Mr. Speaker, the banking industry in Canada is already on very secure footing as the result of years of maintaining regulations.
I know the Conservative government members opposite do not like regulations and would like less government. However, we have a solid banking industry in this country. Part of the reason for that is all parties have resisted attempts by the banking industry to deregulate itself. When the banks wanted to merge we said no.
With regard to the NDP hating profits, that is not the case. We understand that corporations need to be profitable in order to survive. They need to be able to show a return to their investors.
We are concerned that already profitable corporations are being given a handout by the government's reducing the amount of taxes they pay. What happens when the government reduces the taxes that are paid by already profitable corporations? It does not create jobs, as the minister has agreed. It increases their profits and decreases the amount of money available in the Canadian revenue stream, which then increases the pressure on the government to either reduce services to Canadian citizens or to raise personal taxes in order to compensate by an equivalent amount, billions of dollars.
We are opposed to that.