Mr. Speaker, unlike the previous speaker, I am definitely here to defend the rights of all Canadian citizens. I want to make that perfectly clear to you, Mr. Speaker, and to the entire House.
I have some great concerns about the amendments that are proposed to Bill C-32. In particular, clause 35 of Bill C-32 is consequential on clause 36, the substantive provision of this act. I will therefore speak to why the government cannot accept the motions to delete clauses 35 and 36 of Bill C-32.
Clauses 35 and 36 amend the Excise Tax Act to address the issue of tax evasion. These measures are intended to deal with exceptional circumstances where there is clear and unequivocal evidence of an intention to evade the payment of tax and where the collection of taxes is therefore in perilous jeopardy.
There are important safeguards in the use of this measure. In particular, the Minister of National Revenue must apply to court for judicial authorization. The court can place whatever condition it deems appropriate on that order. The court order is then subject to appeal by the taxpayer. There is a process in place that is to be followed and can be followed by each and every taxpayer in this country.
A similar provision relating to income tax already exists in the Income Tax Act. The proposed measure would give the Minister of National Revenue the same tools to protect against tax evasion under the Excise Tax Act as he has for income tax purposes.
For these reasons and many more, the government believes this is an important measure and we cannot accept this motion. Although it is not surprising, considering the fact that the hon. member for Medicine Hat said he wants to in some way, shape or form, actually delay, under Bill C-32, the delivery of over $2.5 billion in increased payments under the CHST. That in itself speaks volumes for the hon. member for Medicine Hat and his party for their basic thinking of the way Canada should be run and the way we should evolve under our taxation system. Without a doubt, they are unequivocal in their support of the scandalous and scurrilous flat tax. My dad used to say that if something is too good to be true, it usually is. That is definitely the case with this flat tax system.
We all know that the vast majority of the MPs in the Canadian Alliance, not counting a few of them present here today, basically think along the American tradition. They want to Americanize our country Canada especially with regard to the taxation system and the way we distribute the taxpayers' hard-earned dollars to make the social fabric of our country the best in the entire world. But they do not want to do that. They want the Napoleonic version of life where might makes right; look after the rich and forget about the middle income people and most assuredly forget about the poor people.
Let me tell hon. members who will benefit from the flat tax. The rich will benefit, because under the flat tax proposal, people making about $40,000 a year will pay about the same tax that they are currently paying under our system, but those people making $100,000 would pay approximately $4,000 less. Does that seem fair? It certainly does not seem fair to me and I know it does not seem fair to the Canadian public.
If it was such a great tax, why would the American friends of the hon. member for Medicine Hat not embrace this tax with open arms? The ultra right-wing of the Republican Party, Newt Gingrich himself, has decried this flat tax saying it will not work. The reason it will not work is simply that under the flat tax system there will be less money brought in to the revenues of this country. Therefore, we would not have the same amount of taxpayers' dollars to distribute, to make Canada and equitable place for all citizens to live in.
Under the flat tax we would not be bringing in as much money, so what does the Canadian Alliance plan to do? The CA most assuredly plans to eviscerate our social system. CA members have already said that. They are on the move. One of its members currently sitting here is running for the CA leadership. He is talking about a two tier health care system. Let us Americanize the health care system. There is a bright idea. He must be a 100 watt bulb. In America 38 million people as we speak are not covered under health insurance. The single public payer use system we have in Canada is recognized around the world as the very best there is on planet Earth.
Many other countries, including the United States of America, would like nothing better than to move to our medicare system. Under the flat tax we would not be able to have that because we would not be bringing in the proper amount of money to look after our medicare system. Why would we not have enough money? Because the rich people would not be paying near the income tax they should be paying.
I for one believe that the more that we gain out of the country, the more that we prosper, the more that we should be willing to share with our fellow citizens. But not under the flat tax system. Under the flat tax system the rich pay less and the poor get more. By more I mean they get more right in the ear. They would not get a darn thing extra out of the flat tax system. They lose, they lose and they lose, because there would not be money in there to make the system work.
The hon. member for Medicine Hat espouses the great benefits of the flat tax but maybe he should join the flat earth society because it just will not work. He knows it and hon. members opposite know it. That is part and parcel of their amendments to Bill C-32.
I have got the ire up of the big fellow across the way, but he knows we are right. He knows that the Liberal government is reducing the taxes. We have reduced taxes by $58 billion in the last three to four years and we will further reduce them. We are on the road to economic recovery.
Canada is recognized without a doubt as the best country in the world in which to live. The former leader of the hon. members opposite is now running as the leader for a new party. He happened to be flying around the world on taxpayers' dollars a couple of years ago and said, “Canada is a third world country. Do not come to invest in Canada”. Is that the type of person we want running this tax?
I just noticed that the hon. member for Medicine Hat is listening to what I have to say. I do not know if he will get up and make a comment but I would like him to make a comment on the flat tax system.