Certainly.
I have to say that members did good work together. This is a real demonstration of our Chambers' ability to work in a non-partisan and intelligent way that has the welfare of the country as its foundation. So first, I congratulate all parties for that.
But second, it is not enough. Action must come more quickly. A step in the right direction has been taken, some taxes have been reduced, but, given the crisis in our manufacturing sector, more urgent action is needed.
We've got guys being thrown out of their jobs; their houses, which used to be worth $500,000, are now worth $50,000; they don't know where to go; and there's no time for scholarly reflection on the economics. We have an all-party report.
As a minimum, this report should be implemented quickly.
and the top priority is the refundability of the SR and ED. You know, we've got companies now that are going to go down whatever you say and do with the dollar. They're just not going to make it. We have others that will do just fine; even though they're hurting and complaining, they'll survive. But there are a whole bunch in the middle who, with a little action from Parliament on something like the SR and ED, could move to the winner's instead of the loser's category. It's a question of two or three years of trying to survive in this extremely difficult time of transition.
So no, it's not a magic bullet for all of them. Some of them you can't help. The economics won't work. And some of them are just so smart and good, they're going to survive. But why give up on whole towns when something as clearly competitive as tax credits for research and innovation would help them innovate their way through this crisis?