Thank you, Chair.
I wasn't expecting to be up collecting my thoughts yet.
Thank you for coming.
I think I'll start with Ms. Kozak.
You and I had an interesting conversation just before we got started. We got talking about the things we're talking about today, and we both agreed that this isn't rocket science. As a matter of fact, the word “economics” comes from the Greek word, and I think it means household finance. We talked about how that's exercised and practised in every home. Maybe our generation is different from today's generation.
I have to take issue with you. You said that lowering taxes does not help the poor. I have to point out that this is incorrect. For the most part, higher taxes are harder on the poor than they are on the rich. I can afford to pay $1.30 for a litre of gas. For a guy making 15 bucks an hour or 10 bucks an hour, that nickel on a litre could make or break him, to the point that he has to sell his car. I'm in the car business. I know that if you have to sell your car, you're in trouble. It's going to cost you money. In light of what we've talked about--economics--raising taxes does hurt the poor.
Mr. Marston, we've had some great chats, but always check your premise. Where's your start-up point? You raised the issue of CPP. The panel did too. I remind you that maintaining a lifestyle is difficult not only for those in lower pension brackets, but for individuals who have managed to save $100,000 and expect to take that investment and possibly supplement their income. When you're getting 1% or 2%, that's bad enough, but when you start seeing inflation start to creep up and that $100,000 is really worth $80,000, people start to flee.
We've heard this theme repeatedly over on this side. Our government maintains that we need a strong economy. It's not that we don't have a heart for the poor. I remember the first time that I really saw poverty. I went to Jamaica. It was the first trip that my wife and I took. We had been married 15 years. I wanted to get back on the plane and go back home; I mean, I had culture shock. Then I went to Africa.
Poverty is an awful thing and we all have a heart for that, but what has happened, as we lose that investment, and as corporations become.... Again, Mr. Marston, I take issue with your $20 billion and $11 billion. I think that's $11 million. We need to put that on the record too. We can have that discussion another day.
When I'm listening to the BIOTEC people about the exciting developments they've managed to introduce and are introducing today, I remember when we were on the industry committee, Mr. Chair, and we talked about the first form of financing. We called angel financing the “three Fs”--friends, family, and fools. That's the first group that'll invest. But if you don't have that group, you'll never get to the venture, let alone the investor. That's the situation we're in today. I think we agree on those things. I just wanted to bring it back to the basics, the basics of economics.
Is my time up?
Okay. I got a little bit taken on a sidebar. I'll just pass it on to the bio folks. Maybe they can explain to us the difficulty of financing.