You are right. By definition, a temporary measure is temporary.
This year, we expected greater levels of economic growth in the United States. The budget has indicated that the growth may not be as significant as we thought and that we should be careful.
We recognize that this measure was implemented to stimulate the economy. In two years' time, we will see whether the initiative should be extended or not. However, I think there is a longer-term issue to be considered. This is not just a tax incentive to stimulate the economy. Another objective of this incentive is to increase productivity through the purchase of machinery and equipment.
It's also important to look at what the U.S. is doing when it comes to those same pieces of equipment. We need to know whether we are at a disadvantage compared with companies that have the ability to produce on both sides of the border, as there are many such companies. It's somewhat difficult to make that comparison because the United States has a range of machinery in each category. However, when it comes to most of the machinery used in our sector, the depreciation in the U.S. is from five to seven years. According to the method used in Canada—the declining method—the depreciation rate is 30% in the first year, and 30% thereafter. It takes from 9 to 12 years to depreciate about 95% of the value. So the incentive is better in the United States than in Canada for most of the equipment.
Mr. Paton mentioned that, in the U.S., in his sector, the depreciation period was between three and five years. So we are talking about a real incentive. I think that, in the long term, we should perhaps review the various categories and the depreciation rates by category, while always trying to be more competitive with the United States.