Jim Flaherty

[The Budget, April 26th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, I have not even presented the budget yet and I am incompetent and I am supposed to resign--

[The Budget, April 26th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, the budget will reflect the commitments of our party during the election campaign. We cannot do everything at once, of course, but we will move forward on a number of issues.

What it will not reflect is the requirements to join the save the GST club where one has to be on both sides of the GST issue: want to abolish it in 1993 and want to save it now. It will not be on both sides of the Dingwall issue about was it voluntary or involuntary. It will not be talking about people being entitled to their entitlements.

We will have our platform commitments in the budget.

[Aboriginal Affairs, April 25th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, I can assure the member that I hold all parties in this House in high esteem.

I can also assure the member that when the budget is announced, when we make spending initiatives and when we make commitments to reduce taxes, we will keep our commitments. We will not make a deal a couple of months later to change our commitments. When we reduce taxes, we will keep our commitments to the people of Canada, who voted for change.

[The Budget, April 25th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, that is from the chairman of the “save the GST” society.

I read with interest the report last week concerning Mr. Dingwall. I now have a sense that this member was the one who kept saying that Mr. Dingwall left voluntarily, while Justice Adams said he clearly left involuntarily. That member is now also the sole member of the “David Dingwall left voluntarily and is entitled to his entitlements” society.

[The Budget, April 25th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, as the member opposite knows, the budget is to be delivered next week. We will be dealing with surplus issues and we will be dealing with some of issues relating to some of the items he mentioned in his question. I am sure the member will look forward to May 2, when we will be able to provide the information that he is seeking concerning many of those issues.

[Trusts, April 25th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, we will be dealing with issues, such as the issue he has raised about affordable housing, in the budget to be presented next week.

[Trusts, April 25th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, as the member knows, we are preparing the budget. I was pleased to have the opportunity to have some discussions with the member about some of the issues we are facing in making determinations and preparing the budget.

We intend to fulfill as many of our platform commitments as we can. The budget is to be presented on May 2 at which time I can deal with the issue raised by the hon. member.

[Goods and Services Tax, April 24th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his question. I would like to inform the House that the budget will be presented in the House on Tuesday, May 2, 2006.

[Goods and Services Tax, April 24th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, I am opposed to temporary reductions in consumption taxes. I was then and I am now. What we are talking about in our platform and what we will do is bring in a permanent reduction of 1% in the GST, a reduction that I know the member opposite is opposed to. He wants us all to join his save the GST club but I am not joining.

[Finance, April 11th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, the answer to the first part of the question is yes, we believe in the fiscal imbalance issue. We are going to work very actively on that issue this year, taking into consideration the realities that this is a complex issue which is vitally important to all Canadians in making sense of our fiscal federation.