Thank you for being here, Minister.
On my colleague's comments about the Obama administration and where they stand fiscally, I want to put the anchor that this government has moved to, or is pivoted to, because with all due respect, Minister, you've missed every anchor that the Prime Minister sent you in his mandate letter, in terms of what the economy was going to be anchored in, and primarily bringing it back to balance in this term.
Let's just put it in context. The current debt-to-GDP ratio in the United States is 102.98%. Prior to the Obama administration, it was 61.38%. Actually, that's the average, leading in. If you'd like to use that as a comparison, please do, because this is the direction in which your government seems to want to take us whilst they anchor themselves in the statistics of the GDP ratio.
That's enough for the comments. Now, the question has to do with small business. It is really two questions, if you might answer them for us.
There has been a signal that you're going to move to do what the Prime Minister has asked, which is to eliminate the professionals from the Canadian-controlled private corporations provision and not allow them to incorporate. Let me give you an example, a veterinarian who has three employees in his employ. He has been in business for four years, and now he's going to be faced with an additional tax hit of probably between $40,000 and $60,000 a year. Many of the people I've talked to in this category, which includes engineers, surveyors, accountants, chiropractors, doctors, and dentists, say that this will be a significant move to hit them primarily through their not being allowed to incorporate.
That small firm would have to lay off one person, or eliminate one job, as a result of this. It's in direct contradiction to what you've been saying today, which is that you're there for the middle class, that you're there for that entry-level job, for the administrator in that operation who loses his or her job as a result of this.
Can you confirm, yes or no, whether you're going to proceed with this kind of taxation?