Monte Solberg

[Goods And Services Tax, September 18th, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, after 13 years of Liberal-Tory rule, we find that federal taxes in Canada have gone up $4,000 per taxpayer.

Despite the fact that the Liberal government promised twice in the last few years that it would get rid of the GST on books in this country, we find that the finance minister now says that he cannot afford to do it. Frankly, Canadians cannot afford this finance minister.

Can the finance minister tell Canadians why he has $159 million to fund flags, propaganda and movies through the Department of Canadian Heritage while he reneges on yet another promise and doubles the GST on reading in Atlantic Canada?

[Taxation, June 19th, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, by forcing these people to go along with his plan to get him off the hook for the GST promise he and his government broke, all he is doing is delivering the tax equivalent of a horse head into their collective beds.

Is the finance minister so desperate now to force a harmonization agreement that he is prepared to make these small businesses an offer they cannot refuse if they want to save their industries from job killing taxation measures? Is that real Liberal leadership?

[Taxation, June 19th, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, a little over a week ago a group of small businessmen from the used goods sector sat down with the finance officials to discuss the minister's new tax grabbing, business gutting, job killing changes to the GST.

At that meeting the finance department's taxation tsar informed them that if they wanted to save their own hides from these changes "all you really have to do is get your provinces to harmonize with the GST".

Can the minister say extortion? Why is the finance minister now resorting to strong arm tactics and job killing taxation policies to coerce the provinces into this bogus harmonization plan?

[Taxation, June 18th, 1996]

He really straightened me out, Mr. Speaker.

Let us look at the RV business. Don Sneyd at Ruston RV Centre in Burlington said the GST change has directly cost his business $13,000 since April 23. Dave McKee from the Hitch House in Barrie says his losses have been closer to $25,000 in the last seven weeks.

They laugh at that. They think that is funny, but I know there are Liberal members who are lobbying the finance minister and the revenue minister over these very changes.

Why does the government continue to deny these GST changes are anything but a tax grab? When will the minister admit and recognize that taxes, taxes, taxes kill jobs, jobs, jobs? When will the government get rid of this boondoggle?

[Taxation, June 18th, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, last week the finance minister denied that his changes to the GST were increasing taxes. Here is a real life example of the damage these changes are causing.

Dave Quest from Kallal Pontiac Buick in Tofield, Alberta had a customer come in to sell a truck. As a direct result of the new GST changes, this dealership's profit has shrunk from about $1,000 to $80 on the truck; a $920 tax grab for the government.

I want the government to explain to Dave and all the thousands of other small businessmen out there why it is continuing to pursue taxation policies which gut business and kill jobs.

[Notional Input Credit, June 13th, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, how ironic that the finance minister would be talking about the Reform Party flat tax and how it affects wealthy people. It is a great irony.

For the third day in a row I want to ask the minister about the notional input credit on used goods. Let us look at cars. In Ontario there are 9,000 used car dealers. The removal of the notional input credit will mean that all those people who can afford only to buy used cars will have to pay a lot more. Maybe members across the way cannot relate to that but there are many people like that.

Why is the minister sucking hundreds of millions of dollars from low and middle income Canadians and putting many people out of work in all the used good sectors?

[Taxation, June 12th, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, if the member would please answer the question. Page 22 of the red book said any changes to the GST would be revenue neutral. This clearly is not, since it will cost consumers hundreds of millions of dollars a year.

Will the finance minister admit today that not only is he incapable of keeping his promise to abolish the GST, but that he has reneged on his page 22 promise of revenue neutrality. Is he not just like Sheila Copps?

[Taxation, June 12th, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, by removing the tax credit on the GST, the finance minister has raised the purchase price of all used goods bought by ordinary Canadians while quietly reaping a huge tax windfall for his own coffers.

Car dealers, auctioneers, people who sell used furniture and used clothing, virtually anybody employed in the used goods sector, will be under pressure. They tell us that bankruptcies and lay-offs are imminent.

Can the finance minister tell the House if it is his intention to use this silent tax windfall financed from the pockets of ordinary Canadians to pay for his billion dollar pay-off to Atlantic premiers?

[Taxation, June 11th, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, that is what Canadians are asking.

Taxes, taxes, taxes kill jobs, jobs, jobs. Since the government came to power it has raised taxes $10.5 billion, mostly through these kinds of sneaky back door schemes.

How does the finance minister reconcile these job killing tax promises with his own government's red book promise to make jobs the number one priority of his government and his own budget promise not to raise taxes?

[Taxation, June 11th, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals' new GST scheme is a perfect example of how taxes, taxes, taxes kill jobs, jobs, jobs.

Ending the notional input credits on used goods is nothing but a sneaky back door method of driving up taxes and prices. Meanwhile dealers employ people to sell used goods, from cars at auctions, to stamps, to furniture, to RVs and boats, and all of those industries are threatened.

Why is the finance minister gutting jobs in the used goods industry by piling job killing GST on GST?