Absolutely, we are appreciative of the long-standing support of the NDP on this issue.
For us, the inequity is quite simply.... The example that I provided in my opening remarks is quite illustrative. I live next door to someone—let's say hypothetically—who is a salesperson selling conduit, the kind of PVC material you run wires through. You'd be familiar with that. My neighbour travels some distance to sell this conduit to a job site and is able to deduct their travel per kilometre, their meals, if they have any, and their overnight accommodation, if required. I am a tradesperson who installs the conduit. I have to travel the same distance as my neighbour who sells it, incur the same costs as my neighbour who sells it, but I'm not entitled to the same deductions under the Income Tax Act as the person who sells it.
We see that as an inequity within the tax act, something that should be addressed. If it is addressed, it will help encourage workers to go to work within provinces and across provinces where you have a shortage of work in one area and a surplus of work in another.
In Canada we do not have a very mobile labour force. In construction, we do not have a very mobile labour force, but with this kind of encouragement, through the tax act, we'll be able to provide opportunities for workers to go to where the work is, improve productivity for Canada, reduce the reliance on temporary foreign workers in some cases, and bring our labour markets back into balance in some of these areas where they're out of balance.