Madam Speaker, I am no different from other members of parliament. I am sure everyone in the House who is willing to admit it has heard stories and knows of some cases firsthand, as I do, of individuals who quote two prices to do something, for example to fix the roof. There is a price if they are paid cash and a price if they have to issue a tax receipt.
Yes, I think that is deplorable. It is really wrong for an individual to avoid the tax system. What he or she should do is help to elect a Canadian Alliance government to fix the tax system. Until that happens, people should really comply.
At any rate the problem is huge. I remember way back in 1993 when the Liberals were first elected and the Conservatives had been in power. Even then, because of the GST, it was stated that probably all of the deficit, which was estimated to be around $40 billion but it turned out to be larger, but $40 billion a year of government revenue was lost because of the underground economy. We never know exactly how much it is because the people who do not comply are the ones that are not tracked.