Mr. Speaker, I agree fundamentally with the premise of my colleague's question and the aspects he raised. Our analysis of the Liberal government's so-called middle-class tax cut is that it gives precisely nothing, not a penny, in tax relief to those earning under $45,000 a year.
I do not know what the definition of middle class is for the Liberals, but in my riding, individuals earning $40,000 or $45,000 a year consider themselves middle class, and they did not get a nickel from the government. In fact, the proposal of the Liberal government skews higher. The more people make, if they get $90,000, $100,000, $110,000, $120,000, or $130,000 of income, the more they actually benefit disproportionately from the tax cut. That is not a middle-class tax cut to me at all.
To my hon. colleague's question about the matter at hand here, the Conference Board of Canada, hardly a left-wing organization or a biased one or partisan, has very clearly indicated that the proposal under consideration by the Liberal government to tax the health care benefits of Canadians would result in $1,000 coming out of the pocket of an individual earning $45,000. It is a lose-lose situation. They do not get the benefit of any tax cut. Instead, they actually lose $1,000. That is a devastating problem in an economy like ours, where people are struggling right now with affordability issues.
Might I just conclude by saying that the finance minister, when this issue has been brought up, has repeatedly confirmed that this was actively under consideration by the Liberal government right up until a day or two ago, when the NDP and Conservatives started bringing focus and attention to this issue in the House.