Mr. Speaker, the member for Brandon—Souris talked eloquently about some legacies of the Progressive Conservative government. I would like to talk briefly of the other legacies of the Progressive Conservative government that this government is eliminating. Try for example the 3% surtax in the income tax system and try the 5% surtax which the government will eliminate by 2004.
Canadians might be confused by some of the member's comments so I would like to clarify a couple of points.
First of all, the $58 billion in tax relief that we will implement is an absolute minimum. If the surpluses are larger than what we expect, we can actually exceed that number by a great deal. The other point is that the tax cuts that we are implementing, that we are legislating in this budget are worth a cumulative $43 billion over five years. It is not about a promise in the future; it is being legislated in this budget. It is $43 billion. The five year plan on personal income tax reduction will deliver $39.5 billion in personal income tax cuts. Of that, $35 billion is being legislated in this budget. This is not a promise. This is not a dream. This will happen. In fact, $58 billion is an absolute minimum and it does deserve repeating.
Members opposite keep talking about the health and social transfers to the provinces. Let me try, as many of my colleagues have tried, to clarify this. In 1993 the total transfers to the provinces were in the vicinity of $37 billion. In 1999-2000 they are $38.5 billion and they will continue to rise. We have restored the CHST to the provinces. With respect to any problems in the health care system or education, I think members should look to the Tory governments in those provinces.