Mr. Speaker, the member is right in his general assessment that there really is nothing for certain classes of Canadians. If we look at the budget item by item, it is the people in Canada who have the least in terms of economic wealth who get nothing. They are the poor in our country. They are the seniors who are the most vulnerable. They are families with children who earn less than $36,000. As for pension splitting for seniors, if a senior's pension is less than $36,800, he or she is already at the lowest marginal tax rate and therefore it does not benefit the senior.
We could look at this item by item and say that this budget really targets and focuses in on those who can afford to pay some tax. It does not help the poor. It does not help seniors who are vulnerable and cannot help themselves. It does not help the unemployed. It does not help stimulate the economy. It does not help make Canada a better place. There is no vision.
I wonder if the member could suggest to us, however, why his party still supported the taxation of seniors who invested in income trusts to the extent that income trust investors collectively lost about $25 billion because the NDP supported the government in the taxation of income trusts and a very serious broken promise.