Mr. Speaker, I commend my colleague for his speech. I know him by reputation and I think he is a sincere man and wants the best for his constituents of Halton. I look forward to serving with him on the finance committee.
I would refer him, though, to comments made by the intergovernmental affairs minister when I asked a similar question on student assistance. The minister referred to the great programs that exist for students which came in under the Liberal government.
However, my question refers to taxation, something I know he cares about deeply. He mentioned middle income taxpayers. Maybe middle income in Halton is a lot different than middle income in Dartmouth--Cole Harbour. We all come from different constituencies, but my question refers to the brochure that came with the budget which talked about broad-based tax relief for families by income group.
It indicated that a family that makes less than $15,000 a year will save in 2007, from the Conservative budget, $96, while a family making more than $150,000, which includes probably all of us in this House, would save $1,228. I wonder if he really thinks it is fair that an MP should get 12 or more times the benefit than the family struggling to raise their kids on $15,000.