They are great guys, yes, absolutely.
Every year, for the last number of years, they have also conducted pre-budget hearings back in our community of Waterloo region with all the different interests. Of course, for an organization like ours that isn't based in the immediate Ottawa area or close to a provincial capital, our relationship with the MPs and MPPs is critical. Again, we are very fortunate to have excellent representatives. We thank them for their ongoing support and their participation in the annual budget process. It is a lot of work.
I am going to be brief in my comments. I had prepared speaking notes, but in the interest of ensuring that all the points are made, I am going to condense my presentation somewhat.
The first issue I would like to raise is the accelerated capital cost allowance for manufacturers. Our region—the Waterloo region—is still a home to a number of manufacturing organizations. There are approximately 1,500 manufacturers employing 55,000 people. The manufacturing industry is still a very viable component of the southwestern Ontario economy. It still employs a lot of people, and they pay a lot of municipal, provincial, and federal taxes.
In past submissions to this committee, we have been supporters of the government's accelerated capital cost allowance for manufacturing and processing. It was brought in by Minister Flaherty in 2007 as a one-year measure, and it has been extended a number of times since then. We concur with the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters, who have proposed that in fact this particular initiative be made a permanent fixture of the tax system. We would support that.
This is a measure that probably provides about $500,000 per year to Canadian manufacturers to invest in new equipment. Academic reports and other analyses that have been conducted on the manufacturing sector keep referring to productivity. This money is used for productivity enhancement to make Canadian manufacturers more competitive, efficient, and more productive. Again, we would support having that particular measure be made permanent.
The second point we would like to advance is... As many of you in Ontario are aware, four years ago, Minister Flaherty announced the southern Ontario development program, which evolved into FedDev Ontario, which has been operational since August 2009. It was originally intended as a five-year program with $1 billion. We're three years, or 60%, through the program. In meeting with a number of stakeholders that are community partners throughout the Waterloo region and in southwestern Ontario...there is a lot of support for this program. It has provided some valuable funding to start up businesses in our community and the Waterloo region, primarily young, growing firms in the IT sector. It has provided a lot of assistance to a lot of stakeholders, such as municipalities and universities throughout southern Ontario. We would like to see this program extended in some form beyond the original five-year mandate.
The third point we would like to bring forward is something that was brought forward in the previous panel by Ms. Walmsley; namely, pooled registered pension plans. We are, as a chamber, also highly supportive of this initiative. As Ms. Walmsley said, to make this program successful, it requires the support of the provincial governments as well as the provincial finance ministers.
We have written to Ontario Finance Minister Dwight Duncan. He indicated that the Province of Ontario is reviewing this measure; however, they would be in further contact with their federal counterparts. Our message to the federal government is that our business community, and the business community across Canada, supports this program. That would be the message that we would like the federal government to take forward in negotiations with the provinces: that there is support amongst the business community for this program.
Certainly, we have a lot of small businesses that are members of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in our area. They have told us there aren't a lot of options available, particularly viable, cost-effective options, that they can offer to their employees in terms of retirement plans. This addresses a lot of their concerns, so we very much would still like to see the provinces get on side, and particularly the Province of Ontario.
Again, thank you very much for the opportunity to present our recommendations.