Thank you, Mr. Chair.
It is actually entertaining to see the former President of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce talking with the new President, who was himself a minister here for a long time.
You were the Minister of State responsible for Treasury Board, and then Minister of National Revenue, all before 1993. So you are very familiar with how it works. I was asking myself more or less the same questions, but from another standpoint. In the first three or four paragraphs of your brief, you cautioned us. You note that there could be headwinds, and, according to the Conference Board, consumer confidence dropped for the second straight month.
You seem to be recommending vigilance and thinking that the economic recovery has not necessarily arrived yet. At least, it is has certainly not arrived at the same time everywhere in Canada. However, immediately after that, you talk about what is going to reduce the debt and the deficit. Then there is a kind of space. I don't know how many pages are missing between the fourth and fifth paragraphs, but it's as if it was a done deal. I am always impressed by the fact that you represent 175,000 businesses and 325 chambers of commerce. That amounts to a lot of people and SMEs, in Quebec. In another life, I too did the round of Quebec chambers of commerce.
What recommendation should we make to the government, to avoid the gales, the headwinds? For example, if we decide to cut business taxes, everyone is going to slam on the brakes and sooner or later we'll find ourselves with our head in the dashboard. I have the impression you are leaving out the coming year, in terms of the economic situation.
I'll give you a minute to comment on what I've said.