Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you to the committee members for inviting us today and listening to what we have to say. We very much appreciate the opportunity. Given how quickly five minutes goes by, I'm going to get right to the heart of the matter. My apologies to the interpreters, but I am going to speak quickly.
The Quebec Employers Council, or CPQ, brings together employers active in Quebec and elsewhere.
We directly represent more than 70,000 employers, who are not just companies, but also associations. I have a conflict of interest I should tell you about. Some of the people sitting at the table are members of the CPQ, including the Conseil québécois des entreprises adaptées and Desjardins Group. We also have partners who belong to the Regroupement québécois des organismes pour le développement de l’employabilité.
Our involvement extends to all areas. The employers we represent are mainly private companies, but we also represent employers in the community, social economy, public, and semi-public sectors.
I'm going to go right to our concerns. You talked about economic growth, which is key not just to businesses, but also to the quality of life of all citizens. There is a reason we have an inclusive prosperity program that recognizes the value of businesses, influences employment, and affects the quality of life and standard of living of the entire population.
From an economic standpoint, it is clear that exports are crucial not only to achieve a positive trade balance, but also to raise the standard of living of the country's 36 million inhabitants and contribute to their development.
Exports depend on a number of elements. Similar to its predecessors, the current government is taking a close look at free trade agreements. It is doing so, however, against the backdrop of growing protectionism, an issue that concerns us.
In terms of financial and fiscal policies, we recommend that the government invest in strategic levers to foster economic growth among our employers and businesses. Those levers include innovation. In order to be able to export, it is necessary to be competitive. We have no choice. We aren't a country of a billion or 500 million people but, rather, 36 million. We have to become more competitive, and that means being more innovative.
Innovation has three dimensions.
Let's talk about products and services, an area in which innovation is crucial. We spend a lot of money on research and development. We are world leaders when it comes to publications and clean technologies, for instance, but we rank last when it comes to patents and the commercialization of clean technologies. The reason I mention that example is to underscore the difference between research and development and innovation.
First and foremost, innovation is the development of products and services. It also involves manufacturing processes, not to mention emerging issues of global concern such as greenhouse gas reduction. If we want to become more competitive and improve our growth and export potential, we need to help businesses and employers innovate in the three areas I just mentioned.
Private investment in Canada is low. That is especially true in Quebec. It is therefore necessary to find ways to attract investment. That means not just having sound free trade agreements in place, like the one with Europe—which will facilitate the mobility of capital—but also being able to attract capital here. To do that, we need to create a competitive and appealing tax environment and regulatory framework. I'm not talking about creating tax havens in Canada. Instead, I am talking about building an environment that appeals to investors because it offers predictable and competitive conditions. In terms of fiscal policy, it's important to have an environment that attracts investors to Quebec.
I am going to go beyond the issue of investment.
There is much talk of immigration these days. In Quebec, a study was released on the impact of economic immigration. It focused on programs affecting growth, in other words, programs that attract immigrant investors and entrepreneurs. Unfortunately, the federal government has shown less interest in these types of programs, essential programs for Quebec. We have to attract private investors.
Productivity is another factor in promoting growth, exports, and competitiveness. We have to make sure our businesses and employers are productive, and that requires investment decisions.
Our economic fabric is made up primarily of small and medium-sized businesses. When business leaders consider whether or not to make an investment, they look at how much the return on investment will be and how long it will take to achieve.
To support business leaders in making wise investment decisions that will improve their productivity or even reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, the government needs to provide incentives. It needs to provide support that will close the gap between investing in traditional technologies and investing in productivity-enhancing or GHG-reducing technologies. That is a key consideration. There are people around the table today who will talk to you about human capital. Nonetheless, in order to be productive, human capital has to be available.
A large number of federal and provincial transfer programs are based on employment insurance programs. Many people, however, do not have access to employment insurance. They include recent immigrants, persons with disabilities coming onto the labour market, students who have just finished university, or those who still have a job. Productivity-wise, it's important to help these people. Given that the population is aging rapidly, we need transfers that assist individuals who don't have access to employment insurance benefits, in order to foster productivity.
The government implemented an infrastructure program. We believe infrastructure is incredibly important, but the program should include facilities under federal jurisdiction as well. It is crucial that we increase investment in infrastructure under federal responsibility such as our ports, airports, railway system, and all related infrastructure. Central Canada comes to mind and the need for quicker and more frequent passenger rail service in the Quebec City-Windsor corridor.
I'd like to conclude by talking about taxation and the budget. As you know, the Quebec Employers Council normally views deficits as worrisome. It isn't so bad when deficits are backed by investments in infrastructure and strategic economic levers. What we have a problem with are deficits tied to program spending.
We developed a concept we call “detent”—or stop and review, if you will—that the Quebec government has implemented. We urge the federal government to consider our homegrown concept. Essentially, this is how it works. When new spending programs are introduced, the government looks at whether it can reduce spending on other lower priority programs, to maintain a balance and prevent program spending deficits that are not asset-backed.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.