Mr. Speaker, I am splitting my time equally with another member. I understand I cannot question the previous speaker, but I will begin my remarks by making a comment.
I listened to the hon. member talk about all of the budget cuts the Reform Party would wish for and the cuts in terms of grants to business.
The hon. member even went so far as to suggest that the Chamber of Commerce might be willing to return to the treasury the $400,000 it received for doing its study on what business recommends in terms of fiscal reform. First I want to say that I in no way, shape or form have anything other than respect for the work the chamber does, but I am not sure that it would return the $400,000.
I wonder sometimes if the Reform Party realizes that the real challenge for fiscal reform is in the tax act. When the time comes to tackle that problem I wonder whether the Reform Party will remain steadfast to its principle of a single tax system.
With the $40 billion or $50 billion worth of tax grants to business, mostly foreign and multinationals, a lot of them in the energy sector, I am wondering whether the Reform Party will remain as committed to the cuts. When I asked this question of the leader of the Reform Party he began to shy off on cutting those tax expenditures. In due course we will really test the Reform Party's commitment to comprehensive tax reform.
I listened to members opposite today talk one after the other about gloom and doom and how there was not anything in the budget that would inspire some hope for Canadians. I could not help but think that a lot of the members had deserted their earlier commitment to try to be constructive in this House. We have only been here a couple of months and it amazes me that members opposite could not acknowledge anything positive in the budget.
I would like to raise something I believe is most meaningful to the small business sector. We heard from members opposite today that we must support small and medium sized businesses. We heard members opposite agree that our greatest hope for putting people back to work rests with the small business community. We all know, because we have all knocked on the same doors and we have all heard from many small business people across the country, that the greatest problem they face today is access to capital.
On pages 4 and 5 of the budget the Minister of Finance announced that for the first time ever we would have a committee of Parliament take on a study of access to capital by small business. This is not a study that includes only government members. This is a study that includes members of the Bloc Quebecois and members of the Reform Party.
Members opposite should have told Canadian people that the government should be applauded for the way in which it has acted so speedily in setting up this study in the industry committee. We have been studying the matter for four weeks. We have heard over a dozen intelligent business people from many regions of the country confirm what all of us have heard about the difficulties of small business. We are already beginning to see signs that the bankers are responding to this very difficult problem that exists in our country today.
It is important that we as members of Parliament not criticize just for the sake of criticizing. By the way I accept constructive criticism. There are some areas in the budget that are tough for all of us. We have never had a perfect budget. It is tough. We have a tough fiscal situation. At the same time we have to acknowledge the fact that we are starting to see some movement in access to capital for small business. All members of Parliament should be delivering that message of hope to their constituents.
We can be tough on the banks in the House of Commons, but at the same time we should acknowledge when banks and bank managers begin to respond. I am not saying the process is complete. Last week the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce announced the appointment of an ombudsman for its bank. Small and medium sized business people who are having difficulty at the branch level could go to the ombudsman to seek fairer treatment. Today the Toronto-Dominion Bank set up a three-person ombudsman system. It is almost like a court of appeal for people who are having difficulty.
These are only beginnings but I believe they are important beginnings. As members opposite have said repeatedly, small business represents our greatest hope. We must support small business. The biggest thing it has asked for is help in changing the attitude of banks and financial institutions and help in finding new sources of capital so entrepreneurial spirit can flow again. We have begun the process.
I must also say that the members of the Bloc and the Reform parties on the committee are working hard and are working co-operatively. By the end of June we will be able to bring solid, constructive recommendations to Parliament and to the Minister of Finance, recommendations for amendment in terms of regulation and recommendations for banks to change their process and attitude. I believe we will be able to bring in new sources of capital through mutual funds, pension funds.
Even though the process is not complete today, I believe it is incumbent upon all of us as members of Parliament to tell our constituents that it is under way, that we have only been at it for a month but in another two months they should see even more dramatic results.
I do not believe that when we go back to our ridings we should only bring bad news. I listened to a Bloc member this morning refer to our party as a party of darkness, as if members of the Bloc were the only ones who feel the pain of students, fathers or mothers who do not have work. We feel that same pain. We are trying just as hard and are just as concerned as members opposite to get the country back to work.
When something in the budget is constructive and hopeful-and I believe changing the attitudes of banks is a very meaningful exercise for all of us in the Chamber-we should not be shy in acknowledging it or in saying that in that particular area the government is moving forward and the government is on the right path.
It is not that we are looking for an accolade. That is not the point. The point is that we have a responsibility in the House to inspire and show some hope for the 1.3 million small business men and women out there who are having a very difficult time right now.
Other projects were announced in the budget on behalf of small business. The officials in all departments are interacting with small business in terms of the paper burden. They are all but locked up in a room right now trying to simplify the forms and consolidate the paper small business has to deal with when it comes to interacting with government: all the various forms in Revenue Canada and in Consumer and Corporate Affairs. There is an intense effort by officials and people from business. They are working together to try to reduce the paper burden. It is important for our constituents to know we are working vigorously on that. That is another result of the budget.
I also mention the fact that the finance committee working on comprehensive tax reform is another hopeful signal or hopeful sign for small business. It is very important to challenge the path we are taking the country down at this moment. We accept their challenge on any issue.
It is Friday afternoon. Hon. members will be going back to their ridings. I tell them not to be shy in telling their constituents about some of the good things the government is doing.