Mr. Speaker, first I would like to state that I respect my friend greatly. I have had a chance to get to know him on the public safety committee.
He will agree with me on two points. The first is that this was instigated by the Conservative government. In the Ontario example, it agreed to pay $4.3 billion, and in British Columbia I believe it is $1.5 billion. Second, we are all suffering through the greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression. We have lost 500,000 full-time jobs across the country, thanks to the government.
The point is this: the provinces have the right to try to do something to try to create jobs. In Ontario the experts say that through this HST, approximately 600,000 new jobs will be created. I am going to ask--