Mr. Speaker, I listened very intently to the Leader of the Opposition's speech. I think he would agree that taxation is all about choice. What he is asking us to do today is to make a choice on $700 million worth of revenue coming into the federal government.
The government has made a commitment to reduce debt. For every $10 of debt we reduce we also reduce $1 forever because it is a debt off our shoulders.
At the same time, we also note that fossil fuel is creating more air pollutant problems. Five thousand people died last year just because of airborne pollutants. As a societal good, is it really the duty of governments to be reducing consumption? When the cost of fossil fuel went up during the Reagan administration in the mid-eighties consumption went down. We should be promoting the use of alternative fuels and the reduction of fossil fuel not in fact celebrating them.
From the member's knowledge as a treasurer, how much of that barrel of oil goes into the provincial royalty payments?