Mr. Speaker, there are really two questions there. The first one is why should there be a Small Businesses Loans Act program in the first place. The answer to that is very simply that the primary reason for getting loan capital to many small businesses is to provide some government guarantee, thereby offsetting the fact that many small businesses lack the security they require in order to otherwise borrow from the banks.
In answer to the question about subsidies, I would like to assure the hon. member that we are proposing changes to the SBLA program and further review which will move that program to one which is fully cost recoverable because I agree with him that it should not be an indirect subsidy to the banks.