Mr. Speaker, first I want to congratulate the member for Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot on his speech. All the taxpayer knows about tax points, equalization, income tax and so on is the amount of tax he or she must pay. To gain a better understanding of what it is all about, it takes a good explanation like the one the member for Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot just gave us.
The member explained clearly that, in the beginning, in the spirit of Confederation, direct taxation was the responsibility of the provinces, even though the federal government had the authority to legislate in that area under section 92(3). But it was clearly stated that direct taxation was the responsibility of the provinces.
Then the member explained that in 1942, the provinces, including Quebec, agreed to leave the tax field to the federal government for the war effort. We saw that the federal government never withdrew from it.
I do not have the figures in front of me—I am sure the member for Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot knows all that—but corporate income tax did not increase at the same pace as personal income tax, and if there is no change, this will result in fiscal strangulation because of rising health care costs.
The purpose of asking for tax points is simply to correct an error that was made at the time of World War II when the field of personal income tax was not left to the provinces. Had that been the case, I am sure that we would not have the same problem. I would like the member for Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot to comment on that.