I am sorry, Mr. Speaker.
Our Minister of Finance promised Canadians that there would be no tax increases in budget 2013. In his budget speech he said he would not raise taxes.
If we are going to talk about credibility, here are direct quotes from the Prime Minister and a minister of the Crown being absolutely categorical. I want to give them the benefit of the doubt. Being a teacher, I always want to see the best, to see the intentions. I thought we should take a look at the dictionary. The Oxford Dictionary is well renowned. It is used in schools and universities. I am sure many members of Parliament have this particular dictionary sitting on their bookshelves as well. This is the definition of a tax taken directly from the Oxford Dictionary:
a compulsory contribution to state revenue, levied by the government on workers' income and business profits, or added to the cost of some goods, services, and transactions
That seems fairly clear.
Then there is the definition of a tariff, “a tax or duty to be paid”. They are interchangeable, absolutely.
It is very clear that what Canadians would experience as a result of this budget are tax increases, which many colleagues across the aisle have said that the government is not going to do.
Let us talk about credibility and let us take a look at some of that. It is very distressing when we have this kind of thing happening. It is difficult for the public.
As I looked at all of this, I began to think surely so many of my colleagues across the way could not possibly have missed these tax increases. It is not that they are hidden in the budget; they are right there. The only thing is that we have to read to the end of the budget book because they are not at the beginning; they are a little bit later on. I hope all of my colleagues will revisit the budget book, which is quite thick.
Here is a quote from Aaron Wherry:
“I know the only way that we could ever get the NDP to support this budget is if we had tax increases in it,” Mr. Menzies continued, “but no one will find tax increases in this.” Mr. Menzies seemed to here to put his hope in the possibility—