Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
I am actually going to be very brief. I did not prepare a discussion. I decided that I just want to make two or three points, but I would rather leave it to the question period for people to ask me any questions at all.
I also want to be up front. As some of you know, I'm chairing the Alberta premier's Economic Recovery Council, but I want to make very clear that any opinions I give here are strictly my own and do not represent the views of the council.
I first want to say that I support the wage package that came out, certainly in principle and a significant part of its design. There are some issues that I'd be happy to explore further if you wish, about whether there are ways and some alternatives that could be looked at to try to make sure payments are made more speedily.
Also, I think there are some issues to be dealt with vis-à-vis the 30% rule in terms of the reduction in revenues. I think it's appropriate to have something like that, but unfortunately, based on past experience, I would say that these things are always complicated and can lead to some unfairness because income doesn't flow in the same amounts. There can be peaks and troughs and all that sort of thing, but there may be some ways to try to ameliorate that.
Then finally I think some careful thought has to be given to how to deal with charities and non-profits.
There are other things that are part of the package, and one can go into various details. We're all in a rush. We're all dealing with a huge problem on our hands in this country with, as I have called it, “a medically induced economic coma” as well as a health crisis. There are very difficult trade-offs to be made, and the government is responding as fast as it can, but when you're doing things fast, obviously nothing is ever perfect. Later on there will probably be some lessons learned about how not to do things, and one can always assess that.
Then there is going to be what is probably the more important issue, which is when we can start getting back to work and what is going to be required for that. I think there are going to be a number of issues to be dealt with.
Anyway, I'll stop there and turn it back to you, Mr. Chair.