Thank you.
I believe the question relates to the competitiveness of Canadian corporations internationally. I'll make one observation that I'm sure we'll have a chance to discuss in detail later in the session. There is a broad competitiveness strategy of this government that is outlined in Advantage Canada, which was tabled with the fall update and began to be implemented in the course of this budget. I won't belabour the specific aspects of that, but I trust we will address some of them later on.
From a tax competitiveness perspective, the government firmly believes in tax competitiveness. It has made substantial strides in enhancing the competitiveness of the Canadian tax system.
Regarding another reference to Advantage Canada, the objective of the Canadian government is to achieve the lowest rate of tax on new business investment in the G-7. When the government came to office, Canada was sixth in the G-7, i.e., the second-highest marginal effective tax rate on new investment. As a result of measures put forth in budget 2006 and proposed in budget 2007, Canada will move to third in the G-7. The intention of the government is to continue to advance that progress. So the totality of the tax system is important.
It is also important, when looking at other jurisdictions, to look at the totality of their tax system. Whereas some jurisdictions will allow this deductibility, in a normal case they will tax the repatriation of foreign income into their jurisdiction, or they will provide other limitations on the absolute amount of interest that can be deducted in funding foreign affiliates. So we would look both to the taxation of foreign income that continues to be exempt in Canada, which is a major competitive advantage for Canadian multinationals, as well as measures that include restrictions on the amount of dividends that can be repatriated, etc., in places such as France and Germany.
It is a broad subject. There are a number of issues. The government is committed to competitiveness in the context of tax fairness.