I totally agree with your comments. The rates, in terms of where the small business tax rate cuts in, are low. So we have thousands of companies across Canada that employ a lot of Canadians and are still paying the high rate of tax, even though they may be only relatively small companies.
We need to be really vigilant to make sure we protect these companies, because ultimately, with no economic drivers in our Canadian economy, there will be no services. In the short term, looking to raise taxes on small and large businesses, to collect all the money and distribute it to people who are less fortunate, makes sense. But what the Canadian business community or the St. John's Board of Trade really argues for is to make sure we are able to deliver these services to support Canadians for the long term.
We don't advocate cutting back on services to people who need a hand up or who need support. But we do advocate making sure we don't kill the geese laying the golden eggs. We do advocate making sure we create an environment where businesses can thrive so that we will have people employed by these businesses, these businesses will be able to pay taxes, and they won't migrate outside the country.
A good example is the manufacturing industry in Ontario and the manufacturing industry in Newfoundland and Labrador. We do struggle. We really battle. Our costs are high. Our country is remote from markets. So in order to compete, we need to be able to ensure that all of our costs are at a reasonable level.
I don't think there's any major problem with regard to tax revenues being consumed and wasted, or low taxes being wasted by companies. In fact, we need to make sure our business community remains healthy to be able to support Canadian services.