Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his question and his attention to my speech. I do appreciate that.
Within that legislation there are two pieces, and within the first piece about the tax cut there was an implicit promise. The promise was that any tax changes would be revenue neutral. We now know it will cost Canadian taxpayers $1.4 billion, so it will come back at the end of the day in the form of another tax.
However, the other reason that it was very important to stand our ground with respect to the passing of this legislation was because the Liberal government sought to lower the limits of the tax-free savings accounts within that same piece. That is a very important vehicle for Canadians to save money. As well, I do not think the Liberals understand that it also substitutes as pools of capital for small start-ups in this country.
I think the Minister of Finance understood it, though, because he clearly said in his book, The Real Retirement, the following: “TFSAs, introduced in 2009, are currently too new and the contribution limits too low...”. They were too low at $5,000 at that point. However, he went on to say, Most likely, they will grow in popularity as appreciation for their specific advantages grows..”.
The member should maybe ask his Minister of Finance why he suddenly changed his advice.