Finance committee  I can assure you, Mr. Poilievre, should you get into government and make similar mistakes, I'll be all over you as well.

Finance committee  Mr. Easter, can I get a chance to respond to that?

Finance committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. They're trying to tie me to Rebel Media and the fact that it picked up and posted a video. I don't appreciate that. It seems a bit dirty to me. Secondly, to insinuate that I think that small businesses should pay more taxes is absolutely incorrect. I think that the small business limit certainly introduces a huge amount of complexity for small business owners in Canada, and maybe it's time for a rethink.

Finance committee  Thanks. I don't have a have a whole bunch more to add to that. Thank you very much for recognizing that it was a fairly non-partisan video, I would say, about what my clients are actually experiencing on the ground.

Finance committee  Maybe I see where you're going here. Alberta is suffering tremendously from our inability to get any development going for the energy industry. That would be a key one that I see. Does that affect middle-class, small business families? Absolutely. A lot of our clients are energy service companies that have had to significantly scale back, lay off and/or close their doors.

Finance committee  I'd argue that any simplification of our tax system would definitely encourage entrepreneurialism. Right now, we have a system that's set up to discourage them. I think to go through tax modernization in Canada would help encourage entrepreneurs to plant seeds in Canada.

Finance committee  Sorry—do you mean not related to tax?

Finance committee  In terms of one of the biggest challenges, of course, we live in a self-assessment system where you're expected to file your own taxes and the tax of your corporation. You're responsible for those. A common source, particularly for middle-class small business owners who can't afford a fancy accountant, is to turn to the CRA for answers, and unfortunately, we get the wrong answers a lot.

Finance committee  I'll just quickly comment that over the last few years, simple things for middle-class small business families—like paying a dividend—have now become such onerous chores. To go see your tax professional.... I'm talking about general accountants who are not specifically trained in tax.

Finance committee  Do I get a chance to respond to that?

Finance committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. You know, I completely agree, and shortly after the uproar that resulted from the July 18, 2017, attack on private companies, the government brought back the 2015 plan to lower the small business rate. Whether or not that was a good idea is a question for economists.

Finance committee  I'd appreciate it if you didn't put words in my mouth. That's not what I said, sir.

Finance committee  I think that cherry-picking economic indicators is probably not the right approach to looking at the challenges that small business owners face in Canada. I think there needs to be a bit more compassion and empathy towards the plight that real people face, in particular with these new legislative challenges, so I'd argue for a comprehensive tax reform to analyze the things that you've just discussed, which are very critical points.

Finance committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you very much for allowing my voice to be heard in this committee. I am truly honoured and humbled to be here with you all today. My name is Clayton Achen. I'm a founding partner at Achen Henderson CPAs in Calgary. Given my practice area, my primary interest with respect to Bill C-97 is tax—specifically the taxation of private companies and small businesses and their owners.