Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise to debate Bill C-49, the budget implementation act. There are many areas we could talk about that would be affected. I will try to focus my remarks on a few.
The previous member referred to the fact that this government brought forward the largest tax cut in Canadian history. People are now filling out their income tax forms. I had constituents come to me on the break last week who said that that was ironic. They read that the current federal government provided the largest tax decrease in Canadian history. However they asked me why their take home pay was smaller. They said they never got more take home pay, that in fact it had gone down.
The government takes from one hand and then it gives a little back. The government takes a dime and gives two cents back and then wants Canadian people to thank it. We should get down on our knees and thank the government for getting two cents back.
There are a lot of tax increases but government members do not like to talk about that. They talk about the tax cuts but we do not see them. I tell people to look at their paycheque stub. That is the best test to see if they are getting another $100 more or $50 more a month. The answer is very clear that we do not. There is probably the odd case where a person actually has more take home pay for a number of reasons, but by and large almost 100% of people get less and less to take home. There is no question about it.
Our dollar, or as some refer to it the peso, this year hit an all-time low of 62¢. In November it hit five record lows. Canadians, with our 62¢ dollar, are still taxed at a 40% greater rate than that of our neighbours to the south. My wife's siblings were raised in Canada. They all have moved to the U.S., not because they wanted to but because of the job opportunities. People say I always talk about the U.S. and that I want to compare our dollar to the U.S. Let us look at the facts.
Since the government took power in 1993, our dollar has fallen 20% compared to the U.S. dollar. It has fallen 15% compared to the U.K. pound. It has fallen 9% compared to the Japanese yen. People ask why our dollar is performing so poorly. It comes back to the government. Our country has experienced poor GDP growth and poor productivity relative to the countries I have just mentioned.
It comes back to the economic policies of the government and its status quo style. The government does not want to engage or provide Canadian people, the entrepreneurs, the young people, the legislative framework or allow them to succeed. There is a mentality in the country that we should punish people who do well. If people are successful, they are taxed even more. This is not the right way to go. If there is a single thing we can do, we can allow people to be successful. We can encourage them.
Quite often we talk about brain drain in Canada. Some people will float out different numbers and say that we have a brain gain. They will do some math which will include the number of immigrants or whomever who come to the country. It is not the amount of people we are losing in this country; it is the quality. It is the entrepreneurs. It is the economic engine 15 years from now. It is the people who will create the wealth in this country and create long lasting sustainable, well paying jobs. These are the people leaving this country. Once they go, they will not come back.
If the country does not have a strong economy and if the economic engine is leaving us now, the people 15 years from now who will provide these jobs, we will not be able to afford the social safety nets. We will not be able to afford the public funded health care as we know it today. It is critical that the government act and act now, but we do not see that.
I will give hon. members an example. We have heard a lot about another new tax, which was just announced. Of course this is the airport security tax. The Liberal member stood up and said that it was a good thing, that the government had responded and increased airport security.
What the hon. member did not say was that the government was going to take $24 out of taxpayer pockets for every round trip ticket to provide that. In the U.S. it probably costs close to $5 to provide that airport security. Here was the telling part for me.
Members should talk to the airport security people at the airports. The Victoria airport is in my riding. I went through there yesterday. When I went to the screening booth, these people wanted to talk to me. They wanted to know what was going on. They had not heard anything. They did not know if there was a central agency. There was no training and no standards. This is the gospel truth. I was told that there was some new equipment coming in, but the security people were given only one copy of the manual at which they could look. This is airport security.
There is no question that the Canadian people want these security people to do a good job. The airport security tax for a round ticket will be $24. That will paralyze the new airlines coming on stream, such as WestJet which is providing incredibly good service and is making a profit. Imagine, a person can fly to Calgary from Victoria for $100. Canadians cannot do that on Air Canada. WestJet has targeted a different market, but it has a successful business plan and is making money. What is the government's objective?
If the government slaps on this new security tax maybe WestJet will move to the U.S. What is the government trying to do? Is it trying to drive another successful operation out? That is where the House needs to focus. How can we help Canadians to succeed? How can we help them keep more of their own wealth? That is what Canadians want.
Canadians do not mind paying taxes, but they want value for their taxes. Canadians want to see where their money is going. If hon. members talk to Canadians now they just about choke because they do not have a clue, They see the unaccountability, the spending and what is happening, and that is not right.
I could go on and on about this airport security tax. Then we have softwood lumber problem which is another whole issue. If I had to summarize the single biggest issue that I think the government should focus on, it is changing its philosophy and mentality of punishing people who are successful. We should be rewarding people who are successful because they will create more wealth, more jobs and encourage more people. Then our country will thrive.
We have the number one resource and that is our people. Our people want to be leaders. We must take the shackles off and reward them instead of punishing them for being successful in this country.