Could I have two minutes, please? I would like to skip to slide 15, because we're going to be talking about things that this committee really can't do much about, and I want to talk about something this committee can do something about today.
We've surveyed our members on productivity priorities in manufacturing and all businesses, and of course they talk about what would increase their productivity. But one of the issues that's there and that comes out on top over and over again is dealing with regulation and paper burden.
A major report we did, which has been cited, found that it's costing businesses $33 billion to deal with all the levels of government. Eliminating this regulation and paper burden is a cost-effective way to increase productivity and to help businesses of all sizes and from all sectors, and you guys can deal with it right now.
We worked together with all of you, and you voted for a private member's bill, Bill C-212, the cost-recovery bill. It's law, and it's not being implemented. It could be implemented today. I think this committee should look at that and push it, because that would also really help enhance productivity and lower some costs to businesses.
Mr. Chair, I won't go over all those graphs, but I really encourage you to look at them. There's a template here that can be used; this report talks about it. We're co-chairing the paper burden committee with the industry department. You should call the minister before this committee and ask him to talk about it. I think he would. It's a non-partisan issue, and it's something that we can all work on together to really help alleviate the high dollar, high fuel costs, and all the other things.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.