Mr. Speaker, I am pleased that we could spend a moment or two on this issue.That was 14 or 15 years ago. I am very pleased that the red book phrases have been read into the record because they often get forgotten. At the time members will recall there was a desperate attempt to do what we could to get rid of Brian Mulroney's Progressive Conservative GST which had been imposed on Canadians. The Conservatives now seem to be trying to avoid that whole issue.
I recall cobbling together a political platform which had in it this commitment to replace the GST with a tax that would be revenue neutral and would accommodate the two other objectives.
In the end, it is a fact that the Liberal government did not succeed in putting in place right across the country what became known as the harmonized sales tax. We were able to implement it in only the maritime provinces. That was the end of our ability because of lack of cooperation with the provinces to develop that.
Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to set the record straight.