Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The public is passing judgment today, and they’re saying that these new tax initiatives are the last straw. From what I see, the motto of this Finance Minister is “tax first, ask questions later.” I encourage the Minister to listen very carefully, because you can hear the caravan of people exiting the Territories. If Mr. Miltenberger has his way, that’s what we’ll see.

In the past couple of weeks I’ve had my fill from the public, hearing their concerns about this Minister trying to fix our financial problems with more taxes. They have had it. They’re his ideas, and I’ll tell you, they’re not mine. The problem is — and I say to the Finance Minister to listen very carefully — the government has a spending problem, not a revenue problem. We don’t need new taxes. We need someone with some real imagination over there.

If Mr. Miltenberger had his way, everything suggested on his list would affect every person’s basic cost of living. That means milk, butter, heating oil, and don’t forget the power bill. Don’t get me started on the health care premiums. I can clearly see this Finance Minister has been getting sensitivity training from Revenue Canada, which is not the way to go.

Mr. Speaker, the only surprise I have on this initiative is that it wasn’t released at Christmastime. As I look it over, you can clearly see they have no direction. You can clearly see that over at the Finance department no one understands bread and butter economics. What they’ve chosen is a path to destroy our economy, not to help it.

With power rates spiking, home heating going up, what is the next straw? There will not be one, because no one will be here. Let me tell you: good financial policies will encourage investment, and they will certainly help our tax base grow. They will help businesses create employment. By the way, just in case you’re not listening, that means more taxes, naturally. More people working will help this territory far more than putting the thumbscrews to the cost of living of the average person, who’s had it. Every additional person, as it’s been said here today, can add at least $20,000 from our federal grant. That doesn’t even take into consideration the spending this generates.

At this time I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

Unanimous consent granted.