Madam Speaker, I guess it depends on where one's priorities lie.
The member sits on the finance committee as well. The report of the finance committee indicated that about a quarter of the surplus should have been spent on tax reduction, namely, the reduction of the GST. That is what our party recommended to the Minister of Finance.
The government went a different way. It decided to reduce taxes by $58 billion over five years, doing it in a number of ways: through a reduction of corporate income taxes, a reduction in personal income taxes, a change in the capital gains tax, whereby we will have to pay tax on only two-thirds of the capital gains as opposed to three-quarters, and through a number of other tax measures and changes. We had a difference in philosophy in terms of what taxes should be reduced.
I remind the member that a resolution was passed at the Liberal convention stating that the GST should be reduced and gradually eliminated. That is what our party is saying. However, for some reason the Minister of Finance did not listen to that advice.
That is where we would get the money. We would get the money by putting less money into tax reduction and more money into the CHST. A tax reduction of $58 billion is going too far in terms of a fair breakdown among reducing taxes, increasing government spending on health and education and reducing the national debt.
The government is out of sync in terms of public opinion. We are advocating getting rid of the GST, reducing it a point at a time and putting more money into transfers to the provinces for health and education. That is what most people want.
If I may add, that is why the Reform Party is so out of sync. It is advocating cutting back many worthwhile government programs and putting a smaller amount into transfers for the provinces and health care and then opening up a system for the private sector, in effect creating a two-tier health care system, or the Americanization of our health care system, which is not the way the Canadian people want to go, even in the province of Alberta.
I see that the member for Wild Rose wants to confirm that fact, so I cede the floor to him.