Mr. Speaker, my colleague, who has spent most of his tenure on the finance committee, certainly holds a great deal of respect in this House for his down to earth approach to financing. I have a question for him concerning the savings plan that was introduced as the next best thing since RRSPs were introduced in this country.
I know the finance minister, during his delivery of the budget, said that this savings plan would be a great thing. However, since it has come out, people have weighed on this program and, whether it is apprehension or doubt, are wondering whether it will have any type of impact. Some have even said that it is a lot to do about nothing, that it will be like the Y2K bug where there was a lot of talk and hype around it but who will actually have access to it. In my riding, anyone with an extra $5,000 will probably put that into an RRSP or RESP to avoid the immediate tax.
I would like the member to weigh in and offer his opinion to the House on this program. What degree of success does he anticipate from this program?