You are absolutely right, Mr. Speaker. It is coming. In Manitoba 80.9% of the people said yes. In New Brunswick 96.2% said yes to the alliance. In Newfoundland 94% said yes to the Canadian Alliance. In Ontario 91% said yes to the alliance. In Prince Edward Island 92.2% said yes. In Quebec 91% said yes. In Saskatchewan 82.8% said yes. In the territories 80.8% said yes. In total 91.9% said yes to the Canadian Alliance, so beware.
What is in the future for Canadians? Today is the budget debate so let us talk about the budget. The budget the Liberals brought forth is an election budget, an election budget in which they want to again spend, spend, spend. They want to buy the votes of Canadians with their own money as they have been doing in the past. It is a shame.
The budget ignored the pleas of Canadians for tax relief, for reducing the deficit and for fixing health care. Let us deal quickly with the tax cuts proposed in the budget. Let us see what my constituents are saying.
I recently talked with a young man living in my constituency who has a wife and two children. He earned $17,000 last year and paid $2,000 in taxes. Upon completing his tax return his refund came to $97 and his wife's, $150. His question to me was: “How does this government expect a family of four to live on this kind of an income?”
Yesterday I got a call from a senior in my riding. She is working part time. She is 67 years old. She said “I am working part time so that I can go out and earn a little income and be busy”. Why is she paying $24 in EI when she is 67 years old and has no intention of collecting EI? That was her question to me. This is how the government indirectly taxes Canadians.
My son is 15 years old. His friend went out to work in the evenings. He is a young fellow, 15 years old, working out there. His first paycheque was $300 minus $87 in taxes. He told my son “Tell your dad what is going on here”. I said “Excuse me. It is the party on the other side that is not in touch with Canadians on taxes”.
Out there on the streets of Canada there is a demand for the government to address the issue of high taxation. What do we get from the budget? A band-aid solution. It is designed to win votes. The Reform Party brought this out and it scared them into bringing forth some tax relief. Otherwise there would have been no tax relief. I am skeptical and apprehensive that the next budget brought forth by the government will be spend, spend, spend.