Thanks very much, Mr. Chair.
Thanks, Mr. Maguire. I don't think we've had a chance to get to know each other as well I'd like, but I will say that from your comments in the House and what I've seen, you seem like a very genuine person who has come to politics for all the right reasons.
I appreciate what the bill is trying to do. I think there is certainly some good that could come from it. I do have a couple of reservations about things that the bill doesn't do or perhaps unintended consequences that could stem from the bill. I'll focus my comments on those issues.
The first sort of bucket of objections comes from the fact that it's tied to the intergenerational transfer of companies. Not all small businesses.... I know that for fishing operations and farms in particular our attention is drawn to them, but of course it's not limited to those industries. I have a huge inshore lobster fishery in my own community. Some of the businesses are owned by corporations, but a significant number are owned personally. I may be mistaken, but I'm wondering whether your bill does anything to assist the intergenerational sale of personally owned businesses in the fishery or in agriculture.