Finance committee  I would first of all refer you to the graph on page 2, the top one, that shows the relationship between after-tax profits as a percentage of GDP, so it's a general measure of business profitability and unemployment. What it shows is that the only time unemployment rises is when p

Finance committee  What we've seen is that the unemployment rate falls as profitability increases. And I think that is a very important reason why profitability has increased so rapidly in Canada versus what is happening in the United States. It's not only because of the state of the economy, but a

Finance committee  I'm not sure, in an operating cashflow sense, where that pool of capital is. The numbers actually show that investment is picking up, along with cashflow, and that there has been a consistent share of the cash being invested in capital. Cash on a finance basis, short-term cash, h

Finance committee  Right.

Finance committee  It's probably more important than ever before, particularly given the fact that our major trading partner is going through such economic difficulty today. We are seeing companies that are looking for new markets and new customers. In fact, we've seen quite a shift in expectations

Finance committee  It gives them less money to make investments in new product development or new technologies or training their employees. One of the things we found in some of the analyses, which I think made a difference in our discussions with the finance minister's view of this, if not Financ

Finance committee  Any increase in cost is going to have an impact on the amount of money that companies have to invest, so, frankly, yes, it does. One of our recommendations, though, is to take a look at the EI system. I think you could make a very strong argument that a tax credit could be intr

Finance committee  I don't think that increase in EI rates is going to have an overall impact on the rate of employment. I think what we need above all is stability and certainty in the tax system, and in the economy, period. Right now there's a tremendous amount of uncertainty as a result of what'

Finance committee  About 10,000.

Finance committee  I can, and there are a lot of examples. I mentioned Aberfoyle Metal Treaters, which put in a new heat treating centre and is getting the benefit of the two-year write-off to do that. Harry Hall runs the operation based in Aberfoyle. As a result of that, it is now able to do heat

Finance committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. Ladies and gentlemen, I want begin by thanking you for the invitation to come and talk about this bill. I'd like to specifically address the issue of the two-year write-off for manufacturing and processing of machinery and equipment investments that the bi

Finance committee  If you look at the progress that manufacturers have made already—and they've achieved a 9% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions since 1990—it's all been based on the investments they've been making in new technology and capital turnover. That's why our recommendations, particula

Finance committee  If you're looking at cashflow driving investment in R and D and in machinery and equipment--and there's a very close relationship--the most effective tax measure would actually be a refundable tax credit.

Finance committee  For R and D, but also for investment in new technology.

Finance committee  However, that comes at a cost. The accelerated cost allowance, right now, has been a very fundamental measure in boosting investment in manufacturing above what it would be. It would be our recommendation to continue that accelerated CCA.