Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I also want to talk about the tax revenue options paper that was put out by the Minister of Finance — really quite an extraordinary waste of time. We might as well have been asked to go out and ask our constituents if they’d like us to poke them in the eye with a sharp stick.
Given the fact that the cost of living is at a historic, astronomical high level and we’re going into the winter season here, what a catastrophic waste of time to discuss this. If the government really had any ideas about a resource pact, then the time and effort would have been better invested in coming forward with something we could consider in that area.
Let me just read off a few of these here. Personal income tax, payroll tax, corporate income tax, capital tax, fuel tax, tobacco tax, insurance tax, liquor tax, sales tax, hotel tax, carbon tax, property tax, health insurance premiums, highway tolls, airport fee or tax. Mr. Speaker, obviously not a lot of thought went into this list. It was just throwing everything on the table, and now we’ve spent money bringing people in to talk about this.
Really, the only thing I’m concerned about now is that by putting such an untenable list on the table in front of us — perhaps when we have to react and respond in the predictable way that this is not going to fly — this government will then use our reaction, our response, to say, “Well, sorry; we can’t buy into any of these revenue options and any tax options,” which are completely unpalatable. Then we’re going to have to look at further program cuts. I hope that isn’t the sinister plot behind this discussion paper.
Let me state clearly for the record now that we aren’t going to be drawn into any such trap. We recognize that most of what you put on the table is a red herring. We’ve been down the road before on some of these taxes, and the Minister of Finance well knows that there was absolutely no appetite in the public. This is to add insult to injury at a time when we are trying to retain Northerners and recruit Northerners to our territory. Then to put forward even something as ridiculous as some of these suggestions…. Spend your time on something useful. Think what you can do about our resource tax.