Mr. Speaker, it is astounding. If this is a holiday, I think I will pass. It is not exactly what I would call a day at the beach.
I think all members realize that people work diligently and have their own style and interests. I find it interesting to listen to a debate on issues that are not even in the bill we are debating. Obviously the holiday issue is not here. The issue of election donations is nowhere in the wording. Not once was I able to look through any of the documentation and find anything about beer. Maybe there is a relationship between beer, holidays and good times, I do not know, but it does not deal with the issue at hand.
In the short time I have left I will focus on the bill, which would be an unexpected treat I am sure for members opposite. The bill does three things. First, it is designed to provide a modern legislative framework for a simpler and more certain administrative system that recognizes current industry practices. We are talking about the tobacco industry, the spirits industry and the wine industry. We are not talking about beer. I am sorry but it is not here.
For years we have heard people say that the government should respond to current industry practices, whatever they may be, so that we can help people who are fighting against foreign competition and who are dealing with the burden of collecting and remitting taxes. It puts in place a more modern system to allow people to pay the tax at the time they actually sell the product instead of when it goes into a warehouse. That seems to me to be something the industry would want and, as my friend says, that everybody would want, including my colleagues on the other side.
I do not understand. They want to continue casting aspersions against members on this side, throwing out all kinds of nasty comments about political fundraising and making comments that do not relate to Bill C-47.
The second thing the bill does is it facilitates greater efficiency and fairness for all parties. Who is against that? This is an industry that needs to be modernized from the point of view of tax revenue. It is $3.4 billion to the federal treasury. We are not talking about small potatoes. This is a major revenue generator for the Canadian public and for the government so that we can deliver the programs that need to be delivered to the benefit of all Canadians.
This fairness to all parties issue will lead to improved administration. Are the folks on the other side against that? I do not think they are. It will lead to improved administration and reduced compliance costs.
Let us take a look at what happened with the merger of the GST and the PST in the maritimes. We tend to forget. We always say that we have one taxpayer in the country. Would it not be interesting if we only had one tax collector? We have all these different taxes going out by all these different levels of government. It is unfortunate that Ontario and the western provinces refuse to co-operate in terms of tax collection so that we can reduce the administrative burden. The bill would make it easier for companies to comply with the collection of those taxes.
The third thing the bill does is it ensures the continued protection of the $3.4 billion in excise tax revenue. Why not deal with the substance of the bill instead of the allegations and the nonsense? Why not deal with related issues such as who actually will provide the retail facilities?
In my province of Ontario we all hold our breath as we watch the current Ontario government sell off Ontario Hydro. We all suspect that the next item on the list might just be the Liquor Control Board of Ontario.
It is an interesting phenomenon: taking what amounts to a public monopoly and turning it into a private monopoly with the absolute reality that the taxpayers, the people who are the purchasers of the product, will face increased costs. Why not do what the bill does in terms of providing more effective and efficient operations for the industry rather than just selling off pieces of it willy-nilly wherever the government seems to think it may be a good political hit?
It is provincial but there is a relationship. I will use the relationship of the PST and the GST as they are collected on a co-ordinated basis. What we are talking about is more efficiency and more opportunity for the industry and government to work together.
I understand that perhaps members of the Bloc are against that kind of efficiency. They would rather use any opportunity they get to raise a point of order or to speak to issues that have nothing to do with the bill. They would rather use it to perhaps make themselves look a little better back home. Being at 25% or less in the polls in the province of Quebec causes them some concern, and I understand that.
What we are dealing with here is the streamlining of a collection mechanism that generates a substantial amount of revenue. Why not talk about the spin off effects? Why not talk about the taxation effect on smuggling?
We will all recall when we had boats running across the river and people shooting guns in the middle of the night. The police were very concerned about the situation when the smuggling was going on. We all remember those days with great trepidation.
Another issue that I think is very serious in the area of tobacco is the impact on our young people. Would taxation have an impact on whether or not these young people buy single cigarettes in the schoolyard while people actually treat them as contraband and sell them to young people? I did not hear any concerns being expressed on the impact this will have on our young people. We know from targeted experience that young girls are prime candidates to begin smoking because of the peer pressure that exists.
All of this ties in and is related to the tax burden that is involved in this industry.