Thank you very much.
Good afternoon, Minister.
I'll be asking questions about the phasing out of the tax credit on labour-sponsored venture capital.
It's a very big deal in Quebec. There is 90% of the tax credit right now that goes to the savers; those who are actually contributing to the two major funds in Quebec. It's a model that has worked well. Quebec is actually third among all jurisdictions in the OECD in terms of venture capital under management as a share of GDP—after Israel and the United States. As a share of GDP, Quebec invests almost three times more than the Canadian average, and over four times more than Ontario.
Now, both funds came to you with a deal asking for the government to not phase out the tax credit, but in return to control the tax expenditure, reducing it by about 30% over the next 10 years and injecting about the equivalent of $2 billion in the venture capital action plan. That would be five times the contribution of the federal government. Yet they haven't received any answer.
We had Mr. Gupta from the Canadian Information Technology Association saying it was a good deal. We had Canada's Venture Capital and Private Equity Association saying it's a good deal. You had the
the Quebec Federation of Chambers of Commerce, the Regroupement des jeunes chambres de commerce du Québec, the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal, and the Quebec Manufacturers and Exporters. All these organizations claim that this is a good deal and that the government should accept it.
Why didn't you say so? Why did you refuse?