I don't think the experts claim, even in the time horizon of the budget, that $40 million is a gross underestimate of that, because some of the transitioning will have taken effect.
With respect to my second question, it's clear that in a perfect world, if Canada was the whole world, this might be a good policy; farm subsidies might be a bad policy. But we are a smallish open economy. If Europe and the U.S. have big farm subsidies, we have little choice if we want farmers to exist.
Similarly, with interest deductibility, when most European countries, the United States, and Japan all allow interest deductibility or its equivalent, and we don't, then our companies are operating in global markets with one arm tied behind their backs. I've seen a mathematical calculation that if you're financing an acquisition of 50% debt and 50% equity, interest deductibility alone will mean that these foreign companies can pay 37% more for a foreign acquisition than a Canadian company.
It's a huge measure, which will seriously weaken our companies. In summarizing the impact, KPMG said it would lead to, and I quote, “more foreign takeovers of Canadian companies, stifled Canadian investment in global markets, an exodus of head offices and a weaker Canadian economy overall”.
So my question is, why would the finance department have such a huge hit on our relatively small number of global players? I acknowledge that there are some problems with interest deductibility, such as thin capitalization rules, but instead of dropping a bomb on the whole business, why did you not selectively go after those particular problems that I acknowledge to be problems?