Thank you, Madam Chair.
I want to thank all the witnesses for being here and for their very insightful presentations.
Ms. Jones, I'll speak to you directly.
I'm an entrepreneur myself. I founded my business with my partner almost 29 years ago. We started out as the only two employees in the business. Now the business has 30 employees. I'm a perfect example of a small business owner whose business has flourished. I say this with all due modesty. We've created good jobs. We entrepreneurs form part of the backbone of the Canadian economy.
In the document that you provided, I saw an absolutely outrageous statistic: 63% of small business owners wouldn't advise their children to start a business. That just blows me away. I believe that 90% of entrepreneurs should encourage their children to take over. In my case, my daughter will take over my business later on. However, the issue of financing won't be straightforward, since my company has increased in value.
By the way, I must tell the committee that I've been a member of your organization for 25 years, lest anyone think that I have a conflict of interest.
The percentage of small business owners who wouldn't advise their children to start a business has increased by 15 percentage points since 2017. That's huge. Based on your observations, what explains this result?