Mr. Speaker, I rise this evening to follow up on a question I asked the finance minister last March regarding the loss of jobs in the manufacturing and auto sectors, and why he continues to attack the province of Ontario.
Canadians and historians were baffled when the federal finance minister held an unprecedented press conference and attacked the Ontario provincial budget the night before it was delivered at Queen's Park.
Nowhere before in Canadian history has a federal finance minister deliberately attempted to sabotage a provincial budget and in doing so, cost the people of Ontario precious jobs at a time when our manufacturing and auto sectors are suffering dearly.
As a matter of fact, the finance minister was quoted as saying that Ontario was the “last place” to do business in North America. How can a federal Minister of Finance be so irresponsible? The minister should be aware that business leaders and financial sectors take his word very seriously. His comments are damaging to Ontarians and Ontarians are perturbed, especially as the minister is from Ontario, and was responsible for decimating Ontario's financial health and leaving Ontario with a $5.6 billion deficit.
The province of Ontario has done a great deal after that to attract investment. The premier of Ontario has cut corporate taxes by $3 billion and last December eliminated its capital tax on resource-based industries, including manufacturers. The province of Ontario continues to phase out capital tax altogether and is reducing property taxes to help small and medium sized businesses.
I am aware that the member opposite already has a prepared speech that will no doubt heap considerable praise on the Conservatives for cutting taxes. The fact of the matter is that virtually every leading economist in the country has warned the Conservatives that cuts to the GST are the wrong way to go.
In fact, an access to information request revealed that the government's own Department of Industry told the Conservatives that a 1% cut to the GST will only generate a 10% return in economic improvement compared to a 30% return by just a $1 reduction in personal income taxes.
Previous Liberal governments delivered substantial personal income tax cuts precisely because they put money back in the pockets of taxpayers. Cuts to consumption taxes such as the GST do little for those who have little or no income. The Conservatives should know this and that their message is not appealing to the average taxpayer.
Recent polls reveal that 80% of Canadians have not noticed any improvement in their family budget, a stunning revelation considering that the poll was taken just weeks after people received their much vaunted Conservative tax refunds. In fact, 28% of those surveyed say their personal finances are in worse shape now than at any time over the past year. That is a 75% increase since last fall.
The reason for this attitude is because all of the puny tax cuts from the Conservatives have been swallowed up by skyrocketing fuel prices. How has the government responded? By doing nothing. In fact, the Prime Minister has told Canadians that he will do nothing to ease the price of fuel even for seniors on a limited income.
I would like to know from the hon. member why the Conservative government has taken upon itself to attack the people of Ontario at a time--