Mr. Speaker, I would like to say a few words on this bill. We are now at the third reading stage.
It is an important bill in terms of tax treaties that are being signed and agreed to, and protocols between our country and a number of other countries around the world. It is important in terms of people travelling between these countries, residents of other countries, Canadians who travel abroad and reciprocal arrangements with other countries.
I want to make two other points. I object to the bill originating in the Senate. That may surprise a couple of people in the House, but the Senate is not elected and is not accountable. It costs Canadian taxpayers $60 million a year. Members are elected by the people of the country and in principle bills should originate in the House of Commons. It is indicative of the fact that we need serious parliamentary reform in the House of Commons. The Senate should be abolished. The House of Commons should be changed and the checks and balances that are supposed to be done by the Senate should be brought to the House of Commons through stronger parliamentary committees, fewer confidence votes, less power to the Prime Minister's Office and the executive and more power to committees and backbench members of parliament.
I have been in the House under several prime ministers, including prime ministers Trudeau, Turner, Mulroney and the present member for Calgary Centre. As the years progress, more and more power is concentrated in the executive and the Prime Minister's Office. Members of parliament have less and less power. We see it across the way with Liberal members who often disagree with a government bill but cannot speak out because they want to be a cabinet minister, a parliamentary secretary, the chair of a committee, go on a trip or get some other parliamentary perk.
The time has come to have serious parliamentary reform and to make this place meaningful by abolishing the unelected Senate. It is accountable to no one in the country. Senators are appointed and are there until the age of 75. There is no place for that kind of legislative institution in modern day Canada. We will not regain the confidence of the Canadian people until we do some of those things.
In the last election campaign I was astounded when only 61% of the people voted. In 1997, 67% of the people voted. I recall the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s when 75% to 80% of the people participated in every campaign. There is a real democratic deficit in the country and when a tax bill originates in the Senate it is just another symbol of that democratic deficit. I lodge that as a complaint and I wish that more members across the way would do the same thing.
We have had prime minister after prime minister talk about the abolition of the unelected house. Some did not want to have a unicameral system. Some wanted to have a bicameral system, an elected Senate with reduced powers. Some even wanted to abolish the Senate altogether as was the case with Brian Mulroney when he came to this place. That is in the biography of John Crosbie. People can read about the conversation he had with Brian Mulroney regarding the abolition of the Senate.
Something has to be done. Some polls show that only 5% and in other polls 11% of Canadians support the Senate with its existing powers, yet we sit here week after week and year after year as politicians and do nothing about it. I think the time has come to do something about it.
I will say a couple of words about taxes. Once again the country has started to talk about a fair taxation system based on the ability to pay. In the 1960s the Carter commission recommended that a buck was a buck and regardless of where individuals earned the money they would only be taxed on that dollar. Today we have too many loopholes and benefits for the wealthy and large corporations.
The ordinary person who works for a living at minimum wage or at $10, $20 or $30 an hour ends up paying far too much of the taxation burden. In the last budget Canadians had a $100 billion tax cut over five years. Of course some of the ordinary people benefit from that but the people who benefit the most are the wealthy and large corporations.
When we talk about a tax bill, we should talk about tax fairness and tax justice. I do not object to the tax treaties and protocols that are being debated in the House of Commons, but I do object to the fact that we do not have a fair tax system in Canada.
I object very strenuously to our examining a bill here that was introduced in the Senate of Canada. From the point of view of the democratic process, it is very important for all bills to be introduced here in the House of Commons, the members of which were elected by the people of Canada.