There are two answers.
First, don't do anything to make it worse. If I were minister, I wouldn't put policies in place to make it worse. I know that sounds funny, but we do. So the first thing we should work at is, how do we alleviate the regulatory burden, not add to it? I don't know if there's a willingness, but that's easily done, and I think that would help all of us, small or large. That's the first thing.
But the second point I want to put in place is that I agree with the investment side of it. But it reminds me of Bill. Bill is an entrepreneur who has 100 employees. He has been going to China for 15 years. He operates out of New Brunswick. He has a high-tech communications firm and he won the lottery: a major international firm said, “We're going to buy your firm for millions of dollars.” Bill was ready to sell, and he said, “What are you going to do with this?” “Well, we just want your product and your markets. We're going to do it from the States, not from New Brunswick.” Bill said, “It's not for sale.”
The investment was there and it is a global market, but what about the local market? What about half the GDP? What about total employment?
You need two strategies--and this issue is about Bill. Seventy percent want to sell their firm in the next 10 years and 40% in five years. Two million jobs are in play. You can create a new business—it takes a lot of effort—or you can continue growing one that's in existence. Eighty percent of these people do not have a succession plan.
I know the government was looking at rollover provisions. These people want to pass on their firm. We have to look at things like that to allow Bill to pass it on to either his employees or to find people who want to buy these firms. If I were industry minister, this is a strategy where we'd have to bring everyone together to figure out how to do this. It's not just a government strategy; it's educating Bill.
He'll be happy I'm telling this, but anyway....
It's getting the investment community together. It's getting groups such as the CFIB together, and the rest of us. It's not just a shortage-of-labour issue that we're facing, it's a shortage of entrepreneurs.