its tax measures would come into play but as of January 1, 2001, and not some unknown timeframe out there in never-never land, the taxes for this family of four will fall by $1,100. That is a 32% saving in federal income taxes. That is not all. I have just begun. By the year 2004 their taxes will fall by 59%.
How about a single parent with one child earning $33,000. As of January 1, and not 2004 or 2005 or some other time in the distant future, but as of January 1 a single parent earning $33,000 will pay no net tax at all. Zero, zip; in English that is none.
Could the member tell us under his tax plan what programs his party will cut? It will have to cut $25 billion in programs.