I like that one: a toothless tiger. Some of my colleagues have said that the government is nothing more than a northern pussycat, but I have difficulty with that because I like cats. I like my cat and, notwithstanding some of his weaknesses, my cat does not deserve to be compared to the Liberal government.
It does raise in my mind, though, what unfortunate animal we should actually compare the government to. Several suggestions have been made. As members know, I have already been in trouble in Parliament a few times so I will stick to some family friendly examples.
I have concluded that what we should compare the government to is the gull, the northern gull. The reason I concentrate on the gull is that we have all been there, having a fabulous picnic, and with our hard earned tax dollars we have gone out and purchased all this food with our families, brought ourselves together and we are sitting there trying to have a picnic. Who keeps swooping down on the picnic, trying to steal the food, trying to get a big meal out of it? It is those Liberal gulls, and let me say that if gulls could talk, I bet they would tell us that when they are trying to steal our food and use it for themselves it is really all about Liberal values. That is what the gulls would tell us.
There is a better way. Putting Canada on the right path requires changing course. It requires getting the job done.
First it requires controlling spending. The Canadian Alliance would immediately stop runaway Liberal spending. We support targeting spending, in particular new spending, to priority areas neglected under the former finance minister's watch: health care and the military. In general, however, we believe that spending should only increase at a rate matching increases in population and prices. Also, we would put an end to things like the wasteful billion dollar gun registry, wasteful and in some cases illegal sponsorship contracts, and wasteful and poorly administered HRDC programs. The Canadian Alliance would also end programs that are of little benefit to Canadians and Canadian families, especially welfare schemes for our major corporate sector.
If Canada is to reach its potential, spending needs to be constrained, debt needs to be paid down and broad based tax relief needs to be provided. In fact, there is no reason, and I say it again, as I have said across the country, there is no reason why taxes in this country need to be higher over the long term than taxes in the United States.
Here are the facts. The American government spends more per person on public health care, not just health care but public health care, than Canada does. The United States has much more serious problems of social pathology, which need the array of social safety net programs that all governments wrestle with. The United States also obviously has much more serious demands on its military and security interests than anything that would be faced by even a responsible, defence oriented and security oriented Canadian government, which we certainly do not have.
With these realities, we have the potential, and we should make it our economic goal, a goal for future budgets, to make Canada the number one tax jurisdiction with the lowest tax rates in North America.
It is amazing that a statement like that would draw Liberal ire. It tells us something about their priorities. Those gulls are squawking over there.
The Canadian Alliance would immediately eliminate all taxes and tax increases originally brought in to reduce the deficit. We would eliminate, not just reduce, the air tax that is crippling our airline industry. We would deliver immediate and substantial tax relief to families, to middle and low income workers and to investors. These tax changes would be aimed at moving toward a flattening of high marginal tax rates.
Furthermore, we would not shy away from further cuts to corporate income taxes to free up money for businesses to create more jobs and greater opportunities for all Canadians. We would begin by finally reducing the GST.
The GST hits hardest on the people who have to spend all of what they earn: low and middle income and modest income Canadians. The GST is costly to administer, it is subject to fraud of undetermined scope and it is an onerous administrative burden on the small business owners that the government has turned into its unpaid tax collectors. This government came to office promising to scrap, eliminate and kill the GST. All we are asking it to do is reduce the GST on Canadian families and workers.
Let me take a moment to say I have rarely heard anything so shamefully spoken in the House of Commons as what the Prime Minister said to me a couple of days ago. I watched the tapes, where he bragged openly about how much money he is now gouging out of Canadians' pockets in increased GST revenue.
Canada has the natural, historic and human resources needed to be the best in the world, a country that leads the way in terms of research, security and democracy. This budget could have allowed us to go to the next level and make Canada a truly great country.
Canada could attain these objectives, but this budget prevents us from taking up the challenge. Surplus funds have been turned into slush funds. Families and workers in Canada are overtaxed and receive inadequate services.
We could have put a stop to increased and unreasonable spending. We could have developed a plan to bring down the debt more seriously. We could have continued to reduce the tax burden on individuals, families and businesses, starting with the GST. These are not the objectives shared by the tax and spend Liberals.
Only the Canadian Alliance is offering Canada the opportunity of reaching its full potential, the opportunity to make the most of our natural historic and human resources.
I therefore move:
That the motion be amended by substituting all the words after the word “That” with the following:
this House rejects the government's budget statement because it continues the policies established by the previous Finance Minister that failed to give Canada the economic foundations that lead to a country that is number one in wealth, security and democracy and by laying aside prudence in budgeting for the padding of ministerial budgets; turning surplus funds to slush funds for prime-ministerial hopefuls; and by continuing to overtax and overburden Canadian families and workers.