When the GST was brought in by our good friend Brian Mulroney, the food and service industry sector really got hit hard, and just recovered to the level of that. They actually estimated around a $7-billion loss. That's been studied as well.
That's part of the concern I have. I look at the tourism sector and other members that you represent—small businesses—and they're going to take it on the chin. A high dollar from a petro-dollar policy, U.S. passports, visitation—our actual numbers on visitation are down, and Americans represent three-quarters of all the customers we have coming over for tourism. On top of this increased cost, they lost the GST rebate that we had available. So my concern is that not enough planning in supports is being done for those businesses that need some adjustment.
I'll leave it at that, Mr. Chair. I'm being called to the House.
Thank you.