Ray Speaker

[Excise Tax Act, September 21st, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians want to hear what we say in the House of Commons and they certainly want to judge the points of view the various parties have with respect to a variety of issues.

During my visit to the maritimes I had the pleasure of being in Digby County where we met many friends and people who were interested in the point of view of the Reform Party. My wife and I visited one of the restaurants. We had an excellent seafood dinner, at the end of which I was presented with the bill. I looked at the bill and I said to my wife: "Do you realize you and I were not alone at this table? Do you realize there was a third party sitting here with us enjoying dinner? I am sure it was one of my good colleagues from the Liberal Party acting as a phantom".

When I looked at the bill there was GST at 7 per cent, there was PST at 8 per cent and then there was the 15 per cent tip. About 30 per cent of the bill was this third partner sitting at the table, enjoying the food, but taking it back to Ottawa. Not only is the government in the pockets of Canadians, it sits at our table every day, taking things away from us.

Now let us talk about the gas tax.

Let us talk about the excise tax in this bill where government is in our gas tank. It is unbelievable the percentage of taxes that are now in a litre of gas or a gallon of gas, whichever way you want to describe it. The percentage of take is unbelievable. When we drive up to the pump the government says: "You pay for your gas and we are taking this percentage of that revenue that was paid for the gas". If we compare that to what the retailer gets, the percentage is very minimal for the retailer.

After the new excise tax of 1.5 cents per litre of tax was put on, retailers said to me: "We must take that out of our percentage. We cannot increase the price any more. The competition is very keen at the street level. We cannot increase price. So where does the 1.5 cents come from? It comes out of our net profit".

Anyone who has been in the retail business relative to gasoline sales at the pump or has talked to retailers who sell gas from the pump knows the margin is very slim. Many of them say they sell the gas just to get the customer up to the door, that they do not make any money at it but have to make a gain on the other services.

By this bill that is before us and by its act earlier in the spring in the announcement of the budget, the government only hurt small business across this nation.

The chart that was sent out to all of us in this assembly states: Where does your gasoline dollar go? The source of this is the Government of Canada. It issued this statement on June 27, 1995. It shows gasoline prices right across Canada. For example, in Vancouver a litre of gas is 59.6 cents and the taxes out of that are 48 per cent. The dealer gets about 5 per cent of it. In Calgary taxes are 43 per cent, dealer 7 per cent; in Regina taxes 49 per cent, dealer 6 per cent; in Winnipeg taxes 44 per cent, dealer 7 per cent; in Toronto taxes 52 per cent, dealer 5 per cent, which is even worse; in Whitehorse taxes 32 per cent, dealer 10 per cent, which is perhaps a little more reasonable and maybe that is the right place to live; in Saint John taxes 42 per cent, dealer 8 per cent; in Halifax taxes 48 per cent, dealer 6 per cent; in Charlottetown taxes 44 per cent, dealer 9 per cent; in St. John's taxes 47 per cent, dealer 7 per cent; in Yellowknife taxes 34 per cent, dealer 13 per cent.

The major portion of the gasoline price is excise taxes. We in this House think that there is a cow we can milk continually and increase that tax. I think we have milked it for everything we can. The 1.5 cents per litre is another nail in the coffin of many of the dealers across Canada and the retailer is suffering the consequences of this legislation.

I could talk about the consumer or the person who needs gasoline to go to work, to carry out business in and across Canada. Those people are hurt in a very drastic way. I have heard it being said by the Bloc members, I have heard it from the Liberal members, I have heard it from my colleagues here as Reformers that if we are to improve the economy of Canada it will be the small businessman. The small businessman will do it for us.

When we enact increases in excise tax of 1.5 cents per litre on gasoline it is obvious what that would do to small business across Canada. It only suppresses them. It does not allow them to have that capital to reinvest or to do other things. The government has made a move here that is contrary to the rhetoric I hear from the Minister of Finance who says the economy is going to grow, we are going to help small business and they are going to be the engine for our economy. I hear him saying all those things with the wave and the gusto of his arms. Here is a policy that cuts the cloth in a negative way.

So how can we support this? We cannot. The Reform Party is against it. We are going to vote against Bill C-90.

[Excise Tax Act, September 21st, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure in one sense to speak to Bill C-90 but in another sense not at all because what we are talking about is the Liberals following tradition, just as the Conservatives did in the 10 years they were in government, of increasing taxes. That is all we hear and they are following the traditional pattern of new taxes for Canadians.

Here we are after the fact. The taxes have already been implemented and we in the House are asked to stand up and pass a law which puts legislative effect to that action of the government. That is wrong in principle. I cannot believe how the government is able to do that. I know there is precedent for it in this assembly. We witnessed this in the spring session, last fall and the spring before. The government brought legislation forward to legislate some tax act or some act that was already happening in the general public without a legislative authority. In principle that is absolutely wrong. That is one of the first reasons I am saying no to Bill C-90.

