My friend from Simcoe—Grey says thank you, but it is really the taxpayers who should be thanked. They are the ones who have borne the burden of the deficit fight through higher taxes. There are incredibly high taxes today in Canada, the highest personal income taxes in the industrialized world. We need to lower them.
Our plan would do three different things. It would increase the basic exemption to $10,000, drawing from that big surplus. It would extend a $3,000 deduction to all families with children. It would take the 26% and 29% rates and move every rate down to a single rate of 17%.
What would the impact of that be? It would mean that every Canadian would see their taxes go down dramatically. We would see that our country would be the most attractive country in the world when it comes to investment. We would see money come back into the country. We have seen $135 billion flow out over the last 10 years under the Liberal government and under the Tories before it. That money would start to come back into Canada because this would be an attractive place to invest.
More than that, we would see some great social benefits. I want to say a word about that. We would see a tax plan that would lift two million low income Canadians right off the tax rolls. It is tough enough being poor without having the government tax people for the crime of having a low income, but that is what happens every year.
We would also end the discrimination against single income families, something the government failed to do in its budget. In the tax code there is a discrimination against single income families. It continues under this tax plan despite the efforts of some members across the way. Unfortunately it does not sound like the government wants to change it. Under our plan it would change. We would get rid of that discrimination.
More important, we would attract a tremendous amount of economic activity to Canada. I want to say a word about why that is important.
In a situation where the economy is underperforming like it is in Canada today where we still have almost 7% unemployment, who are the people who are hurt the most? It is people without skills. It is people without education. We need to help those people.
We would do that by having an economy that moved a lot faster. If it did, those people would be scooped up. They would get the jobs. They would get the experience, the contacts, the capital and the confidence which would allow them to improve their lot. They could maintain their dignity. They could provide for their own families instead of being kept dependent by the government. It is shameful that it would allow people to be left in that state, but the government does it.
Solution 17 will lift Canadians off the tax rolls. It will lower taxes. It will attract investment. My friends across the way should not let pride get in their way. They should make sure they adopt this plan. Let them adopt this plan. Let us get Canadians back to work. Let us create some opportunity for Canadians from coast to coast.