Thank you, Mr. Speaker. From time to time, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business surveys its membership with various questions. Mr. Erasmus referred to various possibilities that could have been looked at, such as taxation. We have to look at alternatives.
One of the surveys and ballots that caught my eye is the question should the territorial government introduce a deficit elimination tax. Normally, they provide background, supporters' comments and opponents' comments. We all know the background to this. We have a deficit and we have to get rid of it. How do we get rid of it? The creation of new taxes is being considered as part of a balanced approach to getting rid of the deficit.
The supporters believe that taxes of this nature are the only fair way to allocate the burden of reducing deficits across a broad section of the population. They argue that deliberate item-specific taxes, which have a life span only as long as the problem they are set up to address, are the best method to quickly address budget deficits. The opponents contend that any new tax will have a negative effect on the economy and, thus, reduce the overall tax revenue eventually collected by the government. They believe there is no such thing as a temporary tax and are suspicious that any new tax created to fight the deficit will become permanent.
I agree with the results of this survey, Mr. Speaker. The question is should the territorial government introduce a deficit elimination tax. Yes, at five per cent in support; and, no, at 95 per cent. So I think there are alternatives for us to tackle our deficit by looking at items such as Mr. Erasmus raised and looking at more employment in the Territories so there is more income tax. Use the Territories as a base to have corporations have their headquarters so we can take advantage of the tax situation that we have here and thus benefit. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.