Thank you, sir.
I wanted to pull up a document on the federal tax expenditures, so you're going to have to give me a second. It's a shame that when Mr. Poilievre came in with this motion he didn't say he wanted to undertake a study of federal tax expenditures. He didn't say, how do we want to put a motion forward on how we want to improve the competitiveness of the Canadian economy, grow the economy, grow and strengthen that middle class? Because that's what we're here for; that's why we got elected.
When I look at this motion and think of corporate welfare, I say, no, I don't think so. I think about the number of investments that the Minister for Innovation, my honourable colleague from, I think, the riding for Mississauga—Malton has made over the last number of years by setting up the five clusters.
I think about the east coast and the cluster for aquaculture. I think about those investments. They may be looked at by the opposite side as investments for corporate welfare. I look at them as investments for the future.
Or, I think about Quebec, the Montreal area and the investments for artificial intelligence. Canada is becoming a leader in artificial intelligence. Again, Mr. Poilievre may say that those investments are corporate welfare. I would fundamentally disagree. I think the investments we've made for artificial intelligence, whether it's in the Waterloo area, whether it's in Montreal, are investments that create long-term jobs. They attract the best and the brightest.
We need to ensure that we continue along that path and not use a term.... When we think about corporate welfare, and why someone may look at it in that sense.... I think we always have to be judicious, conscientious and diligent in any form of programs that we undertake.
At the same time we need to undertake those investments where we know we are competing against other jurisdictions. We've seen in the last few months a number of automakers make announcements south of the border, in terms of investments in electric vehicles, in the auto parts sector, which we're going to benefit from. Those advancements largely occurred because state governments in the United States helped out their stakeholders. They assisted them. They know that. We have to do the same thing.
In Canada, we've been successful in attracting a lot of investment and we need to continue doing that. We need to continue to tell the world that we are open for business. Unfortunately, the members opposite will continue to deride that and call it corporate welfare. I would say that's significantly different.
I think about the SR and ED program, Mr. Poilievre. I did a tour to a number of the tax offices as the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Revenue. I met with the SR and ED team. Remember those individuals in the Toronto West office, which is actually commonly known as Mississauga but termed Toronto West. I spoke to them and saw how they look at investments in Canadian companies and how they analyze those and allow early-stage companies to undertake investments, allow other companies to continue to do R and D year after year, and allow that tax credit to take place, which gives them some funds back so they continue to invest. Under Mr. Poilievre's motion, that would be considered corporate welfare. I would actually consider that good, sound innovation policy.
We always have to re-examine the SR and ED program from year to year. I agree that we need to re-examine whether it's working and its implications. To paint any government's investments as corporate welfare, I think would be highly troubling. We need to continue to make those investments that are smart, sound, based on good analysis and evidence, and that lead to good job growth in Canadian companies. Those are smart things to do.
Before I was privileged to be elected for the second time here in Ottawa, I worked in the private sector among many of my colleagues here. I worked for JPMorgan Chase in New York City. I worked very long hours for a number of years. One thing I learned at JPMorgan Chase was that companies around the world will want to invest in places where there's certainty in their investments, a good rule of law, decent competitive taxation rates, a strong labour force and where government is a partner. When you think about that and you do a check, check, check, that's where Canada is today.
We are a country that continues to partner with global companies and domestic companies to help them grow.
When I see this type of motion, “That the committee undertake a study on corporate welfare”, well, what does that mean? It's an open-ended motion. The motion derides people who are making decisions all over this country to raise incomes and to create good, middle-class jobs. I find it sort of cynical.
One of the privileges I had, when I decided to return to Canada for various reasons, was to be offered a choice. I could work at a small rating agency here in Canada called Dominion Bond Rating Service. It was founded by an entrepreneurial Ukrainian family from Winnipeg, the Schroeder family, who grew the business and later sold it for hundreds of millions of dollars to Warburg Pincus out of New York City. It still exists downtown. I was offered the opportunity to come back to Canada and stay here. At the same time, I was offered a really lucrative job to move back and work for Sanford C. Bernstein in New York City as a research analyst—or UBS, actually, in Connecticut—but I decided to stay in this country and work here.