Mr. Speaker, I am surprised that I am hearing today the Liberals talking about the hollowing out of corporate Canada when the real hollowing out happened under the income trusts. Strong corporations have a duty of course to pay out to their investors but also a duty to reinvest and to build the corporation to create more income, more jobs, and then of course part of that obligation is to pay taxes.
We were seeing more and more companies becoming basically a tax haven and then being eaten out from within in dividend payouts. I support all the people who invested in them because certainly they wanted a return, but the fact was that the Bank of Canada said that these were inappropriate business structures. We heard that they were often overvalued by some 40% in some cases.
There was $200 billion in moneys that was no longer taxable and was becoming part of the tax haven. The hollowing out happened under the whole income trusts that was supported by the former finance minister when he said he would do no such thing to deal with this massive tax loophole that was created and the Liberal Party ran on that record.
The real hollowing out happened when the Liberal government was in power. It is not happening now. We are in a different situation now, but he has to--