Madam Speaker, what I thought I very clearly heard the member say was that all taxes were bad and if we could keep them in the hands of entrepreneurs and others, the world and especially this country would be a better place.
I do not disagree at all with what the member said in terms of the questionable expenditures on the two jets, particularly when our helicopters are so antiquated and in need of replacement.
A perfect example of what he is talking about is the employment insurance grab. In that case all the surpluses in recent years were as a result of the windfall which occurred in the EI fund. The fact is benefits have been reduced but the money which has rolled in has paid down the deficit and continues to be the bulk, if not all, of the surplus.
I think this gets to the heart of the point that I was endeavouring to make which was we do not have a terribly fair tax system. If we look at unemployment insurance in itself, it is paid into by students who have no intention or no ability to collect it in the coming year because they are returning to school. It impacts on seasonal agricultural workers who come into this country from Mexico, Jamaica and other places to work on our farms and in our agricultural processing industry. They pay unemployment insurance and they do not have a prayer in terms of collecting any of that money.
These are some of the things that the government needs to take into account. As I understand it, they do not actually come under Bill C-47, the excise tax, but it does get to the heart of some things that are wrong with our tax system at the moment.