 Mr. Speaker, I rise to support the motion to exempt taxes on imports of personal items, food, clothing, toys and other household consumables for the people of St. Lucia. And I do so understanding that this is a time that the people of Grozile look forward to having a festive season and enjoying the company of friends and family. Mr. Speaker, I sat and I listened attentively to some of the statements made by the former prime minister and member for Miku South. And I started to wonder whether or not this individual was not a sitting prime minister for five years. And if this was not the prime minister that went historically into a sixth year in this country and on not one occasion, no matter what the circumstance was, ever suggested for a moment extending this relief through June, not once, never, not even a consideration. And I sat down and I pondered on where we are as a country and I know people forget very, very quickly. And so I am duty bound to remind them, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, so much conversation about extending that time, which would mean for sure there are cost implications. So much consideration and conversation about removing levy, removing all the, the hardly considered and discussed taxes that we as a government know we need to move this country forward in a safe, secure and healthy manner. But Mr. Speaker, I thought about how we as a government could have moved this country so much further had we not have the election result of 2016. I remember the member of the castries is always saying elections matter. And for some reason, all of a sudden there is a complete lack of discussion about what happened during that period. Mr. Speaker, here are some of the facts. If at the end of the day the member for Mikusouth can give us the hundreds of millions spent on DFCs during that final year of his administration, then maybe we can consider extending these concessions to beyond. Because had he been a responsible prime minister, we would have never been in the position. We found ourselves in 2021 as a new government. Facts. Mr. Speaker, you can consider to also give us back the millions on vaccines that he so hastily decided that he was going to run towards Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, you can also decide to give us back the 32 million dollars given to Lockerbie. 32 million dollars, Mr. Speaker, under his watch. That Mr. Speaker, with half of that, I would have been able to develop our infrastructure, our sporting infrastructure in a safe and healthy way, Mr. Speaker. And so, Mr. Speaker, we cannot right now ignore a lot of the facts, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, he can decide that perhaps if we got the 20 million spent on less than one and a half mile of roads in Rodney Bay, Mr. Speaker, as a financier or the minister of finance, that horrible decision was not taken on a piece of road, no designs, Mr. Speaker, wastage, stat stop, roundabout here, roundabout there. No, take it out, Mr. Speaker, wastage during that period, perhaps, Mr. Speaker, we could have extended from June and beyond, Mr. Speaker. And so, Mr. Speaker, when you look at some of what happened, Mr. Speaker, millions and millions, spent in rent, millions, government agencies, rentals to familiar individuals with familiar last names, Mr. Speaker, raking up millions in rent in this country, Mr. Speaker. Perhaps we could have considered extending the barrel concessions to later, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we are not going to forget the millions of dollars spent on traveling, Mr. Speaker, the millions of dollars spent on air conditioning, Mr. Speaker, being a vehicle, a vehicle on for the entire day, until he returns to it, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, wastage in this great land, Mr. Speaker, wastage, and now we are talking about, oh, if I was there, we would have extended until June. You did it? Mr. Speaker, we sit down and it's like all of a sudden a lot of things did not happen and we're talking about a match, a MATCH, a match, Mr. Speaker, to vaguely people as the member for Cassius East would say and I hope I can borrow it flashing mirrors, Mr. Speaker. As if our people are so 43%ers and we do not understand the nature of what we felt this government and what we have done to stabilize the economy and set us on the right track. And so Mr. Speaker, we've done what we had to do and Mr. Speaker, I can go on and on. Mr. Speaker, perhaps if you gave us the $600,000 spent on the week leading up to an election, perhaps spending on election airing, Mr. Speaker, perhaps we would have been able to extend and do more, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, $300,000 spent on medals during COVID-19, Mr. Speaker, perhaps if we had a more responsible government during that time. A more responsible government at that time, we would have been better off today. Mr. Speaker, if we had not spent millions and millions on horse racing, Mr. Speaker, horses, Mr. Speaker, before people perhaps would have been a better position. But Mr. Speaker, the member for Cassius East has been stout and he has put this great nation on the right path. And that is an absolute fact, Mr. Speaker. And so Mr. Speaker, I listened attentively, Mr. Speaker. And I thought about water for a little bit, Mr. Speaker. And I thought about millions of dollars, Mr. Speaker, that were emacked for disilting a dam, Mr. Speaker. You don't want to hear it? You don't want to hear the facts? You don't want to hear the facts? Millions of