There is another reason. We are witnessing government in the pockets of Canadians, government at the table of Canadians and government in the gas tanks of Canadians. The government is a partner and wants to be an ever increasing and intervening partner in the private finances of individual Canadians.

Look at tax freedom day. It is sometime in July before Canadians are free from taxes. They have finally paid their taxes to the government in July of each year. Canadians are working half of the year to pay their taxes to the government. That is wrong. It is suppressive and it is not good for Canada. That is why the Reform Party has said over and over we must reduce the tax load on Canadians. To do that we must first reduce the deficit. That will lead to a balanced budget and responsible spending. That is what must happen.

We talk about the government at the table. During our recent visit to the maritimes we heard all kinds of presentations from people in the maritimes and Newfoundland who told us the representation in that part of Canada is inadequate. There are major problems not being dealt with. They are suppressed by taxes. They were not listened to in terms of gun legislation, in terms of health care, in terms of tougher criminal laws, and the list goes on. The inshore fishermen, the mid-shore fishermen and the hand liners all said they tried to tell the government what it should do but it does not listen.

[Business Of The House, September 21st, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, one of the things which occurred in the spring session was the heavy agenda. Many of the important legislative items came in in the latter part of the session, in the last three to four weeks. We were then faced with time allocation. We forced through a number of readings of bills under, I would say, duress, as members of the House of Commons.

I would ask the government House leader if there are pieces of legislation which are planned and will those pieces of legislation be made available to us, or at least will the House be advised that they are coming within the next 10-day period?

[Points Of Order, September 21st, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, in my point of order I am referring to section 409(3) of Beachesne's with regard to the question that was raised by my hon. colleague from Calgary West. The question was whether it was hypothetical or not.

I would like to make a request to the Chair that the question be reviewed. I listened to the question and I believe that according to citation 409.3 questions can be asked for information with regard to policy. I believe the question would qualify under that. I would appreciate the Speaker's review of the matter.

[Government Agenda, September 21st, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to draw attention to the weakness of this government's agenda, an agenda so thin the government House leader's closest relatives would have trouble getting excited about it.

This thin soup agenda is creating a tremendous leadership vacuum. The provinces are losing faith in Ottawa as a force for social change. Individuals are losing faith in Ottawa as a catalyst for jobs and economic growth. The country is losing faith in Ottawa as a source of fresh innovative ideas.

Reformers are not going to wait for this government any longer. It is time to put some meat in the soup. Earlier today the Reform Party took the first step by outlining the national Reform agenda for Canadians.

From the day we arrived in Ottawa, Reform has acted as the de facto official opposition, but the Liberals' continued silence on important national issues has convinced us we have to act as the de facto government as well. As Canadians will see, that is the role we are prepared to play.

[Manganese Based Fuel Additives Act, September 19th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate some of the remarks the hon. Deputy Prime Minister has made. I wonder if the Deputy Prime Minister would be willing to table some of the studies she has quoted from today, referenced and held physically in the presence of this assembly. Would she be willing to table those for our use and examination?

[Questions On The Order Paper, September 18th, 1995]

Given the economic projections laid out in the February 1995 budget, ( a ) what will the federal debt be in five years and ( b ) what will be the corresponding interest payments per year (based on an interest rate of 8 per cent)?

[Reform Party Of Canada, September 18th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, as Parliament returns for its fall session, the country faces a number of important challenges: health care reform, tax reform, pension reform, UI reform. Yet none of these issues are on the government's fall agenda. Why? Because the government has been hijacked by the Quebec referendum.

We in the Reform Party refuse to be silenced by the separatists. We will be the national opposition party, offering solutions to the real problems that face the country.

Our medicare-plus proposal will give provincial governments the funding and flexibility they need. Our flat tax proposal will revolutionize the tax system of the country. Our super RRSP proposal will personalize retirement planning.

The message is clear. If neither the Liberals nor the Bloc will speak on behalf of all Canadians, the Reform Party will. We have the people, we have the plan and we have the will to confront the tough issues.

[Points Of Order, September 18th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, I have a point of order under citation 501 of Beauchesne's sixth edition and a ruling of the Speaker last June with regard to the wearing of exhibits in the House. I would like to challenge that the member for Halifax is wearing an exhibit which I do not think is proper in this assembly.

[Economy, June 22nd, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Finance can say what he wants. There was some good growth in 1994, but today it is down to 0.7 per cent, which is a multiple drop. The Minister of Finance should admit that.

What we need at this time is an economic statement from the government indicating that the government has a plan to eliminate the deficit. Can we count on the Minister of Finance to present an economic statement this fall so we can go to the people of Canada and say this is how the government will get rid of the deficit and bring in a balanced budget before the end of this Parliament?