Good morning. My name is Julie Labrecque, and I am here on behalf of Regroupement des jeunes chambres de commerce du Québec.
Mr. Chair, distinguished committee members and MPs, I want to begin by thanking your for inviting us to appear today and allowing us to share our recommendations for the next budget.
For over 20 years, Regroupement des jeunes chambres de commerce du Québec has represented 35 junior chambers of commerce across Quebec, comprising more than 8,000 young entrepreneurs, business people and independent workers.
Today, we would like to make three recommendations to the committee.
Our first recommendation is the inclusion of measures that support intergenerational equity in the next budget. We applaud the benefits granted to previous generations, but we believe it is now time to focus on balancing the budget, thereby protecting the future of the next generations. To that end, we would welcome measures aimed at boosting long-term investor confidence among young entrepreneurs. In addition, we would support a plan designed to return to a balanced budget and eliminate the national debt; we would also be eager to take part in the consultations leading to such a plan.
As for our second recommendation, some of you may already be familiar with our access to entrepreneurship plan or RAE. We want to see a measure that facilitates the transfer of Canadian businesses, to avoid, at all costs, their being sold or shut down when the time comes for them to change hands. We don't want them to end up in foreign hands. We want Canadian companies to stay Canadian, and we support giving young entrepreneurs access to business opportunities.
RAE is a bit like the federal home buyers' plan. The measure we are proposing would introduce a third dimension. We want young entrepreneurs to have the ability to use money from their RRSP to buy a business without incurring a tax penalty. We firmly believe in this program and are open to exploring the idea with the government, to determine how the plan should be drawn up and implemented, and what its parameters should be. The main purpose of the access to entrepreneurship program is to retain Canadian businesses and jobs, giving them an injection of youth, in order to preserve Canadian innovations.
As you know, 98% of Canadian businesses are SMEs, employing 48% of Canada's workforce. It is therefore critical to ensure that Canadian businesses remain in Canada, in the hands of Canada's young entrepreneurs. That is why we want to see an access to entrepreneurship plan in the next budget.
Our third recommendation has to do with maintaining the Canada job grant. Regroupement des jeunes chambres de commerce views the continuation of the grant program as essential. To the extent possible, agreements with the provinces need to be renewed, especially with Quebec.
With respect to the grant's continuation, we commend the government's desire to work more closely with employers. However, we believe that Quebec is doing an excellent job of managing the program. It is our position that clear objectives and parameters will have to be set to ensure the program is implemented effectively. The Canada job grant is aimed at benefiting participating employers and adding value to Canada's economy.
In conclusion, Mr. Chair, we believe that intergenerational equity should be an integral part of the budget. Regroupement des jeunes chambres de commerce du Québec has taken steps to ensure that young people sit on the boards of directors of Quebec's crown corporations. In that vein, we also believe the next budget should contain a measure requiring every crown corporation to have at least one young person on its board of directors to facilitate business renewal.