It's not a really good start because we can't even get a “yes” or “no” answer to something as simple as that. Anyway, I'll take that as a “yes”.
I want to ask, then, if you do believe campgrounds have an important role in the industry. There is an issue that is very directly and very negatively affecting that particular sector of the industry, and I think it has the potential to affect a lot of other parts of the industry, as well. It's one that your government is really ignoring. We're hearing talking points, but we're getting no answers for the campgrounds as to how you are going to help them.
There is a rule that's being used to target campgrounds, saying that their income is passive. Certainly, there is no doubt that the work involved in campgrounds is anything but passive. Your government's argument is essentially that some small businesses are too small to be small businesses, which is ridiculous.
Recently you, the Minister of National Revenue, and the Minister of Finance co-signed a letter to the Canadian Camping and RV Council that states that you recognize the important role that campgrounds play. You also, in that same letter, claim that the rules around active versus passive income haven't changed. However, you are basically telling them, “Too bad, so sad”, and that you're going to continue to target their businesses as being too small to be small businesses.
This was something we recognized as an issue when we were in government, and we began a review of the rules. Your government cancelled that in your first budget. That was after having 12 of 13 submissions say that there was a real problem there and that this needed to be addressed and fixed—obviously, something your government ignored.
Then on August 23, 2016, the CRA, of course, released a new interpretation of the rules, and they're going after campgrounds.
The finance committee, however, in its pre-budget report for this year's budget, recommended:
That the Government of Canada [should] recognize the income earned by campgrounds and storage facilities as “active business income” for the purpose of determining eligibility for the small business deduction.
That's a pretty clear recommendation, and your government ignored it.
Minister, I want to ask you, given all that, how can you claim that these rules haven't changed? How can you actually say you support small businesses when your Liberal government is trying to target some small businesses and put them out of existence?