Mr. Mintz is a very well-known and highly regarded economist, but I guess it proves that we don't get it right 100% of the time. Some of this misinformation that has been out there for years is outdated and factually incorrect.
There is a dearth of venture capital. The issue here is access to capital for entrepreneurs, and that's exactly why the federal government is taking measures to address it through the VCAP program. At the same time, to remove one of the prime sources of risk capital in the Canadian economy makes no sense from my perspective, and from a policy perspective.
The crowding out argument that we have heard over the years is just not factual, and this is exactly why the Canadian Venture Capital Association has strongly opposed this move. On the one hand, the government is taking a positive step in creating the VCAP program, but all of the positives of that could be offset by the negative impact, the unintended consequences, of removing the federal tax credit. The leverage is tremendous. It's 15¢ on the dollar from the federal government which attracts 85¢ of additional investment.