Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Off the top of my head—we could look this up—the tax rate for large companies and large corporations in Canada was 38% in 1983, 28% in 2000 and 15% in 2012. So it has been trending downward. Provincial and municipal governments also have their say on the matter afterwards.
I would like to thank everyone for being here today.
My first question is for the representatives of the Canadian Worker Co-operative Federation. I also want to thank them very much for their presentation.
This is not only because I am from Quebec, but I am very committed to co-operatives, as is my political party. That commitment is not only the result of values, but, as you so aptly pointed out in your brief, it also has to do with effectiveness. The survival rate of co-operatives is practically double that of other companies, and staff turnover is much lower because people are engaged in a process that is their own.
In my riding, worker co-operatives are established every summer for students. They learn to provide quality customer service and to work, and they also learn about democracy, co-operative management, self-management and compromises to be made, if necessary. I think that is a very attractive model, as it is different from the public model and the private model.
You raised an interesting point when you talked about capitalization when a co-operative is being launched or created, as well as problems caused by the changes resulting from budget 2011. Those changes concerned the ability to use RRSPs and the caps. You are proposing that the cap be increased, from $25,000 a year to $37,000 a year, if I remember correctly.