Thank you. I appreciate that.
I want to ask the minister about the freezing of the EI premiums and about the hiring tax credit, but I want to preface my comments by saying that in the riding of York Centre we organize year-round business round tables, a minimum of two a month, just to keep a pulse on what the business people and the business leaders are saying.
They have said unanimously that the freezing of the EI premiums and the small business hiring tax credit have led to job creation and have created stability in terms of the EI premiums, which is what business needs. Business demands stability. With that stability and with the advantage of the hiring tax credit, they have been able to hire more people, which in turn has more people paying more taxes, and we're able to fund, of course, more of our government operations and what needs to be funded.
I want to ask the minister to comment on the necessity and the importance of freezing EI premiums for small business and how important that is in the job creation grand scheme of things.
Could you comment also on the small business hiring tax credit and how successful that has been for Canadian small business in particular?