Mr. Speaker, the main supposition of that question is totally false, and in fact it is ridiculous. The hon. member says he listened to my speech but, with respect, I question that, because I have gone through a number of points that make the facts clear, and this is not just a provincial issue. The HST is the product of an agreement between two parties, the federal government and the Government of British Columbia.
I have another quote from the Minister of Finance: “We are also calling on the remaining provinces that have not harmonized their PST with the GST to work with us to accomplish that goal of harmonization”. That is the finance minister, Jim Flaherty, in a speech to the C.D. Howe Institute on April 10, 2008.