Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
You raised a number of issues we've talked about. If we were to ask what the number one thing to come out of this committee in the recommendations should be, we would have to say the capital cost allowance needs to be accelerated. We're in an exchange rate regime now in which, while our exports are more expensive, in fact it is cheaper for us to import. If we were looking for the plastics industry at a time when we can begin innovation and do some capital replacement with some imported machinery, this is certainly the time, because they will be cheaper as imports.
How can you assist in that? Accelerate the capital cost allowance and make sure we have depreciation for no greater than two years. One year would be great--the year of purchase--but if that can't be done, then within two years. That would be the number one thing I would recommend.
The other thing is a theme that everyone has touched upon: we see a shift within Canadian society away from manufacturing and toward the knowledge-based industries. While that's good, and we need to have the knowledge-based industries, we can't lose sight of manufacturing. It is still a substantial employer within the Canadian economy. We'd like to see the government adopt a vision that promotes and shows leadership on the importance of manufacturing.
We've talked about what our vision would be in terms of adding value to natural resources. For our industry in particular, we also need security of the feedstock; we have a unique industry, one in which we not only need the energy to run the businesses, but we also need it as an input into the products we produce.
That would be my top three. I'd be happy to discuss more. We do have a list of them.
Thank you.