Mr. Speaker, the proposed hockey bailout was a significant indicator of the degree to which the government has lost touch with Canadians. At a time when Canadians have seen their take home pay drop by 8% in the 1990s and have seen Americans enjoy a 10% increase, $100 million for hockey was not the right step. There is a homeless crisis in Canada. Children are suffering. Child poverty is a very important issue that has not been addressed by the government in the budget.
It is appalling that the government wanted to spend $100 million on professional hockey. When we look at it, the hockey players and teams in Canada are like the canaries in the old coal mines. They would put canaries in the coal mines and if the gases became toxic or noxious, the canaries died. They would then know they would have to change the environment.
The tax system and the oppressiveness of our tax burden is killing Canadian industry. It is hurting the high tech sector and the hockey players. Instead of dramatically changing the environment in Canada, rather than this tax tinkering, the government is putting gas masks on the hockey players. The rest of us need to breathe and succeed in this country too. All Canadians need broad based tax relief and tax reform, not just hockey players.