Mr. Speaker, I would certainly agree with my colleague. Although he is known to be one of the more polite members of the House, I am not sure I would be as polite as he was in saying it is a miscommunication. As he pointed out it is a practice the government often does; in fact the Liberals always do it.
In the budget they say there is going to be a $100 billion tax cut but it is going to be over a five or 10 year period. Two budgets ago they were going to eliminate the capital tax over five years. They were going to eliminate personal corporate income taxes over a 10 year period. There is always an addendum that realizes it is actually not the amount they are talking about. The economist who actually reviewed the $100 billion figure revealed it was $47 billion. At the same time that they reduced taxes by $47 billion, they actually increased the CPP premiums.
One of the things that small businesses across Canada raise is the payroll taxes that they pay. The member for Edmonton—Strathcona, as a small business owner, knows well the payroll taxes they pay through EI premiums and Canada pension plan. The Liberals say that it is an investment.
When a person retires, if he or she gets the full benefit of CPP, it is $9,000 a year. This is a tax we impose on small business owners, on employees and employers and people get $9,000 a year when they retire. That is simply unacceptable. That is not even to mention the employment insurance premiums on which all opposition parties have shown leadership in saying that we are demanding some accountability. The amount that is taken in for EI premiums should be the amount that is paid out.