Mr. Speaker, when the Harper Conservatives were in office, we lowered the GST from 7% to 6% and then from 6% to 5%.
If I understand my colleague's reasoning correctly, we never should have done that because it supposedly only benefited the rich.
The reality is that everyone pays taxes. We will not start introducing legislation that would force only those who earn $150,000 or more to pay taxes on home heating. Everyone has a home, everyone has housing costs, and everyone has to pay taxes.
I do not know where my colleague lives, but people who live in apartment buildings in big cities and in rural communities in particular have to pay GST on heating because heating a home is expensive.
I will give my own home as an example. My two children have now moved out and they have their own families and their own homes, but my home heating costs have not gone down. They have increased by about $500 in the past 10 years and there are only two of us living there.
These costs are clearly continuing to increase for everyone, and everyone should be entitled to this exemption.