As we said, the rate change will affect 2,600 companies that are considered large businesses under the scientific research and experimental development, the SR&ED, program. That is why the person at the end of the table said there was not much impact on the rate reduction. His business probably has a 35% tax refund, which was not affected by the budget. So that is 2,600 businesses, out of a total of approximately 23,000 or 24,000 businesses that use the SR&ED program. This reduction will affect those 2,600 companies.
The National Research Council Canada's Industrial Research Assistance Program, the NRC-IRAP, is a program we like a lot and that is very good for small businesses, but it is not available for businesses that have more than 500 employees. The largest businesses in the country, the multinationals, which often have more than 500 employees, suffer the greatest negative impact as a result of this rate change. We are not really talking about the same thing; we are talking about money, support for larger businesses, that is being taken away and perhaps handed over to smaller businesses.
I would say the same thing about the $400 million in venture capital that will normally go to start-up businesses. Although there is more direct support, we have not forgotten that the biggest hit is borne by large businesses. I do not want to turn this into an issue that pits large businesses against small businesses.