Mr. Speaker, those who are going to be affected with regard to this tax in their province will have the opportunity at the provincial level to deal with its implementation. We are not dealing with it. As the member knows, we are only dealing with an agreement with the provinces. That is what we are debating. We are playing an enabling role, not a detailed role.
What this means to Ontario is the creation of 591,000 new jobs, an increase in capital investment of $47 billion, and an increase in annual incomes of up to 8.8%, or $29.4 billion.
The member also mentioned seniors, and we will learn more about this as we go through the process.
About 93% of Ontario taxpayers would get a permanent income tax cut. Eligible families earning less than $160,000 would receive $1,000, and individuals earning less than $80,000 would get three payments totalling $300 each. There would be new refundable sales tax credits, similar to the GST credit, that they would get at the provincial level. I can talk only for my own province, but 93% of people in Ontario would be better off under the harmonized tax system than they are today.
Those are the facts. We will get a chance to debate it a little further.