This is something the government will have to address. I ask all members when they go home to their constituencies to check with their constituents over the holidays. It will not be too late when we come back to vote against the budget and change that item. I think members will find that a lot of their constituents do not like this new tax.
Everywhere we turn today there are taxes. We have the GST which the government promised to eliminate and now we have taxes on airplanes. There is a highway tax on our gasoline which the government does not give back to any of the provinces. My province kicks in nearly $1 billion a year in gasoline taxes. We get back about $200,000 a year. There is the Trans-Canada Highway in British Columbia, from the mainland to the island, and for the ferries there has not been an increase in 30 years. It is shameful.
The government's priorities are wrong. It has continued its big spending programs, giving money to its friends, and the pork barreling is there, with $16 billion in grants that the auditor general said were not done properly. It is time the government realizes that it is not doing a good job. I am sure when we come back from the holidays a lot of Liberal members will have gotten that message from their people at home.