Madam Speaker, speaking on Group No. 3 motions before the House for debate, I challenge the previous member who said that Reformers are not in favour of small business. That is a crock.
Reformers very much support small business. What we do not support is the Canadian taxpayer funding businesses that may or may not survive and being responsible for the debt incurred.
Motion No. 6 is simply asking for an amendment that lowers the percentage of the government's liability for defaulted loans.
What we are talking about when we are talking about the government's liability is that the government does not have any money itself. It is taxpayer money.
What we are talking about is making an amendment that lowers the percentage of taxpayer liability for a defaulted loan. What is meant is that the person who is lending money to a small business that is more risky, that has a higher chance of defaulting on that loan, has to assume a higher risk. That is a very logical move to make.
What we are asking for is instead of the taxpayer assuming 85% of the risk in covering a default that they assume only 50%. I suggest that if the lender is still responsible for 50% of a defaulted loan, they will be a little more judicious in making sure that some very extreme risk cases are not funded.