Mr. Brison - you do show up in the most interesting places
Read this debate from Hansard a few years ago - a discussion on GST reduction. Brison supported the concept and thought of a wonderful way to replace the revenue - a hypocrisy tax for Liberals!
Mr. Dennis Gruending:
Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his question. I would refer him to a very fine piece of literature, a document prepared for our national convention last summer which talked about fiscal responsibility. I am sure he might enjoy taking it home, reading it over Christmas and having it at his bedside at all times.
In that document we talked about targeted tax cuts for middle income and poorer Canadians. As I have just mentioned, we talked about starting by reducing the GST.
An hon. member: The Tory tax.
Mr. Dennis Gruending:
Yes, the Tory tax.
We believe that middle class and lower income Canadians need some tax relief. We would not extend that blindly as the previous Conservative and current Liberal governments have done to tax relief for big corporations.
Mr. Paul Szabo (Mississauga South, Lib.):
Mr. Speaker, on the question of the GST, the hon. member will know that the GST collected about $24 billion in the last fiscal period. That means for each percentage point we are talking about just over $3.5 billion.
Given the magnitude of the impact on reduced revenues of the government and utilization of the surplus that would otherwise exist, what exactly would the hon. member suggest we do in terms of either forgoing debt repayment or forgoing increases to health spending to be able to fund that significant tax reduction?
Mr. Dennis Gruending:
Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his question. I would respond to it briefly by making two points.
First, I would refer to the surplus of almost $100 billion which the Liberal government is proudly crowing about at the moment. Second, I would remind him that it was his own party prior to 1993 which promised to get rid of the GST.
Mr. Scott Brison:
Mr. Speaker, my second question for the newly minted member for Saskatoon—Rosetown—Biggar is a very simple one.
One thing I do respect about the New Democrats is their consistency and sense of values and commitment to those values over a period of time.
That stands in stark contrast to the Liberals. The hon. member was quite right in pointing out that while he is opposed to the GST and would like to reduce the GST, so were the Liberals of similar persuasion before 1993. Let me suggest that a potential replacement for those revenues may be gained from a hypocrisy tax. If we were to have a hypocrisy tax that would be levied on politicians who break red book promises, perhaps that would be one way to help replace revenue from the GST.
I would appreciate his erudite views on my proposal for a hypocrisy tax which would serve two functions. First it would force Liberals to keep their promises for a change. Second, it would raise those revenues to reduce the GST, as the hon. member feels is important.
