Let me tell you how disappointed I am that we have already voted on some of the elements of the labour-sponsored funds tax credit without even having heard a single reply to the arguments I presented. I feel that I laid out a detailed analysis of the impact this will have, but the government side stays completely silent and simply votes to end it.
The evidence it has presented is very weak. I find it a real pity to see how lightly the government takes the impact this will have on the Quebec economy, on the Canadian economy and on the success of its own venture capital action plan. By accepting the proposal from the two Quebec funds, it could have significantly improved the positive effect of its own plan to develop Canadian venture capital. But all we get from the Conservative government is silence.
A number of government members, especially those with constituencies in less urban regions, should be affected by one other aspect. I see some of those members in front of me. I am thinking of the effect of those funds through regional funds that invest directly, either development capital or venture capital, in regions outside Montreal and Quebec City, for example. Eastern Quebec is currently trying to diversify its economy. With those funds, it can do so. If the government is looking to reduce the dependence on, or the amount of seasonal work in those regions, it would do well to support the positive effects these funds bring through those regional funds.
Why is the government content to vote blindly for a measure that—I repeat—will have such profound effects without having done the least amount of study about the elimination of this tax credit? I am extremely disappointed to have received no answer. I hope I will get one before the end of this vote, or another vote on another aspect of the elimination of the tax credit. If not, I will understand that the government is acting in a doctrinaire fashion without considering the economic realities at the same time as it claims to be the government of economic prosperity and jobs. By rejecting the proposal presented to it under the venture capital action plan, it is directly and negatively affecting job creation in Quebec and in Canada.
Thank you.