dollars that were emacked for disilting a dam during his time, Mr. Speaker. And yet still, Mr. Speaker, wastage, wastage, wastage, Mr. Speaker. Our people will not forget Maripwete. Mr. Speaker, I listened to the member also speak about being so into the poor of this country. Mr. Speaker. And we've heard so much conversation about racism in this country, Mr. Speaker. All of a sudden, Mr. Speaker. And Mr. Speaker, I remember a statement made that I'd be very concerned after the election, an individual indicating that his very class did not vote for him, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker. So we speak so much about racism when in many minds we live in a very classic, classist society. And we probably as a country need to have a discussion on classism because at the end of the day we have to figure out what was going on during this administration. That a particular class was supposed to have supported a particular individual. And we come and all of a sudden we posture and posture and posture, Mr. Speaker. And Mr. Speaker, I was very surprised that the member for Denry North did not mention Mr. Speaker in his analysis of how hypocritical it is for this member to speak about doing things for the less fortunate. He did not mention Julian Alfred, Mr. Speaker. And so I have to remind St. Lucia that this individual was not from a well-off family who had just about 100 U.S. just meted to her for a stipend to take care of herself, Mr. Speaker. We've drawn from her, Mr. Speaker, discontinued Mr. Speaker. And today we are talking about the poor, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this was the same government, Mr. Speaker, that I remember sitting at home and thinking that this parliament session will not end at one o'clock in the morning. Came to this honorable house to propose taxes on Pudding, Mr. Speaker. On Chakol, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this former leader has selective amnesia, Mr. Speaker. Because at the end of the day, through this panel. Sir, member for Mikusov, I have been very lenient in the cross talk, but it's getting excessive and out of hand, so please allow the member to continue. Let's go ahead, member for Gozely. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And not be deterred, Mr. Speaker. And not be deterred, because the facts are facts, and facts are not what you believe them to be. They are facts, Mr. Speaker. This is the same former prime minister who came into this house to propose taxation on people that were fishermen, Mr. Speaker. They are not millionaires. Proposed taxation on Chakol, on Pudding, Mr. Speaker. And today, all of a sudden, you come to this house and you speak about poor people. I couldn't believe that, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker. I will head soon. Mr. Speaker, this is the same individual who oversaw a minister for social transformation. Get rid of nice workers and come on national TV. And say 90% of them are SLP, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, nice workers in the elderly care program, Mr. Speaker. None of them are wealthy. And he, at that time, said nothing. Nothing, Mr. Speaker. And you want to talk about the poor? Give me a break. Unbelievable, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this is the same man during COVID-19, Mr. Speaker. We saw unequal distribution of the resources of this country as we have never seen before. We saw people that were struggling, but on the opposition side, bypassed on a road when groceries were being distributed, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, solutions, can you remember? It's not too long ago, bypassed people in Grozile, in Bexar, in Ancelere that were not supporters of the United Workers Party and distributed the bags to supporters, Mr. Speaker. And you want to come to this honorable house today and talk about the poor? If I was the member for Schozel, I would not even tell him, Professor. I'm not sure you would understand, but I would tell him, don't do that. Don't go there to quote the member from Soufred. Don't go there. Your track record is horrible as it pertains to dealing with the poor people of this country. And so, Mr. Speaker, we know that as a government, we are not alone in this global village. It's a fact. There is not one country in this world who is not experiencing tough times as a result of inflation, not one, Mr. Speaker. So, to use this to play on the minds of individuals and to order a match knowing full well that not one country in this world currently has it easy. It's not just hypocrisy. It's not hypocritical only. It's desperate, Mr. Speaker. This is desperation. Mr. Speaker, I'll be paying very close attention, Mr. Speaker. Very close attention to what is being said in all social media and on television because as the Prime Minister said, there is this attempt to just lie and deceive our people. And some of them may fall prey to it, but the vast majority know that this government is genuine about putting the people first. And so, my people of Grozile, my people of Rodney Bay, Rodney Heights, my people of Corinth, Monnier, Bonte, that for years have been the major contributors, the major taxpayers in Capestate and Maricill and all of those areas that with this government we have a proper allocation and responsible governance of your taxes. Now is not the time to cower to the devices. We need to as a government continue to function and continue to be responsible about what we say and continue to help our people in an honest way. Thank you so much.