Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, people can continue to invest and hold money in a corporation. One of the misleading things that has been said quite a bit today is that somehow people will not be able to keep money within a corporation to do things with it later on. They can. They can continue to grow it, continue to invest it, and it is not until they go to use it for their own personal use that they will be taxed on it.

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, it is because we already did that. We did that when we lowered the taxes on the middle class and increased them on the one per cent.

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, it is a free vote to me. I know exactly how I am going to vote. It is a free vote.

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, what I was not saying was that everything needs to be equal. What I was saying was that we all need to play by the same rules, that there has to be fairness with respect to where I am starting versus where a police officer or a nurse starts. The inequality will naturally come in the fact that people will be able to succeed in degrees that are higher than other individuals, but the basic starting point where we start playing the game needs to be the same.

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, it is a pleasure to rise today to speak to the opposition motion. I have been in the House pretty much the entire time, listening to the debate. Hearing what has been exchanged, I do have some concerns. From time to time, we might be straying from the facts a little.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, on the issue of fairness, it is very appropriate for different parties within this House to have discussions about which social elevators are preferred and which would be more effective in contributing to equality throughout our country, but this really comes down to an issue of fairness.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I think I know why the member's constituents are outraged. It is because they are being misled about what the government is actually trying to do. In the member's example, she talked about income splitting. We are not talking about individuals who genuinely work within a corporation, but individuals to whom the income is sprinkled, the adult children who are being paid dividends by a company they do not participate in at all.

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, the previous speaker just said that the Conservatives will not support these tax measures but then said that they would like to consult for another four months. What is the point of consulting if they already know that they will not support them? My question relates specifically to the fact that the consultations that are going on right now are with respect to the passive investments.

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, I have a great amount of respect for my colleague for Essex, but I am very troubled by what she said in her speech. The fact of the matter is that this government lowered taxes on the middle class and increased them on the top one per cent, which is something that the NDP voted against.

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, one thing is very clear. The fact of the matter is that the average tax rate of unincorporated professionals making $230,000 a year would be 36% after it is all factored out. The effective tax rate of police officers—good, hard-working, unionized members of the police force—making $98,000 a year would be 22%.

Preclearance Act, 2016  Madam Speaker, I can recall a number of years ago when my wife and I were travelling between Seattle and Vancouver, and as we came into the train station, from Seattle into Vancouver, we were caged off in an area with other travellers as we were properly taken through the process of entry.

Main Estimates, 2017-18  Madam Speaker, I wonder if the member would enlighten us by telling us what he thinks about the current process for nominating senators versus another process we saw on the eve of the election, by the previous government, of making numerous political appointees. How does he think our new process measures up to that?

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I appreciate my colleague's intervention today and making her position well known as it pertains to a price on carbon. I am wondering if the hon. member can comment a little on Canada's position globally as it relates to the price on carbon. My understanding is that Canada is actually well priced, in terms of not being among the highest and also not being among the lowest.

Excise Tax Act  Mr. Speaker, you are absolutely correct, and I thank my colleague for pointing that out. At the end of the day, municipalities ended up paying citizens through a tax that is not based on one's income, a non-progressive tax, and ended up paying more. The property taxes of seniors who lived in houses increased, and it ended up costing more for municipalities to provide those basic needs.

Excise Tax Act  Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his investment in this particular initiative, and for taking the time and thought to put this forward. However, I do want to draw to the House's attention a couple of the comments he made. The member did talk about the lowering of GST from 7% to 6% to 5%, and yes, that did happen, but what you indirectly did at the time, when you were the government, is that you stopped funding and assisting municipalities.