Mr. Speaker, what is unfair to Canadians is the amount of money taken from their wallets each and every year that is over and above what this government needs to do the job it is asked to do.
We have had eight years of surpluses. In each of those years there have been budgets that have had contingency funds in them. We need not mix up what the contingency fund is versus the surplus. We allow a flexibility in budgeting by allowing the contingency fund to be there for emergency use, but to then add to that another $9 billion or $10 billion worth of surplus is just excessive taxation on the backs of the people of Elgin—Middlesex—London and the people of Canada.
We have had eight years of surpluses. In each and every case, the surplus has been projected to be minuscule compared to where it has ended up. This is just poor planning and excessive taxation. As I stated in my debate, this is like walking into a store and being overcharged, with the owner of the store not caring whether we ever get our money back.
When my good citizens of Elgin—Middlesex—London send their tax dollars to Ottawa, they expect that those dollars will be enough to cover the difference. When they find out that the government has taken percentages more than it needed to do the job, they expect that perhaps they will get some value back for that money.
The member mentioned paying down debts and adequate use of surpluses. That tends to happen only when the surplus is discovered after the year has ended. If the surplus is discovered while the year is still in existence, then of course it goes to this government's whims and the spending non-priorities of this government.