Mr. Speaker, I wish to begin by saying that it is a great pity that Canadians listening to this debate do not have an accurate picture of budget 2000.
We have heard some speakers who are mired in the past and speakers who are speaking half-truths. For example, on the question of taxation we heard about examples from previous years, but did the speaker talk about what this budget actually delivers for Canadians?
I will give some examples. A one earner family of four with an income of $60,000 will see its taxes go down by 24%. Did we hear that? I do not recall hearing it. The elimination of the 5% deficit reduction tax on income of up to about $85,000 will help middle income Canadians. Did we hear that? I did not hear that. A one earner family of four earning $40,000 will see its net personal income taxes reduced by 48%. Forty-eight per cent. I did not hear that in this Chamber just a few moments ago. A two earner family of four with an income of $60,000 will see its net income taxes reduced by 27%. Twenty-seven per cent. These are the facts.
When we talk about transfers, the budget fully restores health and social transfers to the provinces. In fact, it moves them to new levels of $30 billion annually. With the equalization payments, it moves to $40 billion annually being transferred to the provinces.
It is no secret that the province of Quebec certainly with respect to equalization payments receives the lion's share. The Quebec government receives close to $5 billion in equalization payments. The CHST has fully restored the funding on the transfers for health, education and welfare.
I wonder if the Bloc Quebecois member would make a small comment on transfers. Does he have any exact figures, or is this a sort of make-believe story?